With states representing Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu majorities, South Asia presents a unique opportunity to examine cross-religious insights into the strategies employed by different religious stakeholders. Following the partition in 1947, Pakistan and India adopted different political and constitutional approaches regarding ethnification, religious diversity and embracing pluralism. In his lecture, Dr Thomas Gugler (Münster) presents his research project, in which he systematically analyzed the effects of nation-state religious policies in South Asia. As such, the project adressed the tension between plurality and pluralism as a project of valuing diversity, which may conflict with identity resources that rely on conformity.
Thomas Gugler's research project "Cultures of Plurality in Contemporary South Asia" was funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation as part of the special programme Islam.