Whether spurred by religious images or history books, hardly a day goes by in South Asia without an accusation of blasphemy. What accounts for the sharp rise in religious offense, and why it is observable across religious and political differences?   

An interdisciplinary study of this trend, Outrage brings together researchers in anthropology, religious studies, and South Asian studies with rich experience in the varied ways religion and politics intersect in this region. Each chapter focuses on a recent case of alleged blasphemy or desecration in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, unpacking the religious sensitivities and political concerns. Collectively, the chapters explore common denominators across national and religious differences, such as the introduction of social media and smartphones, the possible political gains of initiating blasphemy accusations, and the growing self-assertion of marginal communities.
 

Paul Rollier is a social anthropologist and assistant professor of South Asian studies at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and an honorary research associate in social anthropology at University College London. Kathinka Frøystad is professor of modern South Asian studies at the University of Oslo and adjunct professor of social anthropology at the University of Bergen, Norway. Arild Engelsen Ruud is professor of South Asian studies at the University of Oslo.
 

1. Introduction: researching the rise of religious offence in South Asia
Paul Rollier, Kathinka Frøystad, Arild Engelsen Ruud
2. ‘We’re all blasphemers’: the life of religious offence in Pakistan
Paul Rollier
3. The rise of religious offence in transitional Myanmar
Iselin Frydenlund
4. Religious outrage as spectacle: the successful protests against a blasphemous minister
Arild Engelsen Ruud
5. Affective digital images: Shiva in the Kaaba and the smartphone revolution
Kathinka Frøystad
6. ‘Durga did not kill Mahishasur’: Hindus, Adivasis, and Hindutva
Moumita Sen
7. The languages of truth: Saints, judges and the fraudulent in a Pakistani court
Asad Ali Ahmed
8. Blasphemy and the appropriation of vigilante justice in ‘hagiohistoric’ writing in Pakistan.
Jürgen Schaflechner
9. Afterword: on the efficacy of ‘blasphemy’
Ute Hüsken