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Kathinka Frøystad

Professor

Email kathinka.froystad@ikos.uio.no

Phone +47 22 85 47 90

Room 345 PAM

Available hours by appointment

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Visiting address Niels Henrik Abels vei 36 P. A. Munchs hus 0371 Oslo

Postal address P. O. Box 1010 Blindern 0315 Oslo Norway

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Academic interests

Frøystad came to the study of religion from social anthropology and modern South Asia studies. Her professorial qualifications derive from the two latter disciplines.

Frøystad's research clusters around three topics: Firstly, religious change: What makes people alter their religious priorities? Secondly, friction: Which forms do contemporary religious contestations take, and why? And thirdly, their arguably cosmopolitan opposite: What makes people cross "official" religious boundaries for divine interventions, and to what extent can such crossings promote social cohesion in plural societies?

Having done in-depth fieldwork on these topics since the early 1990s, Frøystad has also contributed to the long-standing debate about anthropological research methods. Snippets of her recent ethnographic material are depicted in the ethnographic films A Kali Temple Inside Out (2018), now available at RAI and Kanopy, and An Indian Love Story (2023).

Teaching

Frøystad's teaching currently covers an introduction to Hinduism (REL2220) as well as various courses and classes within the study of religion and South Asian studies. She also has extensive teaching experience from India studies and the anthropology departments in Bergen and Oslo.

Background

2025 -- : PhD leader, Department of Culture, Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
2022-2024 : Editor (with Tord Larsen) of Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift, a Norwegian-language peer-reviewed anthropology journal
2017-2019 Adjunct Professor, Department of Social Anthropology, Unviersity of Bergen
2014 --- : Professor of Modern South Asian Studies, University of Oslo
2013: Guest researcher, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen
2007-2014: Professor/Associate Professor, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen
2006-2007 Visiting scholar, UC San Diego Department of Anthropology (6 months)
2003-2007: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo
2000-2003: Lecturer, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo
2000: Dr Polit (PhD), Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo
1995-2000: PhD Research Fellow, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO)

Tags: India, Anthropology, Religion and politics, Inequality, Ethnography, Hinduism, Religious pluralism

Frøystad, Kathinka (2026). Når dører lukkes: om akademisk frihet og antropologi. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 37(1), p. 46–46. doi: 10.18261/nat.37.1.4. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
I denne artikkelen drøfter jeg hvordan politiske restriksjoner påvirker antropologiske og øvrige akademiske praksiser, hva både temavalg, feltarbeid og offentlig formidling angår. Med India som hovedcase eksemplifiserer jeg hvordan akademisk frihet er blitt begrenset det siste tiåret, og illustrerer begrensningenes ringvirkninger både innenfor og utenfor India – også i Norge. Ringvirkningene inkluderer økt preferanse for «ufarlige» eller statsvennlige forskningstemaer, reduksjon av kritiske forskerstemmer i offentligheten og en utstrakt faglig selvsensur. Jo flere land dette skjer med, desto mer innadvendt og servilt risikerer vi at antropologifaget blir, og det minste vi kan gjøre, er å rette oppmerksomheten mot denne dynamikken.
Frøystad, Kathinka & Lazzaretti, Vera (2023). Rethinking religious offence and its containment: Towards a new research agenda. In Lazzaretti, Vera & Frøystad, Kathinka (Ed.), Beyond Courtrooms and Street Violence: Rethinking Religious Offence Controversies and Its Containment. Routledge. ISSN 9781032252650. p. 1–12. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2023). Raising alarm or swallowing hurt? The case of a broken deity tile in Kanpur. In Lazzaretti, Vera & Frøystad, Kathinka (Ed.), Beyond Courtrooms and Street Violence: Rethinking Religious Offence Controversies and Its Containment. Routledge. ISSN 9781032252650. p. 71–86. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2023). Killing for the Hindu nation: Hindu nationalism and its violent excess. In Kitts, Margo (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Religion and War. Cambridge University Press. ISSN 9781108835442. p. 349–368. doi: 10.1017/9781108884075.022. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
What drives the increasingly violent impulses of Hindu nationalism in India? This chapter emphasizes the abyss between, on the one hand, its anxieties about Hindu minoritization and territorial dismemberment and, on the other, its retrotopian visions about revitalizing a purported Hindu golden age.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2022). Through the Looking Glass: The Involuntary Cosmopolitanism of Black Magic and Possession in Modi’s New India. PORTAL: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies. 18(1-2), p. 96–110. doi: 10.5130/pjmis.v18i1-2.7808. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In spite of Modi’s promise of good days (acche din) in 2014, many Indians still struggle with unemployment, low income, poor health and other difficulties. Though some problems eventually find solutions and middle-class metropolitans increasingly seek help from gurus and psychologists, long-term misfortune and disturbances are still frequently attributed to black magic or possession. Drawing on anthropological fieldwork in Kanpur and Bareilly, this article examines the unintended cosmopolitan effects of such practices, which occasionally unfold in ways that traverse and unsettle official religious boundaries, even in polarized times. Heuristically contrasting Modi to Alice in Wonderland, the article spells out the double bind of many low-income Hindus who seek supernatural assistance in times of crisis: should they follow the logic of inexpensive efficacy, even if necessitating engagement with unfamiliar ritual worlds in heterotopic spaces associated with the religious other? Or should they rather follow the emergent Hindu nationalist logic of Hindu exclusivism, according to which ritual remedies beyond a Hindu ritual repertoire would be inappropriate? The persisting prevalence of the former logic under Modi is illustrated with three cases, two of which are interrelated. Firstly, we meet a female professional seeking help against suspected black magic from a rustic Sufi-Muslim healer. Secondly, we meet a Kali devotee seeking help against spirits that disturbed his career and marriage in a renowned Sufi-Muslim dargah. The final case shows how familial neglect, economic hardship and an interreligious marriage conducted two generations earlier came together in a case of possession. The cosmopolitan effects of such instances, the article argues, lie in their tendency to form an anti-structural, heterotopic counterweight to aggressive Hindu nationalism.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2022). Contested Holiness: The Politics of the Indian Cow. In Ween, Gro Birgit & Lundblad, Michael (Ed.), Control: Attempting to Tame the World. Pax Forlag. ISSN 9788253043609. p. 171–179. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2021). Worship and the virus in Hindu India: Contested innovation, polarization, uneven digital acceleration. Approaching Religion. 11(2), p. 1–18. doi: 10.30664/AR.107671. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The religious responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Hindu India were manifold and, at times, publicly contested, which raises the question of which societal differences became visible and were augmented as the pandemic unfolded. Based on observations mainly from the first coronavirus wave in 2020, this article argues that the limited religious innovation that ensued gave rise to a lively public debate that revealed marked differences within the Hindu community, that the pandemic offered new possibilities for affirming Hindu identities while othering Muslims, and that it accelerated the transition to online religious services in prominent temples while pausing the activities in others, thus augmenting a marked digital divide that may well outlast the pandemic. Pandemic religious changes notwithstanding, the article concludes that most of the changes were ephemeral and produced minor jolts rather than major transformations.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2021). Sound biting conspiracy: From India with "love jihad". Religions. 12(12), p. 1–23. doi: 10.3390/rel12121064. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Since 2013, India has seen a remarkable growth of a conspiracy theory known as “love jihad”, which holds that Muslim men conspire to lure Hindu women for marriage to alter India’s religious demography as part of a political takeover strategy. While earlier scholarship on “love jihad” emphasizes the Hindu nationalist propagation of this conspiracy theory, this article pays equal attention to its appeal among conservative Hindus. Making its point of departure in the generative effects of speech, it argues that the “love jihad” neologism performs two logical operations simultaneously. Firstly, it fuses the long-standing Hindu anxiety about daughters marrying against their parents’ will, with the equally long-standing anxiety about unfavorable religious demographic trends. Secondly, it attributes a sinister political takeover intent to every Muslim man who casts his eyes on a young Hindu woman. To bring out these points, this article pays equal empirical attention to marriage and kinship practices as to the genealogy of, and forerunners to, the “love jihad” neologism, and develops the concept of “sound biting” to bring out its meaning-making effect.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2021). Inclusivism and its contingencies: following temple-goers in Kanpur. In Keul, Istvan (Eds.), Spaces of Religion in Urban South Asia. Routledge. ISSN 9780367561505. p. 24–38. doi: 10.4324/9781003106067. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
What can a mobile fieldwork contribute to the study of inter-religious connections? This chapter examines the state of Hindu inclusivism in Modi’s India by means of an anthropological fieldwork that involved considerable movement. Rather than following the common practice of approaching inclusivism in shared religious spaces, it follows protagonists of a Kali temple, including a Brahman priest, across the cityscape to examine which non-Hindu festivals they attended and which non-Hindu ritual spaces they approached. As a rule, they often frequented Sikh spaces but ignored churches and mosques. Occasionally they also approached Sufi-Muslim grave shrines but typically only in times of deep distress or when in need of specialised ritual advice, both of which required discretion. The ethnographic section exemplifies this pattern by contrasting their participation in the Nagarkirtan procession of the Sikhs with their avoidance of the Muharram procession of the Shias and exemplifies some of the religious spaces visited by a Brahman priest attempting to expand his knowledge as a tantrik ritual specialist. Here, the chapter also shows how inclusivist practices can unfold into uncanny moments that spell danger, thus infusing them with contingency.
Frøystad, Kathinka & Lazzaretti, Vera (2021). Introduction: Containing religious offence beyond the courts. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. ISSN 0085-6401. 344(3), p. 498–509. doi: 10.1080/00856401.2021.1923449. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this introduction, we situate the special section, ‘Containing Religious Offence beyond the Courts’, within and beyond existing scholarship on religious offence in South Asia. Much of this scholarship focuses on the unintended effects of blasphemy laws, showing, for instance, that laws presumably intended to promote religious tolerance end up informing, if not encouraging, disputes around religious sensitivities. But while debates about the effects of law are crucial, we suggest that a more nuanced understanding of religious offence can be gained if we look past full-blown legal proceedings and the spectacular violence performed in the streets during religious offence controversies. This collection, then, directs attention to the friction around religious sensitivities that are handled and often mitigated locally—either entirely outside the courts or through bottom-up initiatives that unfold in combination with, or as a reaction to, top-down measures. Drawing on the extensive empirical field research of six scholars of religion and politics, these essays document existing containment modalities in diverse geographical and socio-religious settings in India and critically scrutinise their functioning and outcomes. They explicitly engage with critical understandings of peace and with scholarship on the micro-mechanism of coexistence and, in so doing, open up new avenues of enquiry about religious offence.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2021). Swallowing hurt: Conversion, broken deity tiles and reluctant forgiveness in Kanpur. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. ISSN 0085-6401. 44(3), p. 568–583. doi: 10.1080/00856401.2021.1936775. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This article considers the non-aggressive aftermath of an alleged iconoclasm in a residential neighbourhood of Kanpur. The ‘iconoclasts’ were recent converts to Christianity who were attempting to mark their departure from Hinduism by dismantling the deity tiles on their house. Despite the indignation this caused among their Hindu neighbours, not much ensued. While the lack of escalation may be easy to explain given the local circumstances, this article pays particular attention to how the anger of the denouncer subsided and the role of her growing knowledge about Christianity therein.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). Hinduism and New Age: Patrimonial Oneness and Religious Cosmopolitanism. In Brekke, Torkel (Eds.), The Oxford History of Hinduism: Modern Hinduism. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780198790839. p. 141–161. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). Affective digital images: Shiva in the Kaaba and the smartphone revolution. In Rollier, Paul; Frøystad, Kathinka & Ruud, Arild Engelsen (Ed.), Outrage: The Rise of Religious Offence in Contemporary South Asia. UCL Press. ISSN 9781787355286. p. 123–148. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Whether spurred by religious images or academic history books, hardly a day goes by in South Asia without an incident or court case occurring as a result of hurt religious feelings. The sharp rise in blasphemy accusations over the past few decades calls for an investigation into why offence politics has become so pronounced, and why it is observable across religious and political differences. Outrage offers an interdisciplinary study of this growing trend. Bringing together researchers in Anthropology, Religious Studies, Languages, South Asia Studies and History, all with rich experience in the variegated ways in which religion and politics intersect in this region, the volume presents a fine-grained analysis that navigates and unpacks the religious sensitivities and political concerns under discussion. Each chapter focuses on a recent case or context of alleged blasphemy or desecration in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, collectively exploring common denominators across national and religious differences. Among the common features are the rapid introduction of social media and smartphones, the possible political gains of initiating blasphemy accusations, and the growing self-assertion of marginal communities. These features are turning South Asia into a veritable flash point for offence controversies in the world today, and will be of interest to researchers exploring the intersection of religion and politics in South Asia and beyond.
Rollier, Paul; Frøystad, Kathinka & Ruud, Arild Engelsen (2019). Introduction: Researching the rise of religious offence in South Asia. In Rollier, Paul; Frøystad, Kathinka & Ruud, Arild Engelsen (Ed.), Outrage: The Rise of Religious Offence in Contemporary South Asia. UCL Press. ISSN 9781787355286. p. 1–47. doi: 10.14324/111.9781787355279. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Whether spurred by religious images or academic history books, hardly a day goes by in South Asia without an incident or court case occurring as a result of hurt religious feelings. The sharp rise in blasphemy accusations over the past few decades calls for an investigation into why offence politics has become so pronounced, and why it is observable across religious and political differences. Outrage offers an interdisciplinary study of this growing trend. Bringing together researchers in Anthropology, Religious Studies, Languages, South Asia Studies and History, all with rich experience in the variegated ways in which religion and politics intersect in this region, the volume presents a fine-grained analysis that navigates and unpacks the religious sensitivities and political concerns under discussion. Each chapter focuses on a recent case or context of alleged blasphemy or desecration in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, collectively exploring common denominators across national and religious differences. Among the common features are the rapid introduction of social media and smartphones, the possible political gains of initiating blasphemy accusations, and the growing self-assertion of marginal communities. These features are turning South Asia into a veritable flash point for offence controversies in the world today, and will be of interest to researchers exploring the intersection of religion and politics in South Asia and beyond.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). Ritual inclusivity in turbulent times. In Nilsen, Alf Gunvald; Nielsen, Kenneth Bo & Vaidya, Anand (Ed.), Indian Democracy: Origins, Trajectories, Contestations. Pluto Press. ISSN 9780745338927. p. 114–126. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Failing the third toilet test: Reflections on fieldwork, gender and Indian loos. Ethnography. ISSN 1466-1381. 21(2), p. 261–279. doi: 10.1177/1466138118804262. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This article reexamines the long-standing corridor topic of toilet facilities in anthropological fieldwork, arguing that their condition has stronger methodological implications than previously acknowledged. Drawing on personal experiences from three successive fieldworks in one of India’s poorest states – Uttar Pradesh – it reflects on the importance of gender, age, and prior experience with unfamiliar sanitary facilities in shaping our adjustment to the conditions we meet in the field. It narrates the three ‘toilet tests’ to which the author has been exposed over a series of field visits: the transition to water, squatting, and ultimately the lack of privacy. Failing the latter, she had to shelve a promising fieldwork lead. Scaling up, the article suggests that, if field sites with ‘difficult’ toilet conditions attract fewer and differently positioned anthropologists, the result is likely to be a bias in coverage and theory-building that merits more reflection.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2016). A fine Balance: Censoring for respect and social harmony. In Ruud, Arild Engelsen & Heierstad, Geir (Ed.), India's democracies : diversity, co-optation, resistance. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215026893. p. 183–222. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Indian democracy has often been characterized as "a puzzle" that "defies theories". But any theory on democratic practice will need to take into account the world's largest democracy. We assert that Indian democracy is maturing with its own practices. Most prominent is its diversity. As a set of institutions, Indian democracy is crafted on to the country's diverse and heterogeneous society, encompassing a great many differing practices. The contributors to this volume investigate democratic practice in different corners of India and at different levels. The differences in political culture and participation between the Centre and the states and among the states themselves reveal the heterogeneous nature of the Indian State. Equally important is the role these differences play in policy making (including foreign policy), and the weight given to them by politicians seeking popular support. Even at the local level we find strikingly diverging perceptions of what democracy means to different groups, and this will help us understand the complexities of popular expectations. These features all form part of the challenges the Indian State faces with increased popular mobilization and democratic participation.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2016). Alter-politics reconsidered: From different worlds to osmotic worlding. In Bertelsen, Bjørn Enge & Bendixsen, Synnøve Kristine Nepstad (Ed.), Critical Anthropological Engagements in Human Alterity and Difference. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783319404745. p. 229–252. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Kathinka Frøystad criticizes the tendency of anchoring the alter-political imagination of alternative futures in studies of radical alterity of the kind favoured by a vocal section of the ontological turn. Such studies are certainly useful for reassessing the nature/culture distinction that perpetuated climate change. Yet their tenency to analyze cosmologies, religions, and "worlds" as distinct and contrasting Carries an uncanny Abrahamic echo besides feeding into a lethal politics of difference. Drawing on ethnography from a multi-faith neighbourhood in the North-Indian city of Kanpur, Frøystad argues that, it is equally relevant to look for "osmotic worlding" as for "different worlds". To develop an alter-political Project of rethinking religious plurality, the first step must be to dismantle the very idea of radical alterity.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2015). Naturalisering på langs og tvers: Begrepshistorisk refleksjon med storm i kastene. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 26(1), p. 22–39. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2013). Cosmopolitanism or iatrogenesis? Reflections on religious plurality, censorship and disciplinary orientations. In Nielsen, Kenneth Bo; Skoda, Uwe & Fibiger, Marianne Qvortrup (Ed.), Navigating Social Exclusion and Inclusion in Contemporary India and Beyond: Structures, Agents, Practices. Anthem Press. ISSN 9780857283221. p. 19–40. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2012). Divine Intersections: Hindu Ritual and the Incorporation of Religious Others. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 4(2), p. 1–21. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2012). The Mediated Guru: Simplicity, Instantaneity and Change in Middle-Class Religious Seeking. In Ikegame, Aya (Eds.), The Guru in South Asia: New Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Routledge. ISSN 9780415510196. p. 181–201. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Innlån bestilt./tøf
Frøystad, Kathinka (2011). Roping Outsiders In: Invoking Science in Contemporary Spiritual Movements in India. Nova Religio. ISSN 1092-6690. 14(4), p. 77–98. doi: 10.1525/nr.2011.14.4.77. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2011). From analogies to narrative entanglement: Invoking scientific authority in Indian New Age Spirituality. In Lewis, James R & Hammer, Olav (Ed.), Handbook of religion and the authority of science. De Gruyter Brill. ISSN 9789004187917. p. 41–66. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2011). Anonymous encounters: Class categorisation and social distancing in public places. In Donner, Henrike & Neve, Geert De (Ed.), The meaning of the local : politics of place in urban India. Routledge. ISSN 9780415596237. p. 159–181. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Pocketutgave av antologi publisert i hardback på samme forlag i 2006.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2010). Relegitimizing caste discrimination in Uttar Pradesh:Towards a Post-Mandal untouchability? In Aktor, Mikael & Deliège, Robert (Ed.), From Stigma to Assertion: Untouchability, identity and politics in early and modern India. Museum Tusculanums Forlag. ISSN 9788763507752. p. 178–200. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this book eight South-Asianists explore the Indian phenomenon known as ‘untouchability’. Historically untouchability was a set of discriminative practices that bound the lowest castes to low-status jobs and restricted their social mobility. Formally the practice was abolished with the constitution of the independent India, and in order to compensate for the social and economic setback caused by centuries’ discrimination a reservation policy that guaranteed the former untouchables access to education and jobs was introduced. These measures have changed the life conditions of the targeted groups, but they have also created tensions in a society where many other groups experience economic stress. First of all they have preserved caste itself as something that matters in the competition for economic benefits. Thereby they have created today’s paradox: That caste assertiveness has become a means to counter inequalities. Four essays (Andrew Wyatt, Simon Charsley, Kathinka Frøystad, and Marie-Caroline Saglio-Yatzimirsky), all based on field work carried out in the late 1990s, address these present issues. Three essays (Mikael Aktor, Eleanor Zelliot, and Jocelyn Clarke) explore pre- and late-colonial material, while the introduction by Robert Deliège is a critical discussion of the combination of caste rhetoric and confrontation strategy in today’s Dalit movement.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2010). Balansekunst: mellom ytringsfrihet og harmonibegrunnet (selv)sensur. In Ruud, Arild Engelsen & Heierstad, Geir (Ed.), Demokrati på indisk. Unipub forlag. ISSN 9788274774766. p. 179–211. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Denne antologien handler om India, «verdens største demokrati». Landet er en raskt voksende økonomisk og militær makt med ambisjoner i Asia og internasjonalt. India møter samtidig betydelige utfordringer, ikke minst når det gjelder fattigdoms- og klimaproblematikk. De ti bidragsyterne i boken spør hva det demokratiske styresettet betyr for landets evne til å møte disse utfordringene. India står overfor en rekke presserende oppgaver: interne interessekonflikter, forholdet til nabolandet Pakistan, hindunasjonalisme, samarbeidet med USA og arbeidet for likestilling mellom menn og kvinner. Politikk i bred betydning er i dag kanskje det tydeligste feltet innen både forskning og undervisning på Sør-Asia og India. Boken består av kapitler som hvert tar utgangspunkt i forfatternes spesialområde og trekker linjer til relevant teoribygging og til mer generelle oversikter over feltet. Boken er ment som en innføringsbok for studenter ved universiteter og høyskoler.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2009). Communal riots in India as a transitory form of political violence: Three approaches. Ethnic and Racial Studies. ISSN 0141-9870. 32(3), p. 442–459. doi: 10.1080/01419870701722315. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Despite their brutality, communal riots in India constitute a far more short-lived form of political violence than civil war and state terror. To make this point is not so commonsensical as it may seem, given the scarcity of reflections regarding this fact in the scholarship on riots in India. Therefore, in thematizing temporality, transience and recurrence, this article aims to broaden the study of communal riots and relate it more closely to general discussions of political violence. Beginning with the three most common approaches to communal riots in India within social anthropology and its neighbouring disciplines -- namely the bird’seye view, agency and everyday life approaches -- I suggest how each can be extended or employed to make riot temporality clearer. This focus may also nuance the way we conceptualize the role of the state and encourage reflection on how we classify instances of political violence.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2009). The return path: Anthropology of a western yogi. In Csordas, Thomas (Eds.), Transnational Transcendence: Essays on Religion and Globalization. University of California Press. ISSN 9780520257412. p. 279–304. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This innovative collection examines the transnational movements, effects, and transformations of religion in the contemporary world, offering a fresh perspective on the interrelation between globalization and religion. Transnational Transcendence challenges some widely accepted ideas about this relationship—in particular, that globalization can be understood solely as an economic phenomenon and that its religious manifestations are secondary. The book points out that religion's role remains understudied and undertheorized as an element in debates about globalization, and it raises questions about how and why certain forms of religious practice and intersubjectivity succeed as they cross national and cultural boundaries. Framed by Thomas J. Csordas's introduction, this timely volume both urges further development of a theory of religion and globalization and constitutes an important step toward that theory.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2006). Veldig vitenskapelig: vitenskapelige legitimeringsformer i den indiske New Age-bevegelsen. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 17(2), p. 105–118. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2006). Anonymous encounters: class categorisation and social distancing in public places. In Neve, Gert De & Donner, Henrike (Ed.), The Meaning of the Local: Politics of Place in Urban India. Routledge. ISSN 9781844721146. p. 159–181. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2003). Master�Servant Relations and the Domestic Reproduction of Caste in Northern India. Ethnos. ISSN 0014-1844. 68(1), p. 73–94. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2003). Forestillingen om det "ordentlige" feltarbeid og dets umulighet i Norge. In Rugkåsa, Marianne & Thorsen, Kari Trædal (Ed.), Nære steder nye rom. Utfordringer i antropologiske studier i Norge. Gyldendal Akademisk. ISSN 9788205305977. p. 32–64. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2001). Kropp og klasse i Kanpur -- en meditasjon over kroppens teoretiske mangetydighet. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 12(3), p. 161–174. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Denne artikkelen er en kritisk refleksjon over 1990-tallets fornyede interesse for kroppen som antropologisk studieobjekt. Forfatteren hevder at fokuset på kroppslig erfaring og "embodiment" nærmest har blitt så enerådende at det har brutt med tidligere perspektiver på kroppen. Men analytiske schismogeneser kan motvirkes, og da er åpne etnografiske beskrivelser nyttige hjelpemidler. Dette illustreres med et etnografisk materiale som betoner betydningen av hudfarge og kroppslig bevegelse for lokal klassekonstruksjon i en indisk storby. Nettopp det å framholde en helt annen problemstilling -- her: sosiale distinksjoner -- synliggjør kroppens teoretiske mangetydighet og kan dermed bygge bro mellom divergerende perspektiver på kropp og bevegelse.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2000). Kaste - en bremsekloss for hindunasjonalismen? Nærbilder av India. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788245607925. p. 82–103. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (1997). Norge og Sør-Asia. In Knutsen, Torbjørn L.; Sørbø, Gunnar & Gjerdåker, Svein (Ed.), Norges Utenrikspolitikk. Cappelen forlag. ISSN 9788245604054. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Oppsummerer Norges utenrikspolitiske forhold til India og Sør-Asia forøvrig fram til midten av 1990-tallet.

View all works in NVA

Lazzaretti, Vera & Frøystad, Kathinka (2023). Beyond Courtrooms and Street Violence: Rethinking Religious Offence Controversies and Its Containment. Routledge. ISBN 9781032252650. 105 p. Full text in Research Archive
Rollier, Paul; Frøystad, Kathinka & Ruud, Arild Engelsen (2019). Outrage: The Rise of Religious Offence in Contemporary South Asia. UCL Press. ISBN 9781787355286. 264 p. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Whether spurred by religious images or academic history books, hardly a day goes by in South Asia without an incident or court case occurring as a result of hurt religious feelings. The sharp rise in blasphemy accusations over the past few decades calls for an investigation into why offence politics has become so pronounced, and why it is observable across religious and political differences. Outrage offers an interdisciplinary study of this growing trend. Bringing together researchers in Anthropology, Religious Studies, Languages, South Asia Studies and History, all with rich experience in the variegated ways in which religion and politics intersect in this region, the volume presents a fine-grained analysis that navigates and unpacks the religious sensitivities and political concerns under discussion. Each chapter focuses on a recent case or context of alleged blasphemy or desecration in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, collectively exploring common denominators across national and religious differences. Among the common features are the rapid introduction of social media and smartphones, the possible political gains of initiating blasphemy accusations, and the growing self-assertion of marginal communities. These features are turning South Asia into a veritable flash point for offence controversies in the world today, and will be of interest to researchers exploring the intersection of religion and politics in South Asia and beyond.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2005). Blended Boundaries: Caste, Class, and Shifting Faces of 'Hinduness' in a North Indian City. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195664003. 326 p. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Blended Boundaries is a case study of shifting politicization in a plural society. Based on extensive fieldwork in India, it examines how sympathizers of Hindu nationalism related to the political movement over time and explains their alternation between different kinds of 'significant Others', in this case Muslims as well as Dalits.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka; Mageli, Eldrid Ingebjørg & Ruud, Arild Engelsen (2000). Nærbilder av India. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISBN 9788245607925. -1 p. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka; Mageli, Eldrid Ingebjørg & Ruud, Arild Engelsen (2000). Nærbilder av India: Samfunn, politikk og utvikling. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISBN 9788245607925. -1 p. Full text in Research Archive

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Frøystad, Kathinka (2026). Indisk epos blir storfilm. [Radio]. NRK P2. doi: https:/radio.nrk.no/serie/studio-2-p2/MKAK02017126?utm_source=nrkradio&utm_medium=delelenke-web&utm_content=prf%3AMKAK02017126#t=2h6m25s. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Om filmatiseringen av Ramanaya
Frøystad, Kathinka & Plassen, Pål (2026). Kaste og religion i fokus - Kompass - NRK Radio. [Radio]. NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Indiske styresmakter planlegg å registrera kaste og religion i ny folketelling. Kva er hensikten med det?
Frøystad, Kathinka & Anmol, Alfonso, (2026). How The Nashik TCS Case Was Hijacked By “Corporate Jihad” Claims | BOOM. [Journal]. Online newspaper. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2025). Feltarbeidets fremtid i India: Om GDPR og forskningsfrihet. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2025). Interreligiøs forståelse sett fra India: Mer enn "religionsdialog"? doi: https:/stl.no/arrangement/fredagsforum-interreligiose-forstaelse-sett-fra-india/. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka; Rots, Aike Peter; Baffeli, Erica; Longkumer, Arkotong; Caple, Jane & Stroup, David (2025). Recentring Fear in the Study of Religion: Theorising from Asia. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2025). Normativizing events: Changing temple practices in a time of muscular religious nationalism. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2025). Ramadan og den religiøse fasten. [Internet]. Religioner.no. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka; Lazzaretti, Vera & Balkaran, Raj (2024). Boook talk: Beyond Courtrooms and Street Violence. [Internet]. New Books Network Podcast. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). Toilet taboos can make scientific work dangerous. [Journal]. Scientific American. Full text in Research Archive
Eide, Elisabeth; Dutta, Anwesha; Nielsen, Kenneth Bo; Ruud, Arild Engelsen & Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). Paneldebatt: Valg i India - Hvilken vei går verdens største demokrati? Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Tord & Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). Redaksjonelt. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 35(1), p. 1–2. doi: 10.18261/nat.35.1.1. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). Hva er hindunasjonalisme? Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). Modi og mediene. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka & Roy, Soumya (2024). The Gujarati Queen of Hearts. [Internet]. The Dial magazine. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). Kali's political paradox: Notes from an Indian temple. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Tord & Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). Redaksjonelt. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 35(3-4), p. 127–128. doi: 10.18261/nat.35.3-4.1. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka & Strømmen, Kjersti (2024). Innvielse av viktig hindutempel kaster glans over statsminister Modi. [Internet]. NRK Urix. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka & Larsen, Tord (2024). Redaksjonelt. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 35(2), p. 75–76. doi: 10.18261/nat.35.2.1. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). India: Verdens mest folkerike land, men hva vet vi egentlig om landet? Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). Teselger-sønnen Narendra Modi er Indias sterke mann. [Radio]. NRK P2, Studio 2. Full text in Research Archive
Moene, Kalle; Waldrop, Anne; Harikrishna, Deva Nandan; Frøystad, Kathinka & Gautier, Ari (2024). India: Economic growth with huge social inequalities. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). The unseen barriers around bathroom breaks in the field. [Internet]. Undark. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). Hindutempel til besvær. [Radio]. Kompass, NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). Picturing piety: Smartphones in working-class Hindu devotion. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). Siste valgdag for India: -Helt utrolig. [Journal]. VG. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2024). Valget i India mer demokratisk enn frykta. [Radio]. Studio 2, NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2023). "Love jihad": An Indian trope with transnational roots. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka & Larsen, Tord (2023). Redaksjonelt. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 34(1), p. 5–6. doi: 10.18261/nat.34.1.1. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Tord & Frøystad, Kathinka (2023). Redaksjonelt. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 34(3-4), p. 133–134. doi: 10.18261/nat.34.3-4.1. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2023). Hüsken, Ute, Vasudha Narayanan, and Astrid Zotter (eds): Nine Nights of Power. Durgā, Dolls, and Darbārs. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2021. 294 pp. Anthropos: Internationale Zeitschrift für Völker- und Sprachenkunde. ISSN 0257-9774. 118(2), p. 634–635. doi: 10.5771/0257-9774-2023-2-707. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2023). Om kærlighetsjihad og kontroversiell BBC-dokumentar. [Radio]. NRK P2, Kompass. Full text in Research Archive
Kharel, Dipesh; Storaas, Frode & Frøystad, Kathinka (2023). An Indian Love Story Etnografisk film (60 min) Hindi tale, engelske undertitler. Full text in Research Archive
Storaas, Frode & Frøystad, Kathinka (2023). Spørsmål og svar om "An Indian Love Story". Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka & Larsen, Tord (2023). Redaksjonelt. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 34(2), p. 77–78. doi: 10.18261/nat.34.2.1. Full text in Research Archive
Rota, Andrea & Frøystad, Kathinka (2023). Religious Offence in India. [Internet]. IKOS – Religion and Politics Podcast #1. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka & Larsen, Tord (2022). Redaksjonelt. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 33(2), p. 79–81. doi: 10.18261/nat.33.2. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Tord & Frøystad, Kathinka (2022). Redaksjonelt. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 33(1), p. 5–7. doi: 10.18261/nat.33.1. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2022). "Kjærlighetsjihad" brukes for å demonisere indiske muslimer. [Journal]. Morgenbladet. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2022). Reagerer på Solheim: "Hårreisende", "naivt", "forkastelig" og "skremmende". [Journal]. Morgenbladet. Full text in Research Archive
Endresen, Cecilie; Johannsen, Dirk; Frøystad, Kathinka; Stensvold, Anne; Ruud, Arild Engelsen & Trangerud, Hanne Amanda [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2022). Jo, mange forsker på religion og politikk! Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Jo, mange forsker på religion og politikk! «Akademikeres manglende interesse for religionenes innflytelse på internasjonal samfunnsutvikling er påfallende», skriver teologen Trond Bakkevig 26. oktober. Bakkevigs utspill er underlig. Religion og politikk er et stort, levende forskningsfelt. I Norge har akademikere beskjeftiget seg med temaer som de han nevner, i flere tiår, spesielt på religionsvitenskap og områdefagene. Bare fra vårt eget institutt kommer flere publikasjoner enn vi rekker å lese. Religion og politikk dukker opp i flere humanistiske og samfunnsvitenskapelige fag. Lesere som ønsker forskningsbasert kunnskap om religion og politikk, og ikke kan studere emner som «religion and politics» hos oss, anbefales Google Scholar. (Et enkelt søk for eksempel på «Trump + Evangelicals» eller «Putin + Orthodox Church» gir godt over 20.000 treff hver.) Skulle Bakkevig ha lyst til å få bedre kjennskap til UiOs omfattende forskning på feltet, er han hjertelig velkommen til å ta kontakt. Cecilie Endresen, førsteamanuensis, Kathinka Frøystad, professor, Dirk Johannsen, professor, Arild Engelsen Ruud, professor, Anne Stensvold, professor, Alp Eren Topal, postdoktor, Hanne Trangerud, stipendiat, Ragnhild Zorgati, førsteamanuensis v/Humanistisk fakultet, Universitetet i Oslo, tilknyttet forskningsnettverket Religion and Politics (RelPol), Institutt for kulturstudier og orientalske språk
Frøystad, Kathinka (2022). Aktivistar vil gjere moské om til tempel i India. [Radio]. Urix på lørdag, NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2022). Kjærlighesjihad - slagord med sprengkraft. [Journal]. Apollon. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2022). India slår ned på bistandsmidler. [Radio]. NRK P2, Studio2. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Tord & Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2022). Redaksjonelt. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 33(3-4), p. 189–190. doi: 10.18261/nat.33.3-4.1. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2022). Jesus i hindutemplet. Full text in Research Archive
Endsjø, Dag Øistein; Stensvold, Anne; Endresen, Cecilie; Zorgati, Ragnhild Johnsrud; Havnevik, Hanna & Stene, Nora [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2022). Religionsvitenskap er allerede på HF (Debattinnlegg fra faggruppen på religionsvitenskap, v. Anne Stensvold) «Like lite som filosofi kan opprette parallelle kurs i idéhistorie eller sosiologi, kan teologene ved TF starte kurs som prøver å imitere hva som allerede finnes på religionsvitenskap.». Full text in Research Archive Show summary
DEBATT: Religionsvitenskap er allerede på HF Like lite som filosofi kan opprette parallelle kurs i idéhistorie eller sosiologi, kan teologene ved TF starte kurs som prøver å imitere hva som allerede finnes på religionsvitenskap, skriver professor i religionsvitenskap, Anne Stensvold. Det er ganske oppsiktsvekkende at TFs nye dekan Anders Runesson går inn for at hans fakultet skal begynne å undervise i religionsvitenskap. Slik overser han fullstendig at religionsvitenskap allerede er et eget fag ved UiO – nemlig på HF. Allerede i 1914 ble Wilhelm Schencke utnevnt som Norges første professor i religionsvitenskap – nettopp ved Det humanistiske fakultet på UiO. Det handlet om at teologiens normative utgangspunkt ikke kunne være utgangspunkt for det humanistiske studiet av religion som et menneskeskapt fenomen. For et universitetet som satser både på teologisk og humanistisk forskning, er det grunnleggende å opprettholde dette skillet. Når dekan Runesson slår fast at han «er ikke så glad i skillet mellom teologi og religionsvitenskap,» demonstrerer han viktigheten av nettopp å opprettholde dette skillet. Som han selv understreker, er teologer de som studerer visse religiøse tekster som «autoritative». Dette er noe fullstendig annet enn å studere religion som et kulturelt fenomen. Runesson viser med sitt utspill også hvordan hans kristne teologiske utgangspunkt er vanskelig å overføre til studiet av andre religioner, idet tekster som sådan ikke har samme autoritative posisjon i mange andre religiøse tradisjoner. Selv innen det religionsvitenskapelige studiet av kristendommen, ser man klart at tekster bare er én av mange faktorer som former menneskers tro og verdensbilder. Runessons manglende evne eller vilje til å innse at teologi og religionsvitenskap er to helt forskjellige fag, demonstrerer også at TF ikke er i stand til å undervise i religionsvitenskap som en selvstendig disiplin. Om ikke de teologiske føringene helt klart holdes utenfor religionsvitenskapen, handler det ikke lenger om religionsvitenskap. I stedet blir alt teologi. Runessons utspill plasserer seg i et mønster fra TF de siste årene, der både enkeltemner og hele program presenteres som noe annet enn det de nettopp er – teologiske. Av respekt både for studenter og for HF hvor religionsvitenskap hører til, burde følgelig TF klarere understreke den teologiske essensen i sitt studietilbud. Runesson og andre på TF som stadig forsøker å blande sammen teologi og religionsvitenskap kan ikke late som om religionsvitenskap ikke allerede eksisterer som eget fag ved UiO. Like lite som filosofi kan opprette parallelle kurs i idéhistorie eller sosiologi, kan teologene ved TF starte kurs som prøver å imitere hva som allerede finnes på religionsvitenskap. Teologi er viktig for Universitetet i Oslo. Men TFs undervisning, som Runesson selv påpeker, handler primært om at man «utdanner prester», og kan ikke sammenblandes med det religionsvitenskapelige studiet av religion . For sin egen fagtradisjons skyld, burde TF i stedet kanskje heller rendyrke sitt teologiske studietilbud. Akkurat som ved de andre universitetene, hører religionsvitenskap som et humanistisk fag hjemme på HF. Vi ser samtidig behovet for klarere å vise dette både overfor studenter og samfunnet generelt ved at religionsvitenskap kommer inn i navnet til instituttet der det holder til.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2022). Religiøse minoriteter under press i India. [Radio]. Studio2, NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2021). Koronakrisen i India: Vi feiret for tidlig. [Internet]. NRK Nyheter. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2021). Faren trenger fire sylindere om dagen for å puste. Sykehuset kan bare gi to. [Journal]. Aftenposten. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2021). Corona i India: Kort tid etter dør han. [Journal]. Dagbladet. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2021). Hver tredje hindu i India vil ikke ha kristne som naboer. [Journal]. Vårt Land. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2021). Pandemikrisen i India. [Radio]. Dagsnytt Atten, NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2021). Vil forby salg av egg og kjøtt i flere indiske byer. [Internet]. NRK Urix. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2020). Hele India i karantene. [Radio]. NRK P2, Studio 2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2020). Kali, Kathinka and the Camera. In Chopra, Radhika (Eds.), Ways of Worship. Penguin. ISSN 9780670094011. p. 90–96. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2020). Introduction: Religious festivals and political change. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2020). Folk fengsles for blasfemi i Pakistan. [Radio]. NRK P2, Studio2. Full text in Research Archive
Berg, Dag-Erik; Ruud, Arild Engelsen; Frøystad, Kathinka & Løkeland-Stai, Espen (2020). India-forsker om rektor-nei til India-tur: «Lite interesse for demokrati?». [Journal]. Khrono.no. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2020). Hindunasjonalismens politiske ontologi: Fra skrekkvisjoner til framtidsdrømmer. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2020). India opphever nedstengningen selv om koronasmitten øker. [Radio]. NRK P2, Studio 2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2020). Maskerte angripere slo studentleder til blods. [Journal]. Aftenposten. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2020). Impressions from an online film festival: Review of GIEFF 2020. NAFA Network Newsletter. ISSN 0805-1046. 27(1). Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2020). Religious offence: analytical perspectives. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2020). Discussion with filmmakers. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). The New Hindu India against itself: Lessons from a mobile fieldwork. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). Hindu nationalism then and now. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). Tempelbråk i Kerala. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). Om Modis brakseier ved nasjonalvalget i India, mai 2019. [Radio]. Studio 2, NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). Modi-koden. p. 12–13. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). Menstruerende kvinner skaper tempelbråk i India. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). India and Norway: Constitutions compared. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2019). Mahatma Gandhi 150 år: Hva betyr han i dag? [Radio]. Studio 2, NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2019). Mahatma Gandhi 150 år: Hva betyr han i dag? (kort innslg). [Radio]. Her og Nå, NRK P1. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2019). Intervju om hindunasjonalisme. [Radio]. NRK P2, Verdibørsen. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). Intervju om verdens økte alkoholforbruk og Indias rolle i dette. [Radio]. Studio 2, NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). Om den indiske høyesterettsdommen som sikret kvinner adgang til Sabarimala-templet. [Radio]. NRK P2 - Studio 2. Full text in Research Archive
Flåten, Lars Tore; Nielsen, Kenneth Bo; Jensenius, Francesca R.; Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka & Ruud, Arild Engelsen (2019). Valgvake - valget i India. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). India har vedtatt en lov som gir mange illegale migranter rett til statsborgerskap -- så lenge de ikke er muslimer. [Radio]. Studio 2, NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2019). Hindu nationalism and its forms of excess. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2019). Kamini and the cardamoms: The New Hindu India against itself. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). Løgn på sosiale medier. [Radio]. Ekko, NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hvilken betydning spiller WhatsApp i spredningen av rykter og falske nyheter - og hva kan gjøres
Frøystad, Kathinka (2019). Sanskrit på nordkapp (intervju med Avinash Patwardhan. [Internet]. AsiaPunkt. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2019). Gandhi - tidløs eller tannløs? Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2018). Rystes av brutale voldtekter. [Journal]. Vårt Land. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Indias voldtektsdrap på Twitter. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Intervju om Asifa-saken i India på NRK Ytring. [Radio]. NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Blasfemi og politikk i Sør-Asia. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Asifa (8) ble voldtatt og drept i India. Nå kommer de groteske voldtektssakene til overflaten. [Journal]. Dagbladet. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Problemet med Padmavati. p. 14–15. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka; Storaas, Frode & Kharel, Dipesh (2018). A Kali Temple Inside out (etnografisk film). Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Contingent moments in Kanpur. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Om WhatsApps popularitet og politiske rolle i India. [Radio]. Studio 2, NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Gnisninger i India (om voldtektsdrapet av Asifa Bano). [Radio]. Studio 2, NRK p2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Mangfold og mangfoldsledelse: Indiske erfaringer. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Debatt om Loveleen Rihel Brennas bok Mangfoldsledelse (Cappelen Damm 2018)
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Intervju om Indias avkriminalisering av homofili. [Radio]. NRK P2, Verdibørsen. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Intervju om den kontroversielle indiske spillefilmen Padmavat (tidligere tittel: Padmavati). [Radio]. NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). A Kali Temple Inside Out (introduction and preview of ethnographic film). Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Introduction: Containing religious offence in South Asia. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2018). Contingent moments in Kanpur: On the act of overlooking or claiming religious offence. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2017). Vi som savner orientalismen. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2017). New Age in India: Economy and Religion Revisited. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2017). Ritual inclusivity in turbulent times. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2017). Yoga and globalisation: More complex than you think. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2017). "Shakshiyat": A portrait of Madhumita Ray. [TV]. Rajya Sabha TV (India). Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Intervju for programmet Shakshiyat om den indiske klassiske sangerinnen Madhumita Rays arbeid med å løfte 1300-tallspoeten Amir Khusraus religiøst grenseoverskridende dikt fram i lyset grunnet dagens religionspolitiske spenninger. Programmet er produsert av den indiske TV-kanalen Rajya Sabha TV og ble vist 18. og 19. november på indiske TV-skjermer, samt på Rajya Sabhas live YouTube-kanal for indere utenalnds. Programmet var på hindi bortsett fra mitt intervju, som var på engelsk.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka & Bjermeland, Monica (2017). Mørklagte, mystiske India. [Internet]. Klima - et magasin om klimaforskning fra CICERO. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Kina har klart det: å skaffe strøm til sine 1,4 milliarder innbyggere, også de på bygda. Hvorfor klarer ikke India det samme?
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2017). Boksamtale med Ivo de Figueiredo. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2017). Ivo de Figueiredo: En fremmed ved mitt bord (bokanmeldelse). Fokus India. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2017). Når guruer voldtar. religioner.no. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka & Tønnessen, Eva (2017). #metoo: Har laget navneliste på over 60 indiske akademikere. [Internet]. Khrono. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2017). Through the looking glass: Towards an anthropology of Indian cosmopolitanism. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2017). Guru til besvær. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2017). Three years with Modi (innlegg til paneldebatt). Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2017). Calibrating "cosmopolitanism": Notes from a multi-faith Indian neighbourhood. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2016). Ritual crossings in Kanpur: Models, motives and societal ripples. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2016). Tamil Brahmans: The Making of a Middle-Class Caste by C. J. Fuller and Narasimhan Haripriya. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. 288 pp. American Anthropologist. ISSN 0002-7294. 118(2), p. 428–429. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2016). Motets ansikt. [Journal]. A-magasinet. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Påskereportasje om indiske syreofre som har startet kafe for å komme ut av skammen over sitt vansirede ansikt. Journalist: Mala Wang-Naveen.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2016). Past, present and future contributions - A personal account. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2016). Denaturalizing religious difference: With Sisyphos in the field. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2016). The affect of the visual: Shiva in the Ka’aba and the smartphone revolution. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2015). Denaturalizing naturalization: Conceptual reflections and a new look at the c-word. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2015). Indisk nyreligiøsitet. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2015). Nyreligiøs kasteletitimering - dødskramper eller gjenoppstandelse? Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2015). Ontological turns and turn-offs in the study of religious hyperdiversity: A preliminary view from a Kali temple. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2015). Hvorfor blir noen krenket? [Internet]. Forskning.no. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Åtte forskere fra ulike fagfelt intervjues om krenkelser i kjølvannet av Charlie Hebdo-massakren i Paris i januar 2015.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2015). An offering to Ajmer: Token or transformation? Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2014). Sataniske Vers blir lovlig i India igjen. [Radio]. Studio2, NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2014). Hvor er nyansene i fortellingen om Indias fattige? Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2014). Alles øyne på Indias voldtektsmenn. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2014). Intervju om voltekt og drap av dalit-kvinner i India og mangelen på toaletter i landsbyområdene. [Radio]. NRK P2 - Ekko. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2014). Naturalisering på langs og tvers: Begrepshistorisk refleksjon med storm i kastene. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2013). Amvibalent belonging in a "dirty" city: Towards an anthropology of provinciality. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2013). The ´re-encapsulating´ state: Reflections on the ´Three Hundred Ramanayanas´controversy in India. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2013). From Hindu nationalism to ritual cosmopolitanism: Looking back, sideways and ahead. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2013). The deformed god and the spinal snake: divine money-making in Shining India. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2013). Må man drepe Gud for å bli kristen? [Journal]. Bergen. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2013). The micro-politics of religious diversity: from conflict to cosmopolitanism and back. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2013). Viktig masseprotest (om gjengvoldtekt i India). [Journal]. Klassekampen. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2013). Sacrifice, demands, affirmations, self-development: Seeking inner and outer growth in Shining India. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2012). Marine Carrin og Harald Tambs-Lyche: An encounter of peripheries: Santals, missionaries, and their changing world, 1867-1900. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 3-4, p. 325–327. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2012). Hindu work ethic in transition: From divine intervention to spiritual self-management in India. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2012). De-romanticizing cosmopolitanism: rethinking the core model. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2012). Religion, regulation and ritual. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2012). Divine intersections: Hindu ritual and the incorporation of religious others. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2012). Divine Intersections: Hindu Ritual and the Incorporation of Religious Others (re-presentation). Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2011). Combatting caste slur in the public sphere. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2011). Cosmopolitanism or Iatrogenesis in India? Reflections on Religious Plurality, Censorship and Disciplinary Orientations. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2011). Between religious cosmopolitanism and class sanitation. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2011). Anmeldelse av Sindre Bangstad: Sekularismens ansikter. Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7285. 22(1), p. 66–68. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2011). Polytropic moments and ishtadevta implications in contemporary middle-class Hinduism. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2011). Demokrati på indisk: suksess eller synkende skip? Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2011). Om antikorrupsjonskampanjen til Baba Ramdev i New Delhi. [TV]. TV2-nyhetene. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2010). Balansekunst: Mellom ytringsfrihet og harmonibegrunnet (selv)sensur. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2010). Krenkelseskrangel på indisk. p. 20–21. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Har lille Norge noe å lære av India? Kathinka Frøystad om blasfemiforbud, ytringsfrihet og etnoreligiøse konflikter.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2010). Cosmopolitanism or iatrogenics? Reflections on India's ban on religious provocations. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2009). Hodet over vannet: spiritualitet i neoliberalismens tidsalder. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2009). Religion i retur. [Journal]. Hubro nr 2/2009. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2009). Staying afloat: Indian spirituality in the age of neoliberalism. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2009). Indisk demokratifest i depresjonens tid. [Journal]. Bergens Tidende. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2009). Ikke kasteløs. [Journal]. Bergens Tidende. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Kritikk av BTs bruk av begrepet "kasteløs" i sin lederartikkel om parlamentvalget i India i 2009.
Frøystad, Kathinka (2009). Demokratifest i depresjonens tid. [Journal]. Adresseavisen. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2008). Om terrorangrepene i Mumbai-3. [Radio]. NRK P1 (Her og nå). Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2008). Om terrorangrepene i Mumbai-4. [TV]. TV2 Nyhetskanalen. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2008). Om terrorangrepene i Mumbai. [TV]. TV2 Nyhetskanalen. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2008). Om terrorangrepene i Mumbai-2. [Radio]. P4. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2008). Om terrorangrepene i Mumbai-5. [Radio]. NRK P2 (Nyhetsmorgen). Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2008). Dobbel tilbaketrekning: Om spiritualitet og klasse i India. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2008). BT og mangfoldsåret. Bergens Tidende. ISSN 0804-8983. p. 11–11. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2008). Conversation on “New Industries of Spirituality and Violence” with Kathnka Frøystad and Faisal Devji. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka (2007). Fra høythengende til uoppnåelige universitetsstillinger. 2007(9), p. 32–33. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2006). The Indian New Age movement: a case of U-turn globalization? Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2006). Anthropology of a Western Yogi: U-turn, friction, lineage. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2005). “Det er veldig vitenskapelig”: Vitenskap som kilde til legitimitet i den indiske New Age-bevegelsen. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2005). ‘It is very scientific:’ Four paths to scientific legitimacy in the Indian New Age movement. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2002). From Muslims to Dalits: Hindu nationalism seen from below, 1992-1997. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2002). Volatile violence: On Hindu-Muslim riots in India. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2002). Reading newspapers in India. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2002). Forestillingen om det ¿ordentlige¿ feltarbeid. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2001). Kropp, klær og klasse i en nord-indisk storby. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2001). Class and closure in public arenas. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2000). Lokal sammenfiltring av kaste og klasse i en nordindisk storby. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (1999). From Muslims to Dalits: Changing salience of Otherness among upper-castes in an Uttar Pradesh suburb. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (1999). Corruption and morality in Suburban India: an anthropological approach. Full text in Research Archive
Ruud, Arild Engelsen & Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (1999). Varig fred i Kashmir? Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116. Full text in Research Archive
Ruud, Audun & Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (1997). India og Pakistan endelig på talefot. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (1997). Den seiglivede fremmedfrykten. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (1997). Politisk kasteball. 3. verden magasinet X. ISSN 0803-723X. 6(5). Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka; Wollbraaten, Sofie Vega & Sen, Moumita (2020). Towards a Self-Reflected Romantic Hero - Representations of the romantic protagonist and his approach to women in Hindi films of the 2010s. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This thesis concerns the courtship practices seen in contemporary, romantic Hindi films, with an emphasis on the romantic agency of the male protagonist. In this qualitative study, I examine eleven films with dominant romantic narratives released in the 2010s. As films and society have changed in the past 20-30 years in India, there are elements in courtship practices in these films that have changed, such as the development of close friendships between the hero and heroine before a romantic relationship is formed. Some elements in these films remain surprisingly unchanged since the 1990s, such as dominant male agency. This thesis claims that one of the most defining traits of the protagonists in contemporary films, is that they often improve themselves by the climax of the film. This shows an increased self-reflection of the romantic hero. In the films studied in this thesis, the couples often become friends before marriage, where love and respect grow. Here, there is a notable change from the films of the 1990s and earlier, where immediate physical attraction often laid the sole foundation for a romantic relationship and eventual marriage. The aim of this thesis is to give an insight into modern courtship practices in Hindi films, with a focus on how men behave towards women. I argue the importance of studying male romantic approaches to women in films, as these can inspire actions in life off-screen. With this thesis, I contribute to the yet uncharted and narrow field of male agency in forming romantic relationships in Hindi films of the 2010s.
Frøystad, Kathinka & Kvanneid, Aase Jeanette (2018). Waterworn. Climate Change Resonance in the Shivalik Hills of North India. Universitetet i Bergen. ISSN 9788230837719. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This dissertation aims to explore the idea of climate change as it appeared amongst villagers in the rural Shivalik hills of North India. I traced the discourse behind the practices of diverse local, regional and global development policies as I saw them materializing in the village, and found what appeared to be an ‘awareness campaign’ on climate change. In the village of Rani Mājri, people live in an area of North India that is defined by the central government as ‘fragile’ and ‘ecologically sensitive’. Situated below the Himalayan mountains and above the Indo-Gangetic plains, the area is expected to be seriously affected by climate change and global warming though more erratic monsoon rainfall, erosion, siltation and landslides. Consequently, the hill village population have over time become subjected to various governmental schemes and projects aiming to both develop the people and conserve the environment, alongside facilitating for the mitigation of climate change. I argued that this ‘campaign’ became entwined with existing discourses on modernity and environmentalism, so that information on climate change in Rani Mājri became filtrated through a new discourse on climate change awareness. The campaigns directed at developing, modernizing and educating the villagers on issues of climate and environment, thus appeared poorly designed to register that the ‘awareness’ the they wanted to propagate, was already there. Central for my analysis was the social aspects of water, how it was shared and distributed. As a central element in shaping both social and ecological landscapes, people’s relationship with water was explicitly related to notions of power, cosmology and ‘progress’. Water, by controlling it or altering its course, thus affected how people in the village dealt with the environmental and social changes that they perceived around them. This became especially salient through the presence of a state ‘watershed management project’ I followed, and its associated practices. The focus on water also revealed an intimate relationship between humans, deities and the environment in which they dwell, and how this relationship also affected the idea of climate change in Rani Mājri.
Kumar, Mukesh; Frøystad, Kathinka & Ghosh, Devleena (2018). The Saints Belong to Everyone: Liminality, Belief and Practices in Rural North India. University of Technology, Sydney. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Mewat is a cultural region in north India with a predominantly Meo Muslim population. Historically, the interaction of Hindu, Muslim and other religious groups has given the sharing of the region’s many shrines of Bhakti and Sufi saints a pluralistic character. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, these shared shrines and their saints reflected the world of middle-caste/class Meo Muslim peasants upon whom various service castes were dependent under the jajmāni (patron–client system). The Meos’ devotion to these saints was in line with the Bhakti and Sufi ideas that advocated the transcendence of caste and religious identities in favour of peasant values and devotional requirements. However, the rise of nationalist and reform politics at the national level in the 20th century and its extension to Mewat led people to identify themselves as more Hindu or Muslim. In this thesis I explore the malleable nature of these religious boundaries and identities by tracing the history of two shared shrines of the 16th century Bhakti and Sufi saints, Laldas and Shah Chokha. I used ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with Hindu and Muslim individuals, as well as Meo oral folktales and folksongs performed by the Jogi and Mirasi bards and archival methods to explore the pre and post-religious reform eras. Based on this data I argue that the Hindu and Islamic reform movements, the Arya Samaj and the Tablighi Jamaat respectively, came to define religious identity and practices in Mewat from the beginning of the 20th century. The Tablighi Jamaat movement led Meos to see themselves as a Sunni Muslim group, a change that unsettled traditionally shared religious sites and practices and created both visible and unvisible threats for Muslim individuals and Abstract 2 groups who were still engaged in what most Meos considered as un-Islamic practices. In response, the more powerless social groups such as Meo and other Muslim women and the bards and minstrels of Jogi and Mirasi caste backgrounds responded with passive resistance. In this study, I demonstrate that the contestation of previously shared religious sites is deeply rooted in the changing forms of the religious cultures among social-religious groups. The significance of this study is to show how, in the wake of religious reform, separatism and disputes, symbolic aspects of shared shrines undergo religious transformations, while marginalised groups employ strategies of passive resistance to maintain the expression of their shared faiths and beliefs.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka & Moss, Konrad Markus (2017). The Creation and Maintenance of a Divided City; The Case of Pondicherry. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This thesis looks at the historically segregated city of Pondicherry. Once a symbol of French colonial power, the small urban area of city was divided into “White Town” and “Tamil Town” in order to maintain political and economic control – thus dividing its population. The creation and maintenance of identity in contemporary Pondicherry is linked to belonging and the use of urban space – further juxtaposed by certain ethnic stereotypes and expectations towards “us” and “them”. By expanding upon the historic background of colonial Pondicherry – this thesis aims to understand how the identities of Franco and Tamil Pondicherriens interact with urban space, each other and the defined roles superimposed on other members of urban Pondicherry. In order to better understand the creation of a divided Pondicherry, this thesis works with the segregated urban structure of Pondicherry in a historic context, before entering and exploring the contemporary urban spaces within its city limits – and discussing the contrasting anticipations regarding future heritage preservation and development in Pondicherry. This will serve as a canvas to better understand how divided cities are created and maintained.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka & Sharma, Bharti (2017). Diversity in Unity: Making Interfaith marriages work. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This thesis concerns interfaith couples in India. It looks at their handling of their ritual/religious lives. Despite the differences that may emerge in interfaith marriages, this study tries to explain how interfaith couples create a common religious, spiritual and/or ritual platform in order to maintain their marriages. Ritual practices, festivals, God-belief, religious authorities, families, and gurus and saints are central topics showing their ritual engagement in their day-to-day lives. With a pressure from family and relatives, couples presented in this thesis, mainly discard the orthodoxy and rather share a mutual religious ground of inclusiveness to make their marriages work. The aim of the thesis is to show that the interfaith couples’ capability to maintain an interfaith dialogue is greater than previously understood.
Aukland, Knut; Stausberg, Michael; Keul, Istvan & Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2016). Tours, trade, and temples. Hindu pilgrimage in the age of global tourism. Universitetet i Bergen. ISSN 9788230831649. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Based on ethnographic research across various locations in Northern India between 2012–5, this dissertation investigates how Hindu pilgrimage has adapted to the rise of global tourism through four case studies. On a theoretical level it addresses the question of how to understand the relationship between pilgrimage and tourism. Earlier studies have tended to either contrast or conflate pilgrimage and tourism, often based on a typological approach that categorizes travellers as either tourists, pilgrims or somewhere in between. In the thesis introduction I provide an alternative by developing a theoretical approach that diverges from the dominant coordinates in earlier discussions. My theoretical approach comprises two main steps. First, I conceptualize pilgrimage and tourism as two identifiable domains of socio-cultural activities that historically have been sustained by different institutions and organizations, but that engage in an ongoing interplay. The interplay model allows us to analyze the ways in which actors, agencies and practices tied to each of these domains intersect and tie into one another. The dissertation shows how this interplay produces new combinations and configurations that are related to the removal of earlier religious patterns, but also generate new arrangements facilitating religiosity. Second, I focus on the hitherto largely overlooked role of mediators, intermediary agencies and formations that operate between pilgrims and the places they visit, including tourist guides, pilgrimage priests, guided tours, guidebooks, tourism departments, travel agencies, circuits, itineraries and package tours. The four articles of the dissertation thus target the modus operandi of Hindu pilgrimage in the age of global tourism, and the mediating structures that pilgrims and other travellers become entangled in and draw on when they travel to places of pilgrimage. In this way, the dissertation provides a fresh angle to the study of pilgrimage and tourism, shedding new light on contemporary Hinduism and Hindu pilgrimage and provides a cross-cultural framework for understanding the impact of modern tourism on pilgrimage traditions around the globe. The first article [published in Tourist Studies] investigates guided tours in Haridwar (Kankhal) and Rishikesh. Analyzing audio-recordings of the guide narratives, I find that the tours are structured according to a religio-commercial agenda that coordinates commercial and religious interests. The guides invoke a vast array of concepts and images from the reservoir of Hindu narratives and practices to promote the use and purchase of religious objects sold in shops that collaborate with the guides and give them a share of the profit. The article suggests that tourist guides and their guided tours have become integral parts of Hindu pilgrimage and its operation in the age of global tourism. In the second article [published in Modern Asian Studies] I explore the adaptive strategies adopted by pilgrimage priests (pandas) in Vrindavan in relation to changes ushered by tourism. Changing travel patterns have forced pandas to modify their services by adopting the role of the guide and by offering guided tours. They also collaborate with travel agencies or open their own travel agencies that combine priestly and tourist services. In order to secure an income, pandas modify familiar mythological narratives and use various rhetorical devices trying to stimulate pilgrims to give donations (dan) out of which the pandas get a share. While the forces of global tourism have helped diminish the traditional exchange system between panda and pilgrim, I argue that the commercial concerns as such do not represent a new development but resonate with the history of Hindu pilgrimage and the pandas' trade. In the third article [forthcoming in Journal of Contemporary Religion], I turn to the Himalayan Char Dham pilgrimage route. I argue that the growth of Char Dham was predicated on the involvement of the public tourist boards and tourist bureaucrats who saw in Char Dham a readymade (religious) concept to be turned into a tourism circuit. A content analysis of Char Dham guidebooks is used to challenge the hypothesis that tourism development will result in a rebranding of pilgrimages that downplay religious dimensions and affairs. The inclusion of tourist activities and sites in the promotion of Char Dham is not replacing religious communication, but rather complementing it, or changing it by suggesting a correspondence between natural beauty and religious significance. Char Dham guidebooks still report miracles and provide instructions in ritual matters, while framing is as a picturesque pilgrimage, indicating a clear departure from pre-modern conceptions of nature. The fourth article [forthcoming in Numen] investigates the role of travel agencies in promoting pilgrimage tours in Delhi, Vrindavan and Haridwar. Surveying travel brochures I find that the market privileges circuits and destinations where pilgrimage and additional tourist resources cluster together, suggesting a dynamic relationship between India's sacred geography and a broader tourist geography. Non-religious tourist attractions and services do not compete with pilgrimage sites, instead the combined resources of pilgrimage and other tourism sites work to mutual benefit in popular itineraries. For most participants, these day tours are incorporated into larger journeys that are framed both with and without reference to religious purposes and pilgrimage. By collating these discoveries with findings from earlier studies I develop an analysis of overarching developments and implications in what I call pilgrimagerelated travel. Crucially, visits to pilgrimage sites are increasingly framed as darshan tours reflecting how increased scheduling, with swift temple visits, privileges darshan and donations as the principle religious act. Looking at the four articles collectively, I summarize my core findings in three propositions that are unfolded in the introduction: Proposition A: Movement and money condition the mediation of religion at places of pilgrimage. Proposition B: Tourism has not been a secularizing force, but rather brought changes in and a repositioning of the religious aspects of Hindu pilgrimage. Proposition C: The tourist industry and tourist boards are important co-creators of the current Hindu pilgrimage culture and the contemporary expression of India's sacred geography.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka & Vikse, Amalie Meling (2015). Villain, Victin, Hero or Creep. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka & Dahl, Nina Bergheim (2013). To cut or not to cut? Female beauty among Sikh Jats in Punjab, India. Universitetet i Bergen. Full text in Research Archive
Frøystad, Kathinka & Tollefsen, Silje Fjærestad (2012). It's May Pole time'. Public spectacles and Creole people at the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. Universitetet i Bergen. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
AbstractThis thesis concerns the importance of festivals in nation-building. Through a six-month period of fieldwork in the city of Bluefields at the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, I explore how the Creole festival May Pole has been appropriated by the Nicaraguan state after the 1980s. In brief, I argue that by appropriating, documenting, and promoting the May Pole festival, the state of Nicaragua had intensions to incorporate Creole people into Nicaraguan self-understanding, which at the same time would create a common national identity in the country. I suggest that nationalism in Nicaragua is gradually experiencing a change from being ethnic, towards sharing more traits with a multi-ethnic, civic form of nationalism. At first glance, this might appear as an Indisputable and successful process, but my ethnographic material shows that the ambition is accepted to varying degrees among Creole people. While some accept the appropriation, a few are against it. The overall pattern shows that most people accept it, but they still refer to Creole celebrations as the real' May Pole. I argue that there is a concern over authenticity connected to the festival as Creole people feel that it's their festival and the festival constitute inalienable possessions for people. I have suggested that this can be explained through forms of knowledge, as there is something inalienable and embodied inherent in the festival; one has to grow up with it to do the dances properly. The embodied knowledge in May Pole differs from the cognitive knowledge appearing with the appropriation. This cognitive knowledge refers to both the knowledge the state introduced when they appropriated the May Pole festival in late 1980s, and a school-like, cognitive education the NGOs have implemented recent years. May Pole is changing from an incorporating practice, oral and narrated, to additionally embracing an inscribed practice, formal and literate. This seems to be done by the NGOs in order to upgrade Creoles position within Nicaragua, due to the marginalized position of people of African descent in the country.
Frøystad, Kathinka & Budhathoki, Neeta (2012). Kamalari: Tharu girls in bonded labour (Kamalari) servitude in the era of post socio-cultural and political revolution in Nepal - A case study of Dang District. Universitetet i Bergen. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The main aim of this thesis is to examine the situation of Kamalari girls in the post social and political revolution in Nepal. Kamalaris are the Tharu girls who are bonded in a contract to do the domestic work in the house of the master, though the system has already been abolished in the year 2000. Kamalari system of bonded labour is not been paid much attention which is very popular in western regions of Nepal. Employing an anthropological perspective my study aims to find out the situation of Kamalari girls in the context where the bonded labour system has already been abolished.
Frøystad, Kathinka & Berntsen, Maria Sørlie (2011). Challenging the Gaze. The study of a Socially Conscious Photographic Initiative based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Universitetet i Bergen. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The aim of this thesis is to consider the real life interplay between ambitions and restrictions to aDhaka based photographic initiative, with the core objective to contest stereotypicalrepresentations of Bangladesh in Western mainstream media.To what extent it is possible to rebel against stigmatizing categories and gain control ofone’s own image through photographic means? In which ways do financial restrictions within thephotographic field influence the ambition to break with stereotypical representations, and whatare the constraints attached to the photographic medium itself? I carried out six months offieldwork in the photographic community in Dhaka where I, with a combination of observationaland conversational methods, investigated these questions. In contrast to much of the existingmaterial on photography and politics of representation, this study shows how stereotypicalrepresentations and dominant discourses are negotiated and re-appropriated by ‘Others’, in thepast depicted principally by Western photographers. As such it contributes to the understandingof representation, visual culture, resistance and development.The material presented shed light on the contradictory forces that influence Bangladeshiphotographers affiliated to the agency in their daily practices. On the one hand, localphotographers are inspired to create a new envisioning of Bangladesh, by emphasizing differenttopics and storylines than the well-known portrayals of a materially poor, catastrophe-hit and aiddependantcountry. In this sense photographs are used as an act of resistance and a vehicle forchange. At the same time photographers in Dhaka are reliant upon the same image markets asphotographers worldwide, and non-governmental organisations and other ‘development’ agentsform a substantial part of the available image market. Driven by a negative news agenda and theneed to raise aid, market forces have a tendency to push photographers in the opposite direction.Thus, a number of tensions arise whereby the photographic agency and individual photographersare pulled between idealistic considerations and financial concerns, resistance and resignation. The material explored indicates that while there is a potential for self-representation in thephotograph, there are limitations to the photograph’s ability to free itself entirely from existingrepresentations. There is a risk, as Larsen (1999) has termed it, of being captured by the languageof ones’ opponent when attempting to ‘resist’ the dominant order. I argue that the photographiccommunity in Dhaka needs to accept a certain amount of stereotypical, or ‘Orientalist’ depictionsin order to create a space for alternative visions. This is not only due to the restrictions caused bymarket demands and the limited freedom photographers face, but also because of the boundariesof the photograph itself. This paper examines how photographers question and reflect upon, andtry to find the cracks within, the practical constraints that they encounter. I further argue that theextent to which a photographer succeeds in his or her endeavour to contest stereotypicalrepresentations depends on a number of factors, including their social and economicbackgrounds. While the initiative contest global hierarchies, I argue that continuity can be tracedbetween the global disparities in the international media field and those that characterise thecontemporary Bangladeshi photography-scene.
Larsen, Hege Myrlund; Frøystad, Kathinka; Kapferer, Bruce & Bråten, Eldar (2010). Buddhism in Popular Culture. The case of Sri Lankan "Tovil dance". Universitetet i Bergen. ISSN 9788230815083. Full text in Research Archive
Hjelde, Aase Jeanette & Frøystad, Kathinka (2009). "everybody Wants to become Modern" Appropriating New Twchnology in Rural Rajasthan, India. Universitetet i Bergen. Full text in Research Archive
Stephan, Mari-Louise Uldbæk & Frøystad, Kathinka (2009). Mellom einskap og ulikskap. Eit Studium av unge politiske aktive ekailtibetanarar i India. Universitetet i Bergen. Full text in Research Archive
Stevnebø, Anette & Frøystad, Kathinka (2009). "All Progressive, Democratic & Patriotic Students Be United!" Performative aspekter ved studentpolitikk i Kathmandu, Nepal. Universitetet i Bergen. Full text in Research Archive
Iversen, Wenche & Frøystad, Kathinka (2009). "IT's a Woman's World" En studie av vennskap, valg og inntrykkskontroll blant unge IT-ansatte i Indias nye middelklasse. Universitetet i Bergen. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Avhandlingen tar for seg hvordan unge kvinner står ovenfor en sterke og ofte motstridende forventninger i det de har flyttet fra inn til IT-byen Bangalore for å studere og arbeide i den indiske IT-indsutrien. Kvinnene kategoriseres som en del av Indias "nye" middelklasse, altså den delen av befolkningen som i de siste årene på bakgrunn av politiske prosesser har større muligheter til høyere utdanning og prestisjefulle jobber. Fortiden som lavere klasse er nær, og kvinnene diskuterer hva det egentlig vil si å "være middelklasse", som på den ene siden blir presentert som noe ensidig postivt. På TV og reklameplakater ser kvinnene representasjonen av middelklassen, som i virkeligheten representerer Indias elite - en verden langt fra disse kvinnenes liv. Forbundet med både IT-industrien og middelklassen er også negative konnotasjoner, som egoisme, grådighet og manglende familieverdier. For kvinnene er familien det viktiste i livet. Det er et fast holdepunkt i en hverdag preget av stadig skiftende forventninger i ulike kontekster. Kvinnene, som er ugifte, ønsker å presentere seg selv som respektable, men hva er egentlig respektabilitet? Jeg viser ved hjelp av kognitiv antropologi representert av Roy D'Andrade og Bradd Shore hvordan kvinnene bruker vennskapsrelasjoner for å diskutere og forhandle i ulike kontekster i livet. Respektabilitet er kontekstuelt, og for å finne ut at noe er respektabelt i en kontekst, men ikke respektabelt i en annen undersøker kvinnene omgivelsene rundt seg. I vennskapsrelasjonene skaper kvinnene en felles konsensus om hva som er riktig opptreden og ikke. Dessuten er vennskapsrelasjonene med på å bekrefte og styrke familieverdiene kvinnene deler.
Gorgin, Naghmeh & Frøystad, Kathinka (2008). Unge Muslimer Kommer Til Ordet. Universitetet i Bergen. Full text in Research Archive
Rognes, Pål Henning & Frøystad, Kathinka (2007). Negotiating World Views: Christian Koyas and their Environment. Universitetet i Bergen. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The thesis centres around a number of conversion stories that were related to me by Christian Koyas, most of them newly converted. While primarily attempting to understand their motivations for turning to Christianity, the analysis incorporates the traditional or non-Christian society by investigating the process which leads up to conversion, a process which usually begins with disease and suffering and the failure of traditional medicine or rituals.The evangelical work of the many Christian congregations in the area makes for polarized understandings concerning the ritual practices of Christian Koyas on one side and non-Christian Koyas practicing animistic beliefs on the other. The condemnation on part of the church of rituals involving alcohol and animal sacrifice contributes to this situation. As traditionalist attitudes grow stronger among conservative non-Christians, many Koyas strive to make sense of their lives while being influenced by both traditions, the Christian and the animistic. They find themselves confronted with a moral dilemma, having to choose between the loyalty to the church, which offers free and effective healing, and the loyalty to the clan, the village and its leaders by continuing the worship of spirits and ancestors. The choice of going to church while they desist from taking part in village festivals may have consequences for the way they are perceived by fellow villagers. It is especially what they turn down by becoming Christian, their lack of participation or compliance in ritual matters, that is particularly controversial among non-Christians.While presenting the social organisation that results from the co-existence and blending of two widely different religious traditions, the thesis argues for a processual view on ethnicity and religion against the static view reflected in the Indian censuses. It further argues that Christian Koyas of the area, in spite of the apparent inability to create a meaningful community based on their common religion, are in the process of forming an endogamous unit within the Koya society.
Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (2000). Beneath Hindu Nationalism: Caste, class and shifting faces of 'Hinduness' in a North Indian city. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hindunasjonalismen i India og dens skiftende fiendebilder er temaet for avhandlingen til Kathinka Frøystad. Ved å følge en gruppe høykastehinduer gjennom seks år, undersøkte hun hvordan skiftende politiske kontekster påvirket lokale fiendebilder. Fra å markere avstand til muslimer i 1992, gikk høykastehinduene gradvis over til å markere avstand mot såkalte daliter (uberørbare). Dels skyldtes dette at hindunasjonalistenes mobilisering mot muslimer ble svekket parallelt med at lavkastene oppnådde økt politisk innflytelse. Frøystad hevder imidlertid at slike endringer først har forklaringskraft når de betraktes gjennom lokalsamfunnets øyne. Hoveddelen av avhandlingen diskuterer derfor lokale oppfatninger av politikk samt høykastehinduers samhandling med muslimer, lavkaster og uberørbare i dagliglivet. Avhandlingens beskrivelse av samspillet mellom lokale hverdagsliv og politiske hendelser er forankret i et empirisk fokus på massemedier og et teoretisk fokus på kommunikasjons- og litteraturteori. Foruten å analysere et konkret case-studie, var hensikten med dette å utvikle et perspektiv på etnisitet og nasjonalisme som ikke bare fanger deres framvekst, men også tilfeller der deres intensitet varierer eller svekkes.
Ruud, Arild Engelsen & Frøystad, Hanne Kathinka (1999). Kashmir-konflikten. NUPI. Full text in Research Archive

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Religious festivals in Asia: Power, aspirations and play