Religion and Identity in the Indian Ocean World

This is a ground-breaking volume on the role of religion as a major force of cohesion across the Indian Ocean region.

A diverse range of experts present a case for conceptualizing religion as an enabler of not only shared religious identities throughout the Indian Ocean world, but multiple shared identities mediated through religion, particularly as religion intersects with other manifestations of human society in this part of the world. This theme is explored through six major religious traditions, many of which originated in the Indian Ocean region, and all of which have played major roles throughout its history and to the present day. These traditions include Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. With this breadth and coverage of these traditions and their role in unifying communities from East Africa to Western Australia (including those belonging to nations north of that expanse of ocean), this book is a pioneering work on the multi-religious identities of the region.

Mark Fielding is Senior Lecturer in Education at Sheridan Institute of Higher Education, Australia and Director of the Indian Ocean Research Centre.
Joshua Esler is a researcher and Senior Lecturer in Asian Studies at Sheridan Institute of Higher Education and Director of the Indian Ocean Research Centre. He is also Senior Research Fellow at the Indo-Pacific Research Centre, Murdoch University, Australia.