Ritualized ethnic identity: Asian Indian immigrants in the southern plains

ABSTRACT

This study examines identity construction among first-generation Asian Indian immigrants who reside in the Southern Plains region of the United States. Employing structural ritualization theory this study focuses on how three types of ritualized behaviors - regional-ethnic, pan-ethnic, and host - play a crucial role in constructing “multi-ritual” ethnic identity of Indian immigrants. In determining the rank or overall importance of ritualized symbolic practices (RSPs) we argue that the higher the rank of a practice, the greater its impact on the cognitions and behaviors of immigrants. The results of this qualitative study indicate that in the process of ethnic identity formation, Indian immigrants negotiate with their distinctive pan-Indian RSPs, retain and alter their regional-Indian RSPs, and bring their ethnicity into the mainstream society. This study contributes to the micro-sociological analysis of ethnic identity and enhances our empirical understanding of an understudied Asian Indian immigrant community.

Notes

¹See, Pew Research Center data titled “5 Facts about Indian Americans” published on September 15, 2014.

²See, reports on NewsOK titled “Asian Indian Oklahoman Statistics” published on July 24, 2010.

³Here is a selective list of fictional books and memoirs: “Interpreter of Maladies,” “Namesake,” and “Unaccustomed Earth” by Jhumpa Lahiri, “Darkness,” by Bharati Mukherjee, “Arranged Marriage” and “Sister of My Heart” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, “You Have Given Me a Country” by Neela Vaswani and “Return to India: an Immigrant Memoir,” by Shoba Narayan.

⁴Census of India 2011 reports that India has 22 scheduled/ official languages and more than 100 non-scheduled languages.

⁵Census of India 2011 reports that out of 1028 million population, little over 827 million (80.5%) are Hindus, 138 million (13.4%) are Muslims, 24 million (2.3%) are Christians, 19 million (1.9%) are Sikhs, 8 million (0.80%) are Buddhists and 4 million (0.4%) are Jains. In addition, over 6 million are followers of other religions and faiths including tribal religions, different from six main religions.

⁶India has one of the oldest film industries in the world, dating back to 1931. Indian cinema is comprised of many regional languages. The most popular among them is the Hindi Film Industry based in Mumbai, i.e., Bollywood. Bollywood became popular among the transnational Asian Indian community since the 1990s when Hindi films started depicting immigrant experiences (Rajadhyksha 2003).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Basudhara Sen

Basudhara Sen is an independent researcher of Sociology living in Austin, TX. She received her PhD in Sociology from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater in 2013, Masters in Sociology from University of Calcutta, India in 2005, and Bachelors in Sociology from Presidency College, University of Calcutta in 2003. Her research focuses on immigration, ethnicity, and identity, emphasizing on South Asian immigrants in the United States.

J. David Knottnerus

J. David Knottnerus is Emeritus Regents Professor of Sociology at Oklahoma State University. He received a BA in Sociology from Beloit College and an MA and PhD in Sociology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Knottnerus spent 26 years as a Sociology Professor at Oklahoma State University and prior to that was a Sociology Professor at the University of Tampa. He has published extensively in the areas of ritual dynamics, social theory, social psychology, group processes, and social inequality. In recent years he has focused on the development of structural ritualization theory and research, which analyzes the role ritual plays in social life. His most recent books are Ritual as a Missing Link: Sociology, Structural Ritualization Theory and Research (2012, Paradigm Publishers) and, coauthored with Jason S. Ulsperger, Elder Care Catastrophe: Rituals of Abuse in Nursing Homes – and What You Can Do About It (2011, Paradigm Publishers).