The Regulation of Religion and the Making of Hinduism in Colonial Trinidad by Alexander Rocklin (review)

Debates about the definition of religion have always structured the study of religion. But sometimes the debates can seem like pedantic word games that leave readers to figure out how the questions matter outside of the academy. Moreover, scholars who examine these questions empirically typically leave the Caribbean out of the equation; those who do address the Caribbean leave out the Hindu community. Rocklin's book makes a tremendous contribution in all three areas, demonstrating clearly why definitions of religion matter practically and politically, why they matter in the Caribbean, and, particularly, why they mattered to Indians constructing Hinduism in Trinidad and around the world.

The book is divided into three parts. The first is introductory, but also includes a useful chapter on the history of Indians (that is, South Asians) in Trinidad, including background information on the indenture system. An important feature of the system was its promise of freedom of religion, a promise that guaranteed power struggles, jockeying, and definitional disputes about what counts as religion.

The second part is devoted to exploring the construction of the category of religion in Trinidad, especially with regard to what would count as religion and what would not. Using examples such as the Ramlila (a public dramatization of the Ramayana), Hosay (a Trinidadian Karbala procession), and firepass rituals, this part examines how the category of religion was constructed in relation to a British colonial labor system that required a secular world sharply distinguishing public work life and private religious life. Rocklin layers his arguments and evidence carefully, showing how the discursive production of religion intersects with productions of race, Indian ethnicity, Indian nationalism, and, importantly, Hinduism itself. Not surprisingly, the British colonial category of religion was based on a particular sort of Protestant Christianity that favored private interior worship, clear statements of doctrine, and sharp lines demarcating the legitimate participants in different religions. But Rocklin emphasizes that the construction of religion is not simply imposed from above. Instead, it is worked out in ongoing interactions between and among elites and subalterns, all of whom have particular interests in the results.

Rocklin salts his arguments with lucid examples of both de facto colonial and subaltern arguments (e.g., in court cases and letters to the editor) about what does and does not count as religion. An important fourth chapter, "Outlawing Religion," specifically shows how obeah—considered to be a barbarous superstition from black Africa—figured as a foil in the production of legitimate religion and, by way of comparison, legitimate Hinduism and Hindu practitioners.

The third part of the book explores the construction of Hinduism in Trinidad but also, more globally, as a "world religion." Different Indian groups in Trinidad, often in relation to movements on the subcontinent, argued among themselves about the nature of Hinduism, with some like the Arya Samaj presenting narrower arguments about Hinduism as "modern" and monotheistic, while others like the Hindu Mahasabha arguing for an expansive ethnic definition that encompassed broad numbers. Among other things, these claims positioned Hinduism and Hindus as particular sorts of subjects in a world community.

Although this is an excellent book, meticulously researched and detailed, I would not recommend it for undergraduates. As parenthetic notes and marginalia indicate, Rocklin addresses those already familiar with the likes of Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Talal Asad, and Homi Bhabha. Undergraduates unfamiliar with these thinkers will get stuck in their unexplained jargon. Additionally, at times Rocklin speculates broadly regarding the subjectivity of those he studies. These speculations are interesting, but in the end, his analysis of the discourse surrounding religion and Hinduism is the solid core of the book.