The Power of Conversion and Foreignness of Belonging in an Indian Slum The Anthropology of Christianity
Hardcover, 312 pages
English language
Published Dec. 28, 2016 by University of California Press.
To Be Cared For offers a unique view into the conceptual and moral world of slum-bound Dalits (“untouchables”) in the South Indian city of Chennai. Focusing on the decision by many women to embrace locally specific forms of Pentecostal Christianity, Nathaniel Roberts challenges dominant anthropological understandings of religion as a matter of culture and identity, as well as Indian nationalist narratives of Christianity as a “foreign” ideology that disrupts local communities. Far from being a divisive force, conversion integrates the slum community—Christians and Hindus alike—by addressing hidden moral fault lines that subtly pit residents against one another in a national context that renders Dalits outsiders in their own land."
From the outset, this books seems to just study conversion in Indian slums. It does so with scientific rigour, without being dull, and manages to incorporate and discuss different anthropologist theories without breaking the flow of writing.
