To Be Cared For: The Power of Conversion and Foreignness of Belonging in an Indian Slum

To Be Cared For offers a unique view into the conceptual and moral world of slum-bound Dalits ( untouchables ) in the South Indian city of Chennai. Focusing on the decision by many women to embrace locally specific forms of Pentecostal Christianity, Nathaniel Roberts challenges dominant anthropological understandings of religion as a matter of culture and identity, as well as Indian nationalist narratives of Christianity as a foreign ideology that disrupts local communities. Far from being a divisive force, conversion integrates the slum community-Christians and Hindus alike-by addressing hidden moral fault lines that subtly pit residents against one another in a national context that renders Dalits outsiders in their own land.

Read an interview with the author on the Association for Asian Studies’ #AsiaNow blog.