SIKH IDENTITY FORMATION

Generational Transfer of Traditions in the Nordic Countries

In 2009 the Joint Committee for Nordic Research Councils for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS) granted funding for the NORDCORP project "Sikh Identity Formation: Generational Transfer of Traditions in the Nordic Countries". The collaborative project is carried out between 2009 and 2013, and includes researchers from four Nordic countries:

Principal investigator: Dr. Kristina Myrvold, Lund University, Sweden

Co-investigators: Prof. Knut A. Jacobsen, University of Bergen, Norway; Dr. Ravinder Kaur, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Prof. Hanna Snellman, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Research trainee: PhD student Laura Hirvi, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

ABSTRACT

The research project investigates generational transfer of traditions and identity formation processes among one visible minority group in the Nordic countries: the Sikhs from Punjab. From the general presumption that migration implies reconstruction of identities, the project explores the various strategies by which Sikh migrants preserve and transmit religious, cultural and linguistic traditions and how the second generation Sikhs, i.e. children born of immigrant parentage, gravitate towards religious identification in attempts to carve out a place for themselves in the Nordic societies. The project brings together five scholars from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden who from a shared research framework explore the multiple forms of material and media being used for transmissions of traditions and how the second generation shapes understanding of individual and collective identities in relation to many different “cultural others” in the social fields of home, school, religious community and on the Internet. Based on research findings in international Diaspora studies, the project investigates how Sikh youth with transnational life-styles adapt more reflexive attitudes towards religion and identity and create their own cultural translations in order to negotiate between contradictory perspectives surrounding them. The methodological base is ethnographic fieldwork among Sikhs in the four Nordic countries and analyses of textual material used for educational and edifying purposes. The project will contribute new knowledge of how migrants mobilize efforts to understand difference, maintain traditions and fashion new identities on their journey to becoming true citizens of the multi-cultural societies.

ACTIVITIES

The members of the project will organize annual workshops in order to discuss research findings, exchange ideas, and strengthen research collaborations in the Nordic countries. The hosting of these meetings circulates between the participating universities according to the following schedule: Lund University 2009, University of Bergen 2010, University of Jyväskylä 2011, and University of Copenhagen 2012.

On June 16-18, 2010, the project members organized the international conference and Phd workshop "Sikhs in Europe: Migration, Identity and Translocal Practices" at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University. In total 35 scholars from 15 countries participated in the conference.

In 2011 the first book about European Sikhs (edited by Knut A. Jacobsen and Kristina Myrvold) is expected to be released.

In 2013 the project members will organize a second conference in Sikh studies.  

IN THE MEDIA

- Article about the NORDCORP project by Arne Mykkeltveit, University of Bergen

- "Growing Academic Interest in European Sikhs" by Laura Hirvi and Kristina Myrvold, published on the Sikh Foundation website

The night ceremony (sukhasan) in the Sikh gurdwara at Gothenburg (Sweden) 2009. Photo: Kristina Myrvold.