Three dimensions of religious place making in diaspora

• Published in: Global networks (Oxford) Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 326 - 347
• Main Authors: VÁSQUEZ, MANUEL A., KNOTT, KIM
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-07-2014; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Comparative analysis; Cultural differences; DIASPORA; EMBODIMENT; Global Cities; Heuristics; Johannesburg; Johannesburg, South Africa; Kajang; Kuala Lumpur; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Lebenswelt; London; London, England; Malaysia; Management; Migrants; MIGRATION; Minority Groups; Place; PLACE MAKING; RELIGION; Religious beliefs; Religious practice; Social space; South Africa; SPACE; TRANSNATIONAL; United Kingdom; Urban areas
• ISSN: 1470-2266; 1471-0374
• DOI: 10.1111/glob.12062

In this article, we explore comparatively how migrant minorities draw from their religious resources to carve out spaces of livelihood in three global cities – Kuala Lumpur, which includes Kajang, Johannesburg and London. We also examine the spatial regimes through which the state and its apparatuses seek to manage the migrants' presence and visibility or invisibility within these urban spaces. In particular, we focus on three of the most salient dimensions of migrants' religious place making – embodied performance, the spatial management of difference and belonging, and multiple embedding across networked spaces. Although these three dimensions intersect in dynamic, often tensile ways to constitute the fabric of the life world of migrant minorities, we separate them for heuristic purposes to highlight the richness and texture of religious place making.