ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the dynamic, mutually constitutive relationship between religion and mobility in the contemporary era of Asian globalization in which an increasing number of people have been displaced, forcefully or voluntarily, by an expanding global market economy. Seven case studies provide up-to-date ethnographic perspectives on the translocal/transnational dimension of religion and the religious/spiritual aspect of movement, invoking religion's relationship to processes of modernity as well as issues of territoriality, connectivity and materiality. The chapter explains how mobility is made sense of by people on the move through their religious faiths and how religion is reconstituted by processes and experiences of mobility such as migration and displacement. It illustrates the importance of promoting a dynamic understanding of Asia not just as a geopolitical entity but as an ongoing social and religious formation in late modernity. The chapter contributes to the literature on Asian studies, religion and globalization, migration, transnationalism, diaspora and citizenship studies, and global anthropology.
