Tied to the theme of AAR ’23 on ‘Labor’, this panel explores the concept of "Kirat Karna" from a broad and comprehensive perspective. These papers will discuss the Sikh notion of "honest labor" and how Gur-Sikh ethics and lifestyle shape the work of Sikh communities in South Asia as well as in the diaspora, inspiring alternative models to rethinking economic, social, and devotional practices.
Based on long-term ethnographic research in Agro Pontino (Central Italy), this paper discusses the struggles and activism of the first generation of Sikhs settled in an area dominated by local criminal networks (agromafie). Observed for the first time by Italian sociologist Marco Omizzolo (Fanizza and Omizzolo 2018; Omizzolo 2022), the systemic exploitation of Sikh workers has recently caught the attention of international media and NGOs, although the issue - and the possible responses - have never been approached from the Sikh perspective. Engaging in synergy with an underserved community of Sikh workers, the researcher introduced the singing of devotional hymns (kirtan) as an empowering practice to reaffirm GurSikh values about honest labor and resilience, especially among Sikh youths.
This paper centers on the recipe of making ink found in the 17th-18th century manuscripts copies of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture. This recipe, found in the colophon, allows us to think about the scribal labor involved in the transmission of the Sikh scriptural text in its material (bodily) form, as well as its relationship to other kinds of devotional labors, a set of nested activities of the early Sikh community that make up the complex picture of the transmission of the Sikh scriptural corpus in the early modern period. The paper combines literary analysis of the poetic corpus of the Sikhs with the material history of the Sikh scriptural book.
The factors responsible for immigrant entrepreneurship and the role of entrepreneurial activities in sustainable economic development of migrant communities have been extensively discussed in academia. However, the role of Entrepreneurial ventures in enabling the migrant community to transform space into a personal place where they can choose to perform and claim identity has rarely been explored. This paper, with special reference to the diasporic Sikh entrepreneurs on Soho Road in the English study of Birmingham, attempts to address this gap in Cultural and Entrepreneurship studies. Based on five unstructured interviews with first-generation Sikh entrepreneurs, this papers offers an understanding of the bilateral transaction between entrepreneurship and the Sikh faith (Sikhi) by exploring the following key questions: 1) how does entrepreneurship enable Sikhs in diaspora to perform their cultural and religious identity by transforming space into place; 2) how does Sikh identity and Sikh ethics informs their entrepreneurial establishments.