ABSTRACT
Jainism is a religious-philosophical system rooted in ancient India with diaspora communities around the world. One of the tradition's hallmarks is the philosophical commitment of nonviolence (ahiṃsā) toward all living beings. In this study I explore how Jains enact new transnational modes of "being Jain” in response to COVID-19. Drawing upon multimedia Jain resources created from March 2020 through July 2021, I argue that North American Jains approach the pandemic as an opportunity to reinterpret the "practical” value of the Jain commitment to nonviolence by (1) giving epistemic primacy to medical knowledge, complemented with spiritualized narratives of healing;(2) admitting a diversity of Jain philosophical perspectives on the present pandemic;(3) identifying the positive potential of the pandemic for personal and social development;(4) promoting sectarian unity and intergenerational adaptability among Jains;and (5) fostering public service and charitable work as a form of transcultural social-political belonging.
ABSTRACT
A connection and a yearning towards a communal and primarily agrarian existence connects the Rastafari the world over. Many Rastafari yearn for a life in direct communication with the earth through agricultural labor in a space created for and by the community, a space “up in the hills” away from the pollutants of a contaminated, corrupting Babylonian society. This was no less the case amongst those in Saint Lucia with whom I conducted recent fieldwork. Different from previous conversations on this topic however, was a new context defined by a global pandemic and a subsequent widely mandated social withdrawal. This engendered a dual response of envisioning rural flight as now more urgent and, in some cases, as a necessary response to COVID-19.