Pentecostalism and Politics of Conversion in India

Sarbeswar Sahoo teaches Sociology at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India. He is also Adjunct Faculty at the Centre for the Study of Religion and Culture in Asia, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. His research interests include Civil Society and Democratization, Sociology of Religion, Pentecostalism, and anti-Christian Violence in India. He is the author of Civil Society and Democratization in India: Institutions, Ideologies and Interests (2013).

• Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction: conversion and the shifting discourse of violence; 2. Spreading like fire: the growth of Pentecostalism among tribals; 3. Taking refuge in Christ: four narratives on religious conversion; 4. Becoming believers: Adivasi women and the Pentecostal Church; 5. Seen as the alien: Hindutva politics and anti-Christian violence; 6. Conclusion: beyond the competing projects of conversion; Endnotes; Bibliography.

'The modern state struggles with social diversity, especially religious diversity. The problem is exacerbated by a religious majority that seeks to define citizenship in exclusively majoritarian terms. India is no exception and we are all too familiar with Hindu and Muslim conflict. Less familiar perhaps is the growth of Pentecostalism in India which is often violently rejected by Hindu nationalists, but also criticized by mainstream Christianity. This book is a remarkable study of the spread of Pentecostalism mainly among the poor among the Bhil tribes of Rajastan. This fascinating account of the complexity of conversion experiences shows how religious conversion leads to both hope and social mobility. A major contribution to both the study of modern India and to the sociology of religion.' Bryan S. Turner, Australian Catholic University