Speaker(s)
Description
In rural Punjab, farmers conceive of their relationship to the world around them in ways that build on complex ideas about God and the supernatural that are influenced by orthodox Islam as represented in the Qur’an as well as more syncretic notions that have their origins in pre-Islamic religious practices and beliefs from the Indian Sub Continent. Here, we examine the ways that local Punjabi farmers conceptualize Nature, God and themselves. We look at the ways these conceptualisations influence their explanations for the negative effects of environmental and political change over the past two decades.
Class syllabus