Doctoral Seminar Series | South Asia Study Circle (CEAS)

CRIA invites you to the next session of the Doctoral Seminar Series of the South Asia Study Circle (CEAS), which will take place on 20 February 2026 at 2:30 pm at Iscte. The session will feature a presentation by Aishwarya Walvekar, entitled:
“From India to Mozambique to Portugal: Contemporary Performance and Politics of Dual-belonging by Hindu Community of Lisbon”.

The session will also be streamed via Teams:
Teams ID: 351 714 583 249 06
Access code: 4bS7b5Vb

First migrated to Mozambique during the Portuguese colonization of Goa, Diu and Daman and then to Portugal in 1980s due to the breakout of Civil War in Mozambique (Cachado 2014), the twice-migrated Hindu community in Lisbon mainly comprises of Gujaratis across castes. In Lisbon, Hindu worlds are constructed through temples and religious movements like Swaminarayan and ISKON, and such temples are divided based on caste hierarchies which at the same time are constantly being negotiated (Lourenço 2015). Lourenço (2020) has also observed relationship between migration processes, material culture and identity (re)formations that enable a politics of recuperation in times of community crisis among the diasporas. Taking the religious celebrations at Hindu temples of Radha-Krishna and Shiva Temple in Lisbon as case studies, this paper will argue that the process of such a dual-identification stems from disidentification (Muñoz 1999, Parameswaran 2014) as well as ‘characterization’ of one’s religious beliefs and identity which are performed as ‘culture and heritage’, especially when faced with contesting nationalisms. In examining such scenarios wherein, a diasporic individual finds oneself between dual-belongingness of homeland and the migratory land, this paper will analyze Hindutva ideology not from nation centered discourse but from border epistemologies of belonging and difference. Drawing on Swati Arora’s provocation of border epistemologies, this paper then examines the performance and politics of dual-belonging of the Hindu community within the context of rise and consolidation of right-wing both in India (by Bharatiya Janata Party) and Portugal (by Chega!).

Bio:

Aishwarya is a doctoral student recipient of Eutopia PhD Cotutele Scholarship between University of Warwick and Nova University. Studying theatre and perfromance studies and anthropology, Aishwarya examines the mechanisms of Hindutva identity formations in India and diaspora exploring the relationship between technology and cultural politics.

This seminar series offers PhD students a space to meet and share their work—such as work-in-progress articles, thesis chapters, or projects—throughout the academic year. Each presenter should send their materials at least one week in advance to allow time for feedback from a designated discussant.

Each session will last 90 minutes: 40 minutes for the presentation, 10 minutes for the discussant’s comments, and the remaining time for open discussion.

The seminar will be held in a hybrid format; however, we strongly encourage those based in Lisbon to attend in person in order to foster engagement and ensure the success of the series.

The seminar may be conducted in English (preferably, to enable colleagues outside Portugal to participate) or in Portuguese.

Organised by Daniela Bevilacqua, Giacomo Montavan and Vera Lazzaretti.