ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the applicability of actor-centered, socio-constructivist mediatization approaches before exemplifying benefits of the communicative figurations approach for analyzing transformation processes related to mediatized Ravidassia religion. It illustrates, this actor-centered approach combines different research perspectives on mediatized religion. On 30 January 2010, the religious organization Dera Sachkhand Ballan, based in the Indian state of Punjab, declared the split from Sikhism and the establishment of an autonomous Ravidassia religion. The eponym of this religion is Guru Ravidass, a saint poet who had been a leather worker presumably during the 15th century and propagated equality and the vision of a casteless and classless society. The striving for an autonomous Ravidassia religion is deeply intertwined with the struggle against caste-based discrimination and oppression aiming at social upward mobility and an overall social change. Looking at media articulation available online, one might get the impression that musicians related to an emerging Ravidassia mediascape have unfolded their visibility especially on YouTube.
