{"id":15695,"date":"2020-12-27T16:28:03","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T15:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.testanonpertinente.net\/?p=15695"},"modified":"2021-02-17T20:53:36","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T19:53:36","slug":"15695","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testanonpertinente.net\/?p=15695","title":{"rendered":"croyance, dieux, imagination, inde, postcolonial, religion (Chakrabarty, Provincializing Europe. Postcolonial thought and historical difference)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Consider the fol\u00adlo\u00adwing des\u00adcrip\u00adtion from the 1930s of a par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar fes\u00adti\u00adval (still quite com\u00admon in India) that entails the wor\u00adshi\u00adping of machi\u00adne\u00adry by wor\u00adkers : \u201cIn some of the jute mil\u00adls near Calcutta the mecha\u00adnics often sacri\u00adfice goats at this time [autumn]. A sepa\u00adrate alter is erec\u00adted by the mecha\u00adnics\u2026 . Various tools and other emblems are pla\u00adced upon it\u2026 . Incense is burnt\u2026 . Towards eve\u00adning a male goat is tho\u00adrough\u00adly washed \u2026 and pre\u00adpa\u00adred for a \u2026 final sacri\u00adfice\u2026 . The ani\u00admal is deca\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adted at one stroke \u2026 [and] the head is depo\u00adsi\u00adted in the \u2026 sacred Ganges.\u201d This par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar fes\u00adti\u00adval is cele\u00adbra\u00adted in many parts of north India as a public holi\u00adday for the wor\u00adking class, on a day named after the engi\u00adneer god Vishvakarma. How do we read it ? To the extent that this day has now become a public holi\u00adday in India, it has obvious\u00adly been sub\u00adjec\u00adted to a pro\u00adcess of bar\u00adgai\u00adning bet\u00adween employers, wor\u00adkers, and the state. One could also argue that inso\u00adfar as the ideas of recrea\u00adtion and lei\u00adsure belong to a dis\u00adcourse of what makes labor effi\u00adcient and pro\u00adduc\u00adtive, this \u201creli\u00adgious\u201d holi\u00adday itself belongs to the pro\u00adcess through which labor is mana\u00adged and dis\u00adci\u00adpli\u00adned, and is hence a part of the his\u00adto\u00adry of emer\u00adgence of abs\u00adtract labor in com\u00admo\u00addi\u00adty form. The very public nature of the holi\u00adday shows that it has been writ\u00adten into an emergent natio\u00adnal, secu\u00adlar calen\u00addar of pro\u00adduc\u00adtion. We could thus pro\u00adduce a secu\u00adlar nar\u00adra\u00adtive that would apply to any wor\u00adking-class reli\u00adgious holi\u00adday anyw\u00adhere. Christmas or the Muslim fes\u00adti\u00adval Id could be seen in the same light. The dif\u00adfe\u00adrence bet\u00adween Vishvakarma puja<\/i> (wor\u00adship) and Christmas or Id would then be explai\u00adned anthro\u00adpo\u00adlo\u00adgi\u00adcal\u00adly, that is, by hol\u00adding ano\u00adther mas\u00adter code\u2014\u201cculture\u201d or \u201creligion\u201d\u2014constant and uni\u00adver\u00adsal. The dif\u00adfe\u00adrences bet\u00adween reli\u00adgions are by defi\u00adni\u00adtion inca\u00adpable of brin\u00adging the mas\u00adter cate\u00adgo\u00adry \u201cculture\u201d or \u201creli\u00adgion\u201d into any kind of cri\u00adsis. We know that these cate\u00adgo\u00adries are pro\u00adble\u00adma\u00adtic, that not all people have what is cal\u00adled \u201cculture\u201d or \u201creli\u00adgion\u201d in the English senses of these words, but we have to ope\u00adrate as though this limi\u00adta\u00adtion was not of any great moment. This was exact\u00adly how I trea\u00adted this epi\u00adsode in my own book. The erup\u00adtion of Vishvakarma puja<\/i> inter\u00adrup\u00adting the rhythm of pro\u00adduc\u00adtion, was no threat to my Marxism or secu\u00adla\u00adrism. Like many of my col\u00adleagues in labor his\u00adto\u00adry, I inter\u00adpre\u00adted wor\u00adshi\u00adping machinery\u2014an eve\u00adry\u00adday fact of life in India, from taxis to scoo\u00adter-rick\u00adshaws, mini\u00adbuses and lathe machines\u2014as \u201cinsu\u00adrance poli\u00adcy\u201d against acci\u00addents and contin\u00adgen\u00adcies. That in the so-cal\u00adled reli\u00adgious ima\u00adgi\u00adna\u00adtion (as in lan\u00adguage), redundancy\u2014the huge and, from a strict\u00adly func\u00adtio\u00adna\u00adlist point of view, unne\u00adces\u00adsa\u00adri\u00adly ela\u00adbo\u00adrate pano\u00adply of ico\u00adno\u00adgra\u00adphy and rituals\u2014proved the pover\u00adty of a pure\u00adly func\u00adtio\u00adna\u00adlist approach never deter\u00adred my secu\u00adlar nar\u00adra\u00adtive. The ques\u00adtion of whe\u00adther or not the wor\u00adkers had a conscious or doc\u00adtri\u00adnal belief in gods and spi\u00adrits was also wide of the mark ; after all, gods are as real as ideo\u00adlo\u00adgy is\u2014that is to say, they are embed\u00added in prac\u00adtices. More often than not, their pre\u00adsence is col\u00adlec\u00adti\u00adve\u00adly invo\u00adked by rituals rather than by conscious belief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"