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'Helping people is real Jainism’: class privileged diasporic Jains affirm citizenship and multiple belongings through transnational philanthropy to a Jain faith-based organisation in India

'Helping people is real Jainism’: class privileged diasporic Jains affirm citizenship and multiple belongings through transnational philanthropy to a Jain faith-based organisation in India
'Helping people is real Jainism’: class privileged diasporic Jains affirm citizenship and multiple belongings through transnational philanthropy to a Jain faith-based organisation in India

The dominant diaspora-development discourse privileges rational imperatives and focuses on remittances to households while ignoring diaspora philanthropy to organisations. In India, religious organisations receive significant levels of diaspora philanthropy yet the motivations and cultural meanings behind such transfers, or its transnational dimensions are little understood. I examine these themes through in-depth interviews with 24 Jains in UK, U.S.A and Singapore who have supported Veerayatan, a Jain faith-based organisation established by Jain nuns to deliver welfare services in India over an extensive period. I contend that diasporic Jains display a hybrid logic of philanthropy; humanitarian ideals intersect with shared Jain religious norms to motivate giving. Support for Veerayatan is sustained through social capital; embeddedness in lateral networks of co-religionists as well as ties with the nuns in the homeland. This transnational engagement is a marker of citizenship and multiple belongings, of being British, American or Singaporean differently for class-privileged diasporic Jains.

India, Jain, Philanthropy, diaspora, homeland, religion, transnational
1943-8192
129-144
Shah, Bindi
c5c7510a-3b3d-4d12-a02a-c98e09734166
Shah, Bindi
c5c7510a-3b3d-4d12-a02a-c98e09734166

Shah, Bindi (2020) 'Helping people is real Jainism’: class privileged diasporic Jains affirm citizenship and multiple belongings through transnational philanthropy to a Jain faith-based organisation in India. South Asian Diaspora, 12 (2), 129-144. (doi:10.1080/19438192.2019.1679464).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The dominant diaspora-development discourse privileges rational imperatives and focuses on remittances to households while ignoring diaspora philanthropy to organisations. In India, religious organisations receive significant levels of diaspora philanthropy yet the motivations and cultural meanings behind such transfers, or its transnational dimensions are little understood. I examine these themes through in-depth interviews with 24 Jains in UK, U.S.A and Singapore who have supported Veerayatan, a Jain faith-based organisation established by Jain nuns to deliver welfare services in India over an extensive period. I contend that diasporic Jains display a hybrid logic of philanthropy; humanitarian ideals intersect with shared Jain religious norms to motivate giving. Support for Veerayatan is sustained through social capital; embeddedness in lateral networks of co-religionists as well as ties with the nuns in the homeland. This transnational engagement is a marker of citizenship and multiple belongings, of being British, American or Singaporean differently for class-privileged diasporic Jains.

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Accepted/In Press date: 3 October 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 15 October 2019
Published date: 2 July 2020
Keywords: India, Jain, Philanthropy, diaspora, homeland, religion, transnational

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 435333
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/435333
ISSN: 1943-8192
PURE UUID: 7c624dad-8c41-4064-81bb-3ab80b2f58f3
ORCID for Bindi Shah: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5571-9755

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 30 Oct 2019 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:23

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