ABSTRACT
In this chapter I aim to demonstrate the contribution of ethnographic research to uncovering and understanding processes of religious identity formation among young British people from south Asian families. Through an examination of their self-identification, especially as ‘Hindu’ or ‘Sikh’ (or with reference to these terms), this chapter will suggest that their self-narration in interviews discloses the processes of comparison between themselves and significant others. The mismatch between the categories of ‘Hindu’ and ‘Sikh’ with the self-identification and experience of some young people will problematise the essentialising of religious identities and in particular the role of the education system in conferring and confirming religious identities.
