- 01 Dec 2016
The Ecological Impacts of Modern Mass Pilgrimage: The Hajj and Sabarimala
Abstract
One of the most remarkable developments in the age of globalization is the emergence of mass pilgrimages that engage millions of people in religious journeys to sacred places around the world. This talk is a comparative study of two such mass pilgrimages—the Muslim hajj in Mecca and the mainly Hindu pilgrimage (yatra) to Sabarimala in Kerala—and their ecological impacts. The phenomenal growth of these two pilgrimages in recent decades has required significant investment in infrastructure and engagement of religious institutions, governmental agencies, technology experts, businesses, and non-governmental organizations. The large flows of pilgrims and the efforts made by these agencies to accommodate and manage them have had serious ecological consequences. Professor Campo will explore three key facets to these pilgrimage ecologies: their idealized representation in religious discourse, the extent of ecological damage they have caused, and the efforts being made to ameliorate these impacts. He will also consider the political forces involved in shaping these efforts.
About the Speakers
Juan E. Campo is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara and Director of the UCSB Education Abroad Program. He specializes in the comparative study of Islam, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia, with an emphasis on sacred space, pilgrimage, popular religious practices, and political Islam. His most recent book is the Encyclopedia of Islam, a one-volume reference work intended for students and the general public. It received a “Best of Reference” award from the New York Public Library in 2010. He is also the author of The Other Sides of Paradise: Explorations in the Religious Meanings of Domestic Space in Islam, which won the American Academy of Religion’s Award for Excellence in 1991. He has published articles on the hajj, death and afterlife beliefs and practices in Islam, Middle Eastern culinary cultures, and issues in contemporary Islam in edited volumes and reference works, including the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Qur’an, and the Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. He is currently writing a book about modern Muslim, Hindu, and Christian mass pilgrimages in comparative perspective.
