Contemporary Ethno-Religious Groups and Political Activism in the United States

The literature on the political activism of established US ethnic groups is based on the assumption that people who share national origins have common political interests. However, newer scholarship emanating from Europe argues that religious background plays an important role in determining group mobilization patterns. The bulk of this research has examined the activism of European Muslim immigrants. The role of religion in shaping the political mobilization of immigrants has hardly been examined in North America. This chapter examines how majority versus minority religious status in the United States and in immigrants' homeland influence patterns of political activism around US-based and homeland-based issues. The focus is on Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, and Christian groups from India in the United States. Indian Americans present a good model to examine the role of religion versus ethnicity in impacting patterns of mobilization since they are religiously diverse and have also become politically active.