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Introduction

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Women’s Authority and Leadership in a Hindu Goddess Tradition

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Abstract

The research for this book is focused at the intersection of religion and migration, specifically diaspora Hinduism and the ways in which religious traditions are reconstructed and represented in diaspora communities. It foregrounds the common boundaries between religion and notions of gender, ethnicity and diasporic identity in North America. The transnational Adhiparasakthi movement represents a contemporary current within global Hinduism that demonstrates an increasing number of women in positions of religious leadership transnationally. The book brings models of female authority to the foreground in goddess myths, tradition and practice, and examines how women’s ritual authority, and caste and gender “inclusivity” ethics have influenced reconceptualizations of gender and religious authority in community discourse. Together these elements and practices both promote and bolster the ethical preferences articulated within this Hindu diasporic society in Toronto, Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA

    Nanette R. Spina

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  1. Nanette R. Spina
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Spina, N.R. (2017). Introduction. In: Women’s Authority and Leadership in a Hindu Goddess Tradition. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58909-5_1

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