In this ethnographic study, I sought to understand the diasporic lives of Afghan Hindus by studying how they discursively constructed their migration and settlement in Germany. By directing attention to their ways of speaking about migration I understood the importance of commun…
This work suggests that the underdevelopment of South Asia's Muslims vis-à-vis Hindus of the region stems from differences in the commercial institutions and inheritance laws of the two communities. First, the Hindu joint family was a durable institution that could branch out in…
This research pertains to sexual violence against women (VAW) in contexts of inter-ethnic violence in South-Asia, India, and examines victim and community rape blame attributions made by Muslims and Hindus. Specifically the study focused on assessing attitudes that predict blame…
This project examines how ethnicity and religion influence dating and marriage patterns for South Asian immigrants in the United States. I look at both how South Asian immigrants marry and who they marry. I am interested in how marriage patterns are changing, and if religion has…
The Hindu nationalist movement's combination of State power and paramilitary violence has established unsecular, subordinationalist, cleansing counter-polities within the Indian Republic. Despite constitutional guarantees of legal equality and protection, minorities (Christians …
In the classical Western philosophical tradition, wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance are considered to be the "four cardinal virtues." Of this list of virtues only one, courage, or andreia in Greek, was derived from the same root (andr) that the Greeks used for the English…
Research on Muslim women in India has increased in recent years, but remains sparse. The few existing studies rarely examine the interplay of religion and gender on Muslim women, nor do they investigate the historical influences shaping Muslim women's lives. Using the National S…
The 2002 Gujarati Riots were one of the worst outbreaks of violence between Hindus and Muslims in India in recent history. While there have been some publications on the incident, there has been a startling lack of studies that have looked at the victims' experiences of the riot…
Secular nationalism, India's official ideology and the basis for its secular Constitution, is being challenged by the rising religious nationalist discourses. This has resulted in an ongoing struggle between the secular and religious nationalist discourses. Since women are regar…
Malerkotla is the only Muslim majority region remaining on the Indian side of Punjab. At the center of this town is the tomb of its founder, a Sufi saint popularly known as Haider Shaikh. At his tomb the simultaneous presence of Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims challenges received not…