Religious Violence in the Suburbs: The Case of Sri Mandir in Auburn

Authors

  • Cale Leslie Hubble The University of Sydney

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v27i1.35

Keywords:

violence, multiculturalism, ethnicity, scarce resources

Abstract

The Sri Mandir Hindu Temple in Auburn, Sydney was fired upon in March 2011. Local community and religious leaders presented the incident as devoid of ethnic or religious motivation. However, a documentary analysis of publicly available secondary sources suggests that the incident sits within a context of conflict between the local Indian and Middle Eastern Australian communities. There have been overt tensions in the area over planning and infrastructure issues, and interethnic prejudices may be held by some community members. Ethnicities are social constructions, and multiculturalist policies allow for and even demand the creation of these public ethnicities, which can then come into conflict. Competition over scarce resources is a widely theorised motivator for this kind of violent behaviour. Competition over public space, socioeconomic status, and religious zoning are suggested as reasons why violent tensions may exist between Indian and Middle Eastern Australians in southwest Sydney.

Author Biography

  • Cale Leslie Hubble, The University of Sydney
    Cale Leslie Hubble studied in the Departments of Psychology and Studies in Religion at the University of Sydney. He is interested in the social construction of identities and ideologies and has published on contemporary Anglophone atheism in the International Journal for the Study of New Religions and Fieldwork in Religion (forthcoming).

Published

2014-11-03

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Hubble, C. L. (2014). Religious Violence in the Suburbs: The Case of Sri Mandir in Auburn. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 27(1), 35-55. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v27i1.35