Urban transitions and religion: An ethnography of subaltern urbanisation languages between Africa and India

The main purpose of this article is to explore the role of religion in the study of urban transition and of the social transformations that accompany it, as well as to better reinterpret the concepts of “urban” and “rural”. Using the idea of Subaltern Urbanization, the article compares two new suburbs originated by the incorporation of old villages into the city, in Libreville (Gabon) and Pondicherry (South India). The article points out that in both cases, although with significant differences, religious organizations are particularly important in the construction of the neighborhood and of its social networks. The article therefore concludes that in both the considered contexts, religious cults accompany and reflect the different ways of “making the city” from the bottom-up perspective