| Publication |
2009.
|
| Summary/Abstract |
The familiar dichotomies 'modern and traditional', 'public and private', and 'secular and religious' have long been considered self-evident analytical categories in the social sciences. In recent years, however, an academic paradigm shift, together with the influence of post-colonial theories, has led many to question such binaries in an attempt to go beyond and dissolve them. The following examination of local practices within a South Asian culture in the context of modernity and globalisation takes this approach. The first section is a retrospective look at twentieth-century historical discourses about family systems among Muslims in South India. The second part analyses recent changes in cultural practices within the same group, focusing on the impact that migration and 'Islamisation' have had on gender relations over the past three or four decades. By 'Islamisation' I do not mean a fixed ideology, but a changing perception that strengthens religious and cultural values among people who consider themselves Muslims.
|