Sikh Women In England

This study by a Sikh woman who came to England after growing up and going to university in the Punjab illustrates the changes in the values of Sikh women in England over the years and between the migrants and British born Sikhs. Her research subjects, all based in Leeds, come from varied backgrounds and together make up a picture of Sikh women that is transferable to England and the UK. The book is arranged as follows Chapter 1 The backgrounds of the Sikh women Chapter 2 Religious values Chapter 3 Women in Sikhism and Sikh society Chapter 4 The social life of Sikh women Chapter 5 Cultural values Chapter 6, entitled Listen to Me provides excerpts from the women's stories about their own lives, and the conclusion confirms that Sikh women have adapted well to life on a different continent and have a strong sense of identity. Foreword by Professor Kim Knott

The history of Sikhs in Britain provides important clues into the evolution of Britain as a multicultural society and the challenges it faces today. The authors examine the complex Anglo-Sikh relationship that led to the initial Sikh settlement and the processes of community-building around Sikh institutions such as gurdwaras. They explore the nature of British Sikh society as reflected in the performance of Sikhs in the labor markets, the changing characteristics of the Sikh family and issues of cultural transmission to the young. They provide an original and insightful account of a community transformed from the site of radical immigrant class politics to a leader of the Sikh diaspora in its search for a separate Sikh state.

Helweg's study of the Sikh community in Gravesend provides a historical profile of this group--their cultural values, life-styles in India, the factors that led to emigration, and their experience in Britain. Entirely updated to include events through 1985, the second edition brings to light the recent transformation of British Sikhs from "immigrant" to "minority" status.

Sikh identity involves intermeshing of several historical and present strands of consciousness. As in other religions, the situation of Sikh women and their experiences are conditioned by multiple factors including identity, socio-economic status, and the political context. The collection focuses on three distinct themes texts, conditions of Sikh women in India, and women in diasporic contexts dealing with women's lives and religious experiences. The essays discuss the way aesthetics and religion merges in the unitary experience of the sacred in Sikh tradition. They also explore gender in Sikh theology and society. One of the first works of its kind to bring together women and being Sikh, this volume engages with issues like religion, rituals, literature, sexuality, and nationalism and their link with identity-formation of Sikh women. It analyses significant issues of gender and religion and provides an empirical as well as theoretical structure to the debate. In their introduction, Doris Jakobsh and Eleanor Nesbitt explore the myriad themes of studies on Sikh women an emerging area for historians, sociologists, and anthropologists alike. They outline major developments and also break new ground with empirical evidence from their research.

This reference offers reliable knowledge about women's diverse faith practices throughout history and prehistory, and across cultures. Across the span of human history, women have participated in world-building and life-sustaining cultural creativity, making enormous contributions to religion and spirituality. In the contemporary period, women have achieved greater equality, with more educational opportunities, female role models in public life, and opportunities for religious expression than ever before. Contemporaneously with this increased visibility, women are actively and energetically engaging with religion for themselves and for their communities. Drawing on the expertise of a range of scholars, this reference chronicles the religious experiences of women across time and cultures. The book includes sections on major religions as well as on spirituality, African religions, prehistoric religions, and other broad topics. Each section begins with an introduction, followed by reference entries on specialized subjects along with excerpts from primary source documents. The entries provide numerous suggestions for further reading, and the book closes with a detailed bibliography.

In late-eighteenth-century India, the glory of the Mughal emperors was fading, and ambitious newcomers seized power, changing the political map forever. Enter the legendary Maharajah Ranjit Singh, whose Sikh Empire stretched throughout northwestern India into Afghanistan and Tibet. Priya Atwal shines fresh light on this long-lost kingdom, looking beyond its founding father to restore the queens and princes to the story of this empire's spectacular rise and fall. She brings to life a self-made ruling family, inventively fusing Sikh, Mughal and European ideas of power, but eventually succumbing to gendered family politics, as the Sikh Empire fell to its great rival in the new India: the British. Royals and Rebels is a fascinating tale of family, royalty and the fluidity of power, set in a dramatic global era when new stars rose and upstart empires clashed.