Caroline Osella | SOAS University of London (original) (raw)

Papers by Caroline Osella

Abstract for paper in prep and soon to be uploaded. Interlocutors welcome.

Culture and Religion, 2012

I trace here some connections between contemporary reconfigurations of gendering, family and marr... more I trace here some connections between contemporary reconfigurations of gendering, family and marriage in a matrilineal Muslim south Indian community (Kerala Koyas). I argue that shifts from joint matrifocal households to small neo-patriarchal households are underscored by market reforms, migration processes, Islamic reformism and by modernist processes which work towards purging queer forms of affect and gender in favour of impeccably gendered heterosexual subjectivities. I also note considerable ambivalence and tension within these moves, and argue against any teleological mappings of such moves that would – first – take for granted and – then – celebrate a shift from Indian ‘arranged marriage’ towards a ‘pure relationship’, founded on romantic and passionate love. In thus article, I present recent academic discussions of Western marriage, Indian middle-class and Indian subaltern marriages, and conclude that many commonly drawn oppositions (‘love’ versus ‘arranged’, ‘companionate’ versus ‘ economic-pragmatic’, ‘till death do us part’ versus ‘easy divorce’) are representational fictions requiring sharp critique. I also address the question of moral panic around female-centred households and proffer feminist and queer critiques. Finally, I build upon work by Saba Mahmood and others who are urging Western academics to examine their own production as liberal subjects.

Fashion Theory-the Journal of Dress Body & Culture, 2007

This article presents ethnographic material from contemporary Kerala, where recent shifts in Musl... more This article presents ethnographic material from contemporary Kerala, where recent shifts in Muslim women's dress styles (shift from sari towards salwaar kameez; adoption of pardah; use of Arabic abaya) have come under critique. We show that commentators fail to take into ...

Journal of The Royal Anthropological Institute, 2006

This article explores how members of an ex-untouchable, ‘backward’ community of South India – the... more This article explores how members of an ex-untouchable, ‘backward’ community of South India – the Izhavas of Kerala – represent and make sense of their entanglements within ‘modernity’. Izhava narratives suggest ambivalence: while failure stories remain individualized, narrated in terms of bad luck or others' cheating, success stories are presented as exemplars of a twentieth-century global master narrative of progress. We note many correspondences between this ex-untouchable community's optimistic master narrative and another powerful and pervasive meta-narrative – the global story of modernity as development, promoted by state government, reform movements, and development theorists alike. Life-history narratives forcibly bring us – European interlocutors – into the same space as the tale-tellers, speak of encounters between Indians and Europeans, and urge us to recognize that we live in ‘one world’. Malayalis stake claims for equal participation in modernity's projects even as they point out ways in which coevalness is denied. This prompts us to suggest that narratives of modernity in India and the UK should occupy the same analytical space, contrary to moves to theorize multiple modernities. With our Malayali respondents, we are participating in a confabulation/confabrication of a shared story which appears to be one about the nature of global capitalism. Modernity produces dream and disillusionment, promising progress to all while delivering to a few. In its seemingly endless capacity for self-regeneration and reinvention it is, as a phenomenon in global history, far from over. Even as theorists try to write it off as a moment past or a project failed, it still holds out its promises and provides a structuring framework for contemporary life-stories.

Contributions To Indian Sociology, 2003

This article discusses relationships between ritual change and out-migration in rural Kerala, sou... more This article discusses relationships between ritual change and out-migration in rural Kerala, south India, via ethnography of kuthiyottam, a sacrifice of human blood standing metonymically for full human sacrifice. Migration-in particular to the Gulf-has accelerated ongoing ...

First published 2000 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 22883 Quicksilver Drive, ... more First published 2000 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166-2012. USA www.plutobooks.com Copyright © Filippo Osella and Caroline Osella 2000 The right of Filippo Osella and Caroline Osella to be identified as the authors ...

Journal of The Royal Anthropological Institute, 2003

Sabarimala -a South Indian all-male pilgrimage to Ayyappan, a hyper-male deity born from two male... more Sabarimala -a South Indian all-male pilgrimage to Ayyappan, a hyper-male deity born from two male gods -plays a role in constructing male identities, at both external (socialstructural) and internal (psychological) levels. The pilgrimage draws creatively on relationships between two South Asian male figures: renouncer and householder, breaking down the opposition between transcendence and immanence to bring into everyday life a sense of transcendence specific to men. This also has masculine and heroic overtones, characterized by ascetic self-denial and pain and by the identification of pilgrims with the deity and his perilous mountain-forest journey. Pilgrimage bestows power as blessings from Ayyappan and as specifically masculine forms of spiritual, moral, and bodily strength, while acting as signifier of masculine superior purity and strength and of male responsibilities towards family welfare. Sabarimala merges individual men both with the hyper-masculine deity and with a wider community of men: other male pilgrims, senior male gurus (teachers). This merger is both social and personal. A normal and universal sense of masculine ambivalence and self-doubt has a specific local-cultural resolution, when boys and men experience strengthening of the gendered ego through renunciatory self-immersion in a 'greater masculine'. The ostensibly egalitarian devotional community is actually hierarchical: pilgrims surrender themselves to deity and guru, while equality and friendship between men can be celebrated and performed precisely because it is predicated upon a deeper sense of difference and hierarchy -gender -with woman as the absent and inferiorized other. Such segregated celebrations of masculinity work both towards masculinity's reproduction -through processes of 'remasculinization' -and in the limiting of masculinity to males.

... heightens its mysterious attraction' (1984: 143). Deferment, denial and ... more ... heightens its mysterious attraction' (1984: 143). Deferment, denial and destiny are then what make this game possible; all three factors are certainly present in the Kerala case, where flirting partners are highly unlikely to be or to become legitimate sexual partners. ...

Journal of The Royal Anthropological Institute, 2009

Muslim entrepreneurs from Kerala, South India, are at the forefront of India's liberalizing econo... more Muslim entrepreneurs from Kerala, South India, are at the forefront of India's liberalizing economy, keen innovators who have adopted the business and labour practices of global capitalism in both Kerala and the Gulf. They are also heavily involved in both charity and politics through activity in Kerala's Muslim public life. They talk about their ‘social mindedness’ as a combination of piety and economic calculation, the two seen not as excluding but reinforcing each other. By promoting modern education among Muslims, entrepreneurs seek to promote economic development while also embedding economic practices within a framework of ethics and moral responsibilities deemed to be ‘Islamic’. Inscribing business into the rhetoric of the ‘common good’ also legitimizes claims to leadership and political influence. Orientations towards self-transformation through education, adoption of a ‘systematic’ lifestyle, and a generalized rationalization of practices have acquired wider currency amongst Muslims following the rise of reformist influence and are now mobilized to sustain novel forms of capital accumulation. At the same time, Islam is called upon to set moral and ethical boundaries for engagement with the neoliberal economy. Instrumentalist analyses cannot adequately explain the vast amounts of time and money which Muslim entrepreneurs put into innumerable ‘social’ projects, and neither ‘political Islam’ nor public pietism adequately captures the possibilities or motivations for engagement among contemporary reformist-orientated Muslims.Muslim entrepreneurs from Kerala, South India, are at the forefront of India's liberalizing economy, keen innovators who have adopted the business and labour practices of global capitalism in both Kerala and the Gulf. They are also heavily involved in both charity and politics through activity in Kerala's Muslim public life. They talk about their ‘social mindedness’ as a combination of piety and economic calculation, the two seen not as excluding but reinforcing each other. By promoting modern education among Muslims, entrepreneurs seek to promote economic development while also embedding economic practices within a framework of ethics and moral responsibilities deemed to be ‘Islamic’. Inscribing business into the rhetoric of the ‘common good’ also legitimizes claims to leadership and political influence. Orientations towards self-transformation through education, adoption of a ‘systematic’ lifestyle, and a generalized rationalization of practices have acquired wider currency amongst Muslims following the rise of reformist influence and are now mobilized to sustain novel forms of capital accumulation. At the same time, Islam is called upon to set moral and ethical boundaries for engagement with the neoliberal economy. Instrumentalist analyses cannot adequately explain the vast amounts of time and money which Muslim entrepreneurs put into innumerable ‘social’ projects, and neither ‘political Islam’ nor public pietism adequately captures the possibilities or motivations for engagement among contemporary reformist-orientated Muslims.RésuméLes entrepreneurs musulmans de l’état indien du Kerala sont en première ligne dans l’économie indienne en voie de libéralisation. Ces innovateurs ont adopté les pratiques d’entreprise et de gestion de la main-d’œuvre du capitalisme global, aussi bien dans le Kerala que dans le Golfe Persique. Ils sont également très engagés dans la bienfaisance et la politique, par leur activité dans la vie publique des musulmans du Kerala. Ils parlent de leur « esprit social » comme d’une combinaison de piété et de calcul économique, lesquelles sont perçues non pas comme mutuellement exclusives mais comme se renforçant mutuellement. En promouvant une éducation moderne des musulmans, ils tentent de favoriser le développement économique tout en plaçant leurs pratiques économiques dans un cadre d’éthique et de responsabilités morales considéré comme « islamique ». En inscrivant les affaires dans la rhétorique du « bien commun », ils légitiment du même coup leurs revendications de leadership et d’influence politique. L’orientation vers la transformation de soi par le biais de l’éducation, l’adoption d’un mode de vie « systématique » et une rationalisation généralisée des pratiques ont été largement adoptées parmi les musulmans sous l’effet de l’influence croissante des réformistes, et elles sont à présent mobilisées à l’appui de nouvelles formes d’accumulation de capital. Dans le même temps, on invoque l’islam pour fixer des limites morales et éthiques à l’engagement dans l’économie néolibérale. Les analyses instrumentalistes ne suffissent pas à expliquer la masse de temps et d’argent que les entrepreneurs musulmans consacrent à d’innombrables projets « sociaux ». Ni l’islam « politique » ni le piétisme public ne peuvent non plus rendre compte de façon adéquate des possibilités ou motivations d’engagement des musulmans réformistes contemporains.Les entrepreneurs musulmans de l’état indien du Kerala sont en première ligne dans l’économie indienne en voie de libéralisation. Ces innovateurs ont adopté les pratiques d’entreprise et de gestion de la main-d’œuvre du capitalisme global, aussi bien dans le Kerala que dans le Golfe Persique. Ils sont également très engagés dans la bienfaisance et la politique, par leur activité dans la vie publique des musulmans du Kerala. Ils parlent de leur « esprit social » comme d’une combinaison de piété et de calcul économique, lesquelles sont perçues non pas comme mutuellement exclusives mais comme se renforçant mutuellement. En promouvant une éducation moderne des musulmans, ils tentent de favoriser le développement économique tout en plaçant leurs pratiques économiques dans un cadre d’éthique et de responsabilités morales considéré comme « islamique ». En inscrivant les affaires dans la rhétorique du « bien commun », ils légitiment du même coup leurs revendications de leadership et d’influence politique. L’orientation vers la transformation de soi par le biais de l’éducation, l’adoption d’un mode de vie « systématique » et une rationalisation généralisée des pratiques ont été largement adoptées parmi les musulmans sous l’effet de l’influence croissante des réformistes, et elles sont à présent mobilisées à l’appui de nouvelles formes d’accumulation de capital. Dans le même temps, on invoque l’islam pour fixer des limites morales et éthiques à l’engagement dans l’économie néolibérale. Les analyses instrumentalistes ne suffissent pas à expliquer la masse de temps et d’argent que les entrepreneurs musulmans consacrent à d’innombrables projets « sociaux ». Ni l’islam « politique » ni le piétisme public ne peuvent non plus rendre compte de façon adéquate des possibilités ou motivations d’engagement des musulmans réformistes contemporains.

This article examines migration, styles of masculinity and male trajectories through the lifecycl... more This article examines migration, styles of masculinity and male trajectories through the lifecycle in Kerala, South India, in a region with a long history of high migration, most lately to the Persian Gulf states. Ethnography suggests that migration may be integrated into wider identity projects and form part of local subjectivities. The article considers four important local categories: the gulfan migrant, typically an immature unmarried male; the kallan, a selfinterested maximizer or individualistic anti-social man; the pavam, an innocent good-guy, generous to the point of self-destruction; mature householder status, a successful, social, mature man holding substantial personal wealth, supporting many dependents and clients. Another theme to emerge is the relationship between masculinity and cash: migration appears as particularly relevant to masculinity in its enhanced relationship with money, an externalizable (detachable) form of masculine potency: maturity means being able to use such resources wisely.

Modern Asian Studies, 2008

This paper critiques ethnographic tendencies to idealise and celebrate sufi 'traditionalism' as a... more This paper critiques ethnographic tendencies to idealise and celebrate sufi 'traditionalism' as authentically South Asian. We perceive strong academic trends of frank distaste for reformism, which is then inaccurately-and dangerously buttressing Hindutva rhetoric-branded as going against the grain of South Asian society. This often goes along with (inaccurate) branding of all reformism as 'foreign inspired' or wah'habi. Kerala's Mujahids (Kerala Naduvathul Mujahideen [KNM]) are clearly part of universalistic trends and shared Islamic impulses towards purification. We acknowledge the importance to KNM of longstanding links to the Arab world, contemporary links to the Gulf, wider currents of Islamic reform (both global and Indian), while also showing how reformism has been producing itself locally since the mid-19th century. Reformist enthusiasm is part of Kerala-wide patterns discernable across all religious communities: 1920s and 1930s agitations for a break from the 19th century past; 1950s post-independence social activism; post 1980s religious revivalism. Kerala's Muslims (like Kerala Hindus and Christians) associate religious reformism with: a self-consciously 'modern' outlook; the promotion of education; rallying of support from the middle classes. There is a concomitant contemporary association of orthoprax traditionalism with 'backward', superstitious and un-modern practices, troped as being located in rural and low-status locations.

Modern Asian Studies, 1999

In this paper, we explore some ways through which the adoption of specific consumption practices ... more In this paper, we explore some ways through which the adoption of specific consumption practices enables members of a South-Indian ex-untouchable community, Izhavas within Kerala, to objectify and redefine their self-perceived and other-perceived social position, and to concretize ...

Contributions To Indian Sociology, 1996

... Contributions to Indian Sociology DOI: 10.1177/006996679603000102 1996; 30; 37 Contributions ... more ... Contributions to Indian Sociology DOI: 10.1177/006996679603000102 1996; 30; 37 Contributions to Indian Sociology Filippo Osella and Caroline Osella Articulation of physical and social bodies in Kerala ... bodies in Kerala Filippo Osella and Caroline Osella ...

South Asia-journal of South Asian Studies, 2008

Modern Asian Studies, 2008

The authors in this volume discuss contemporary Islamic reformism in South Asia in some of its di... more The authors in this volume discuss contemporary Islamic reformism in South Asia in some of its diverse historical orientations and geographical expressions, bringing us contemporary ethnographic perspectives against which to test claims about processes of reform and about trends ...

American Ethnologist, 1999

Abstract for paper in prep and soon to be uploaded. Interlocutors welcome.

Culture and Religion, 2012

I trace here some connections between contemporary reconfigurations of gendering, family and marr... more I trace here some connections between contemporary reconfigurations of gendering, family and marriage in a matrilineal Muslim south Indian community (Kerala Koyas). I argue that shifts from joint matrifocal households to small neo-patriarchal households are underscored by market reforms, migration processes, Islamic reformism and by modernist processes which work towards purging queer forms of affect and gender in favour of impeccably gendered heterosexual subjectivities. I also note considerable ambivalence and tension within these moves, and argue against any teleological mappings of such moves that would – first – take for granted and – then – celebrate a shift from Indian ‘arranged marriage’ towards a ‘pure relationship’, founded on romantic and passionate love. In thus article, I present recent academic discussions of Western marriage, Indian middle-class and Indian subaltern marriages, and conclude that many commonly drawn oppositions (‘love’ versus ‘arranged’, ‘companionate’ versus ‘ economic-pragmatic’, ‘till death do us part’ versus ‘easy divorce’) are representational fictions requiring sharp critique. I also address the question of moral panic around female-centred households and proffer feminist and queer critiques. Finally, I build upon work by Saba Mahmood and others who are urging Western academics to examine their own production as liberal subjects.

Fashion Theory-the Journal of Dress Body & Culture, 2007

This article presents ethnographic material from contemporary Kerala, where recent shifts in Musl... more This article presents ethnographic material from contemporary Kerala, where recent shifts in Muslim women's dress styles (shift from sari towards salwaar kameez; adoption of pardah; use of Arabic abaya) have come under critique. We show that commentators fail to take into ...

Journal of The Royal Anthropological Institute, 2006

This article explores how members of an ex-untouchable, ‘backward’ community of South India – the... more This article explores how members of an ex-untouchable, ‘backward’ community of South India – the Izhavas of Kerala – represent and make sense of their entanglements within ‘modernity’. Izhava narratives suggest ambivalence: while failure stories remain individualized, narrated in terms of bad luck or others' cheating, success stories are presented as exemplars of a twentieth-century global master narrative of progress. We note many correspondences between this ex-untouchable community's optimistic master narrative and another powerful and pervasive meta-narrative – the global story of modernity as development, promoted by state government, reform movements, and development theorists alike. Life-history narratives forcibly bring us – European interlocutors – into the same space as the tale-tellers, speak of encounters between Indians and Europeans, and urge us to recognize that we live in ‘one world’. Malayalis stake claims for equal participation in modernity's projects even as they point out ways in which coevalness is denied. This prompts us to suggest that narratives of modernity in India and the UK should occupy the same analytical space, contrary to moves to theorize multiple modernities. With our Malayali respondents, we are participating in a confabulation/confabrication of a shared story which appears to be one about the nature of global capitalism. Modernity produces dream and disillusionment, promising progress to all while delivering to a few. In its seemingly endless capacity for self-regeneration and reinvention it is, as a phenomenon in global history, far from over. Even as theorists try to write it off as a moment past or a project failed, it still holds out its promises and provides a structuring framework for contemporary life-stories.

Contributions To Indian Sociology, 2003

This article discusses relationships between ritual change and out-migration in rural Kerala, sou... more This article discusses relationships between ritual change and out-migration in rural Kerala, south India, via ethnography of kuthiyottam, a sacrifice of human blood standing metonymically for full human sacrifice. Migration-in particular to the Gulf-has accelerated ongoing ...

First published 2000 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 22883 Quicksilver Drive, ... more First published 2000 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166-2012. USA www.plutobooks.com Copyright © Filippo Osella and Caroline Osella 2000 The right of Filippo Osella and Caroline Osella to be identified as the authors ...

Journal of The Royal Anthropological Institute, 2003

Sabarimala -a South Indian all-male pilgrimage to Ayyappan, a hyper-male deity born from two male... more Sabarimala -a South Indian all-male pilgrimage to Ayyappan, a hyper-male deity born from two male gods -plays a role in constructing male identities, at both external (socialstructural) and internal (psychological) levels. The pilgrimage draws creatively on relationships between two South Asian male figures: renouncer and householder, breaking down the opposition between transcendence and immanence to bring into everyday life a sense of transcendence specific to men. This also has masculine and heroic overtones, characterized by ascetic self-denial and pain and by the identification of pilgrims with the deity and his perilous mountain-forest journey. Pilgrimage bestows power as blessings from Ayyappan and as specifically masculine forms of spiritual, moral, and bodily strength, while acting as signifier of masculine superior purity and strength and of male responsibilities towards family welfare. Sabarimala merges individual men both with the hyper-masculine deity and with a wider community of men: other male pilgrims, senior male gurus (teachers). This merger is both social and personal. A normal and universal sense of masculine ambivalence and self-doubt has a specific local-cultural resolution, when boys and men experience strengthening of the gendered ego through renunciatory self-immersion in a 'greater masculine'. The ostensibly egalitarian devotional community is actually hierarchical: pilgrims surrender themselves to deity and guru, while equality and friendship between men can be celebrated and performed precisely because it is predicated upon a deeper sense of difference and hierarchy -gender -with woman as the absent and inferiorized other. Such segregated celebrations of masculinity work both towards masculinity's reproduction -through processes of 'remasculinization' -and in the limiting of masculinity to males.

... heightens its mysterious attraction' (1984: 143). Deferment, denial and ... more ... heightens its mysterious attraction' (1984: 143). Deferment, denial and destiny are then what make this game possible; all three factors are certainly present in the Kerala case, where flirting partners are highly unlikely to be or to become legitimate sexual partners. ...

Journal of The Royal Anthropological Institute, 2009

Muslim entrepreneurs from Kerala, South India, are at the forefront of India's liberalizing econo... more Muslim entrepreneurs from Kerala, South India, are at the forefront of India's liberalizing economy, keen innovators who have adopted the business and labour practices of global capitalism in both Kerala and the Gulf. They are also heavily involved in both charity and politics through activity in Kerala's Muslim public life. They talk about their ‘social mindedness’ as a combination of piety and economic calculation, the two seen not as excluding but reinforcing each other. By promoting modern education among Muslims, entrepreneurs seek to promote economic development while also embedding economic practices within a framework of ethics and moral responsibilities deemed to be ‘Islamic’. Inscribing business into the rhetoric of the ‘common good’ also legitimizes claims to leadership and political influence. Orientations towards self-transformation through education, adoption of a ‘systematic’ lifestyle, and a generalized rationalization of practices have acquired wider currency amongst Muslims following the rise of reformist influence and are now mobilized to sustain novel forms of capital accumulation. At the same time, Islam is called upon to set moral and ethical boundaries for engagement with the neoliberal economy. Instrumentalist analyses cannot adequately explain the vast amounts of time and money which Muslim entrepreneurs put into innumerable ‘social’ projects, and neither ‘political Islam’ nor public pietism adequately captures the possibilities or motivations for engagement among contemporary reformist-orientated Muslims.Muslim entrepreneurs from Kerala, South India, are at the forefront of India's liberalizing economy, keen innovators who have adopted the business and labour practices of global capitalism in both Kerala and the Gulf. They are also heavily involved in both charity and politics through activity in Kerala's Muslim public life. They talk about their ‘social mindedness’ as a combination of piety and economic calculation, the two seen not as excluding but reinforcing each other. By promoting modern education among Muslims, entrepreneurs seek to promote economic development while also embedding economic practices within a framework of ethics and moral responsibilities deemed to be ‘Islamic’. Inscribing business into the rhetoric of the ‘common good’ also legitimizes claims to leadership and political influence. Orientations towards self-transformation through education, adoption of a ‘systematic’ lifestyle, and a generalized rationalization of practices have acquired wider currency amongst Muslims following the rise of reformist influence and are now mobilized to sustain novel forms of capital accumulation. At the same time, Islam is called upon to set moral and ethical boundaries for engagement with the neoliberal economy. Instrumentalist analyses cannot adequately explain the vast amounts of time and money which Muslim entrepreneurs put into innumerable ‘social’ projects, and neither ‘political Islam’ nor public pietism adequately captures the possibilities or motivations for engagement among contemporary reformist-orientated Muslims.RésuméLes entrepreneurs musulmans de l’état indien du Kerala sont en première ligne dans l’économie indienne en voie de libéralisation. Ces innovateurs ont adopté les pratiques d’entreprise et de gestion de la main-d’œuvre du capitalisme global, aussi bien dans le Kerala que dans le Golfe Persique. Ils sont également très engagés dans la bienfaisance et la politique, par leur activité dans la vie publique des musulmans du Kerala. Ils parlent de leur « esprit social » comme d’une combinaison de piété et de calcul économique, lesquelles sont perçues non pas comme mutuellement exclusives mais comme se renforçant mutuellement. En promouvant une éducation moderne des musulmans, ils tentent de favoriser le développement économique tout en plaçant leurs pratiques économiques dans un cadre d’éthique et de responsabilités morales considéré comme « islamique ». En inscrivant les affaires dans la rhétorique du « bien commun », ils légitiment du même coup leurs revendications de leadership et d’influence politique. L’orientation vers la transformation de soi par le biais de l’éducation, l’adoption d’un mode de vie « systématique » et une rationalisation généralisée des pratiques ont été largement adoptées parmi les musulmans sous l’effet de l’influence croissante des réformistes, et elles sont à présent mobilisées à l’appui de nouvelles formes d’accumulation de capital. Dans le même temps, on invoque l’islam pour fixer des limites morales et éthiques à l’engagement dans l’économie néolibérale. Les analyses instrumentalistes ne suffissent pas à expliquer la masse de temps et d’argent que les entrepreneurs musulmans consacrent à d’innombrables projets « sociaux ». Ni l’islam « politique » ni le piétisme public ne peuvent non plus rendre compte de façon adéquate des possibilités ou motivations d’engagement des musulmans réformistes contemporains.Les entrepreneurs musulmans de l’état indien du Kerala sont en première ligne dans l’économie indienne en voie de libéralisation. Ces innovateurs ont adopté les pratiques d’entreprise et de gestion de la main-d’œuvre du capitalisme global, aussi bien dans le Kerala que dans le Golfe Persique. Ils sont également très engagés dans la bienfaisance et la politique, par leur activité dans la vie publique des musulmans du Kerala. Ils parlent de leur « esprit social » comme d’une combinaison de piété et de calcul économique, lesquelles sont perçues non pas comme mutuellement exclusives mais comme se renforçant mutuellement. En promouvant une éducation moderne des musulmans, ils tentent de favoriser le développement économique tout en plaçant leurs pratiques économiques dans un cadre d’éthique et de responsabilités morales considéré comme « islamique ». En inscrivant les affaires dans la rhétorique du « bien commun », ils légitiment du même coup leurs revendications de leadership et d’influence politique. L’orientation vers la transformation de soi par le biais de l’éducation, l’adoption d’un mode de vie « systématique » et une rationalisation généralisée des pratiques ont été largement adoptées parmi les musulmans sous l’effet de l’influence croissante des réformistes, et elles sont à présent mobilisées à l’appui de nouvelles formes d’accumulation de capital. Dans le même temps, on invoque l’islam pour fixer des limites morales et éthiques à l’engagement dans l’économie néolibérale. Les analyses instrumentalistes ne suffissent pas à expliquer la masse de temps et d’argent que les entrepreneurs musulmans consacrent à d’innombrables projets « sociaux ». Ni l’islam « politique » ni le piétisme public ne peuvent non plus rendre compte de façon adéquate des possibilités ou motivations d’engagement des musulmans réformistes contemporains.

This article examines migration, styles of masculinity and male trajectories through the lifecycl... more This article examines migration, styles of masculinity and male trajectories through the lifecycle in Kerala, South India, in a region with a long history of high migration, most lately to the Persian Gulf states. Ethnography suggests that migration may be integrated into wider identity projects and form part of local subjectivities. The article considers four important local categories: the gulfan migrant, typically an immature unmarried male; the kallan, a selfinterested maximizer or individualistic anti-social man; the pavam, an innocent good-guy, generous to the point of self-destruction; mature householder status, a successful, social, mature man holding substantial personal wealth, supporting many dependents and clients. Another theme to emerge is the relationship between masculinity and cash: migration appears as particularly relevant to masculinity in its enhanced relationship with money, an externalizable (detachable) form of masculine potency: maturity means being able to use such resources wisely.

Modern Asian Studies, 2008

This paper critiques ethnographic tendencies to idealise and celebrate sufi 'traditionalism' as a... more This paper critiques ethnographic tendencies to idealise and celebrate sufi 'traditionalism' as authentically South Asian. We perceive strong academic trends of frank distaste for reformism, which is then inaccurately-and dangerously buttressing Hindutva rhetoric-branded as going against the grain of South Asian society. This often goes along with (inaccurate) branding of all reformism as 'foreign inspired' or wah'habi. Kerala's Mujahids (Kerala Naduvathul Mujahideen [KNM]) are clearly part of universalistic trends and shared Islamic impulses towards purification. We acknowledge the importance to KNM of longstanding links to the Arab world, contemporary links to the Gulf, wider currents of Islamic reform (both global and Indian), while also showing how reformism has been producing itself locally since the mid-19th century. Reformist enthusiasm is part of Kerala-wide patterns discernable across all religious communities: 1920s and 1930s agitations for a break from the 19th century past; 1950s post-independence social activism; post 1980s religious revivalism. Kerala's Muslims (like Kerala Hindus and Christians) associate religious reformism with: a self-consciously 'modern' outlook; the promotion of education; rallying of support from the middle classes. There is a concomitant contemporary association of orthoprax traditionalism with 'backward', superstitious and un-modern practices, troped as being located in rural and low-status locations.

Modern Asian Studies, 1999

In this paper, we explore some ways through which the adoption of specific consumption practices ... more In this paper, we explore some ways through which the adoption of specific consumption practices enables members of a South-Indian ex-untouchable community, Izhavas within Kerala, to objectify and redefine their self-perceived and other-perceived social position, and to concretize ...

Contributions To Indian Sociology, 1996

... Contributions to Indian Sociology DOI: 10.1177/006996679603000102 1996; 30; 37 Contributions ... more ... Contributions to Indian Sociology DOI: 10.1177/006996679603000102 1996; 30; 37 Contributions to Indian Sociology Filippo Osella and Caroline Osella Articulation of physical and social bodies in Kerala ... bodies in Kerala Filippo Osella and Caroline Osella ...

South Asia-journal of South Asian Studies, 2008

Modern Asian Studies, 2008

The authors in this volume discuss contemporary Islamic reformism in South Asia in some of its di... more The authors in this volume discuss contemporary Islamic reformism in South Asia in some of its diverse historical orientations and geographical expressions, bringing us contemporary ethnographic perspectives against which to test claims about processes of reform and about trends ...

American Ethnologist, 1999