Bhrigupati Singh on Secularity, Religion, and Quality of Life in Rural India

May 30, 2017

Bhrigupati Singh was selected by the American Academy of Religion (AAR), as the recipient of the 2016 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in the category of Analytical-Descriptive Studies.  The award was given for his first book, Poverty and the Quest for Life: Spiritual and Material Striving in Rural India. Singh was recently interviewd by Kristian Peterson (AAR) in which his speaks about how his examination of the Sahariyas, a tribe living in extreme poverty in Northwest India, stretches and blurs the boundaries of religion and secularity in studying how the tribespeople reflect on questions of ethics, happiness, and quality of life. His work encourages scholars of religion—particularly those engaging with nonwestern traditions—to develop a comparative vocabulary that goes beyond Eurocentrism and Postcolonialism alike. Listen to the full podcast.