Can “lived religion” explain the process behind fertility behavior of Hindus and Muslims in a comparative perspective?

Biswamitra Sahu, University of Groningen
Inge Hutter, University of Groningen

The demographic theories and their empirical testing exploring the linkage between religion and fertility have almost invariably emphasized the role of structural or macro level factors. However the question to the “why and how” of the said linkage remains unanswered. In this paper we use “lived religion” as a metaphor to elucidate the ways in which religion is conducted in day to day lives of people. The objective of this paper is to explore the role of “lived religion” in explaining differences in fertility among Hindus and Muslims in India and Bangladesh. We use both qualitative data (112 in-depth and key informant interviews) and survey data (informed by the insights from qualitative data) consisting of 800 ever married women. The qualitative data will be analyzed through grounded theory to explore the linkage between lived religion and fertility.