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Accepted Paper:
Renouncing the world to save the planet: comparing reflexive accounts on conversions in a contemporary Hindu sect
Raphaël Voix
(Centre for South Asian Studies, Paris, CNRS-EHESS)
Paper short abstract:
In this paper, I shall examine the narratives of different individuals who converted to Ananda Marga, a Bengali contemporary Saivite sect, through a vow of renunciation.
Paper long abstract:
In this paper, I shall examine the narratives of different individuals who converted to an exclusive cult, Ananda Marga, a Bengali contemporary Saivite sect, through a vow of renunciation. By examining individual life histories in a comparative perspective, I will question the way these actors understood their own commitment but also what they make out of this reflexivity. I will show that the change of religion is not understood as a change of doxa but as a change of praxis: renouncing the world is experienced here as a way to engage oneself differently in the world. Finally I will underline how one's own reflexivity can be used as a tool for propagating one's own religion.
Panel
P30
Religious change and actors' reflexivity: an exploration through individual trajectories in South Asia
Session 1