Beyond Courtrooms and Street Violence: Rethinking Religious Offence and Its Containment

This book explores the unintended effects of blasphemy laws in South Asia, suggesting that a more nuanced understanding of religious offense can be gained by looking past legal proceedings and street violence. It documents a range of containment modalities in diverse geographical and socio-religious settings and scrutinizes their functioning and outcomes, bridging research on religious offense with critical understandings of peace and scholarship on the micro-mechanisms of coexistence.

Format: Hardback
Length: 106 pages
Publication date: 25 July 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Much of the scholarship on religious offense in South Asia revolves around the unintended consequences of blasphemy laws, highlighting how these laws, ostensibly designed to promote religious tolerance, inadvertently fuel disputes surrounding religious sensitivities. While debates about the impact of these laws are essential, this collection expands the scope of inquiry by proposing that a more nuanced understanding of religious offense can be gained by examining factors beyond full-blown legal proceedings and the dramatic violence witnessed during religious offense controversies. Drawing on extensive empirical field research conducted by six scholars of religion and politics, this book directs attention to the local handling and mitigation of tensions surrounding religious sensitivities. It explores how these frictions are often resolved either entirely outside the judicial system or through bottom-up initiatives that emerge in conjunction with, or as a response to, top-down measures. While documenting a diverse range of containment modalities across various geographical and socio-religious contexts in India, the book critically examines their functioning and outcomes. It serves as a pioneering effort to bridge research on religious offense with critical perspectives on peace and scholarship on the micro-mechanisms of coexistence.

Beyond Courtrooms and Street Violence is a groundbreaking addition to the field of religion, politics, and communities in India, offering valuable insights to academics, researchers, and advanced students across a range of disciplines. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, further testament to their scholarly significance.

In conclusion, this collection provides a valuable contribution to our understanding of religious offense in South Asia, broadening the lens beyond legal proceedings and street violence. By exploring the local dynamics and responses to religious sensitivities, it sheds light on the complex interplay between law, society, and cultural dynamics. Beyond Courtrooms and Street Violence is a must-read for anyone interested in advancing our knowledge of this critical and timely topic.

Weight: 370g
Dimension: 246 x 174 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032252650