Dissentiments : non-religion, violence and the politics of visibility in South Asia / Jacob Copeman, Amélie Blom, Ben Laws, Johannes Quack, Mascha Schulz

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Copeman, Jacob, author.

Blom, A. (Amélie), author.

Laws, Ben, author.

Quack, Johannes, author.

Schulz, Mascha, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Irreligion--India.

Irreligion.

Irreligion--Pakistan.

Irreligion--Bangladesh.

Religion and politics--Bangladesh.

Religion and politics.

Religion and politics--India.

Religion and politics--Pakistan.

Violence--Religious aspects.

Violence.

Bangladesh.

India.

Pakistan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026

Summary:

"In 2013 and the years that followed, a series of attacks unfolded across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh – attributed to militant Hindu nationalist, Islamist and sometimes complicit state actors – targeting irreligious dissenters. These included the murder of rationalist leader Narendra Dabholkar in India, the machete attacks on the so-called atheist bloggers in Bangladesh, and the death sentence imposed on academic Junaid Hafeez in Pakistan. Amid a vast literature on Hindutva, militant Islam, communal politics and the legal regimes that surround them, Dissentiments approaches these dynamics from a new and distinctive angle: their fraught and sometimes violent relationship with people labelled as non-religious. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Europe, the book examines how non-religious individuals navigate the risks of public expression where religion remains intertwined with nationalism and political authority, offering a new perspective on how non-religious critique becomes both vulnerable and politically productive"-- Provided by publisher

Contents:

‘I crossed an invisible line’ : Introduction

‘The blogger issue is over’ : Bangladesh (Sylhet)

‘We only exposed a few things’ : India (Maharashtra)

‘From then on, to feel fear was normal for us’ : India (Punjab)

‘If only i’d known I was putting my hand in the snake’s hole’ : Pakistan (Punjab)

‘I call being an atheist a convert’ : Europe (Sweden and the Netherlands)

‘I thought about deleting it, but it was too late’ : conclusion

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed August 17, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Copeman, Jacob Dissentiments

ISBN:

9781009783392

1009783394

OCLC:

1611116698

Publisher Number:

CIPO000418881

Access Restriction:

Some versions: Open access versions available from some providers open access