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Abstract
Religion is an important marker of identity for India’s Anglo-Indians. It distinguishes them within the principally non-Christian context and is integral to socializing youth to their distinct Anglo-Indian culture and heritage. This can be observed in Anglo-Indian practice—attending Christian schools, church-going, celebrating religious festivals, making pilgrimages—which forms a significant part of a matrix through which young Anglo-Indians learn how to perform their Anglo-Indianness. Our recent research (2013–2014) looked at the role of religion in the lives of Anglo-Indians intergenerationally and transnationally, through a survey, interviews, and participant observation. The results suggest that the performed religiosity of Anglo-Indian youth in India yields certain benefits for this group. It constitutes a capital which has the potential to make an enormous difference to their lives—socially, culturally, and otherwise. For example, Christian practice provides them with access to élite Christian educational institutions and the career possibilities that follow from such education. This article describes our research, focusing upon the findings related to Anglo-Indian youth in India. In particular, it argues that in various ways, the practice of Christianity both acts and is recognized by young Anglo-Indians as a source of capital in their lives, which is not to say that religion is practised for the purpose of acquiring capital. Rather, religious practice is a part of being Anglo-Indian that in India accrues capital.
Acknowledgements
This article is based on research that depended upon the generous co-operation of many people. We are grateful especially to the young Anglo-Indians who agreed to be surveyed and interviewed, to their church leaders, school teachers and principals, and to our friends who assisted and encouraged us to study the religious lives of Anglo-Indian young people. We appreciate the very useful comments from the anonymous reviewers of the Journal of Contemporary Religion. We also thank Elisabeth Arweck for her interest and support.
Notes
1. The Constitution definition states that an Anglo-Indian means a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent, but who is domiciled within the territory of India and is or was born within such territory of parents habitually resident therein and not established there for temporary purposes only (Section 366 [2]).
2. We have each been involved in research with Anglo-Indians for over ten years and between us bring anthropological, historical, educational, and theological training to the project.
3. While empirical data have not been available, a 70:30 split of Catholics to non-Catholics seemed a likely scenario.
4. Further information about the research project may be found at its homepage: http://anglo-indianreligionresearch.net/. For the benefit of participants and other interested parties, some of the research findings are posted on this web site as the project progresses. If this web address is no longer active, please contact the authors directly for information.
5. More than 30 survey respondents volunteered to be interviewed. In the first half of 2013, we carried out Skype, phone, and face-to-face interviews of between 30 minutes’ and an hour’s duration. The interviews, which were voice recorded and transcribed, covered topics such as the family’s religious history, positive and negative experiences, changes over time, and their situation after migration when this was relevant.
6. It should be noted that for some Christians in India their religion is a cause for discrimination or even persecution. While we did ask about discrimination, virtually none of the informants reported suffering any form of disadvantage or discrimination on the basis of being Christian.
7. In a forthcoming work we explore the advantages of their Christianity to Anglo-Indian migrants (see Otto and Andrews Citation2017).
8. Smith briefly discusses situations in which religious involvement may result in a lack of positive effect or may even have negative effects (Citation2003b, 28).
9. By contrast, only 25% of respondents in the diaspora could claim that all their children were regular churchgoers and an additional 33% reported that some of their children were.
10. This reflects the 88.5% of all respondents of this survey who were Catholic. It also reflects the results of another survey: the West Bengal 2010/2011 Anglo-Indian survey (see Andrews Citation2015 for details).
11. Because English is the mother tongue of the vast majority of Anglo-Indians and because English is the élite language of business and education, this constitutes a further capital available to Anglo-Indians more than to other communities (see Mishra Citation2000 and Raman Citation1996 on the place of English in India).
12. Some Anglo-Indian migrants emphasized that going to church provided them with a social environment that welcomed them and helped them to adjust, even if they were the only Anglo-Indians around: “… the first thing I did when I arrived in England was to find myself a Christian community into which I could integrate and via which I could thence integrate into wider British society. Being Christian and mixed-race from India naturally provoked the curiosity of all those I met in England, but much rather than attitudes being hostile, they were, perhaps precisely on account of those factors, highly welcoming.” This Anglo-Indian migrant found Christianity to be an entry ticket to a welcoming community that valued his South Asian mixed-race background and could help him to adjust to the possibly less welcoming broader society.