From Race to Religion in a Creole Society

Mauritian Muslims have undergone a long process of religious standardization and sectarian segmentation. How have sharp religious boundaries such as those that separate Muslims from Hindus and Christians, as well as those that divide Muslims internally along sectarian lines emerged in a creole society such as Mauritius? This article traces how religionization has supplanted race as the chief category of incorporation of people of Indian origins in the creole society of Mauritius. Religionization emerged as a shared project among Mauritians of Indian origins who subsequently became known as Hindus and Muslims. Given the historical interconnectedness of Christianization and creolization in plantation societies such as Mauritius, the shift from race to religion as modes of incorporation among Mauritians of Indian background offers a distinct angle on the question of creolization and religion. It requires a distinction between creolization in a broader sense, and creolization in a deeper sense, the latter inseparable from racialization and Christianization, pointing to the difficulties of the creolization concept in coming to terms with settings of profound religious diversity.