Title: To Be Cared For
Description: To Be Cared For offers a unique view into the conceptual and moral world of slum-bound Dalits (“untouchables”) in the South Indian city of Chennai. Focusing on the decision by many women to embrace locally specific forms of Pentecostal Christianity, Nathaniel Roberts challenges dominant anthropological understandings of religion as a matter of culture and identity, as well as Indian nationalist narratives of Christianity as a “foreign” ideology that disrupts local communities. Far from being a divisive force, conversion integrates the slum community—Christians and Hindus alike—by addressing hidden moral fault lines that subtly pit residents against one another in a national context that renders Dalits outsiders in their own land."
Subjects: Pentecostal churches, Pentecostalism, Women, religious life, Women, india, Slums, Christianity and other religions, hinduism, Hinduism, relations, christianity, Pentecostal women, Dalit women, Relations, Christianity, Religious life, Hinduism, Christianity and other religions, History
Places: Chennai, Kashtappattinam, Anbu Nagar
Time periods: 2010-2020