Conclusion

Abstract

The Conclusion proposes how analyzing class in terms of dharma helps us reconsider the historical development of Hindu traditions and future studies of class and religion in and beyond South Asia. While normative forms of dharma are unique and specific to Hinduism, it suggests that ontological notions of dharma as that which “holds the world together” can be applied as a framework for defining religion beyond Hinduism. Non-Hindu communities throughout India are undergoing similar transformations to become middle class, meaning they too are involved in the processes of constructing and maintaining middle-class religious worlds. To argue for analyzing class in the analytical terms of dharma is not to exclude these communities; rather, it is a call to draw on dharma to attend to the religious elements of middle-class transitions in other religious traditions while simultaneously expanding the definition of religion within the social sciences and humanities.