The Adivasi Religion and Society Network—ARS for short—is a collection of scholars, adivasi and non-adivasi, desi (South Asian) and videsi (foreign), devoted to descriptive, comparative, and analytical-critical studies centered on religion among adivasis, the so-called indigenous peoples of the South Asian subcontinent.  It was founded as a result of discussions between Lidia Guzy (University College Cork), Uwe Skoda (University of Aarhus), Ülo Valk (University of Tartu), and Greg Alles (McDaniel College) at the 4th Conference of the South and Southeast Asian Association for the Study of Culture and Religion (SSEASR) at the Royal University of Bhutan in Thimphu June 30–July 3, 2011.

The primary aims of ARS are to further scholarship by encouraging communication and collaboration among scholars from all disciplines interested in religion and society among adivasi people and to create greater visibility for adivasis and their religions and societies among scholars who study South Asian religions and indigenous religions as well as among humanists and social scientists more broadly.  As an academic network, ARS is not a body for celebrating, intellectually developing, practicing, or promoting adivasi religions, although all of these activities are potential objects of analysis by Network members, and members may choose to engage in these activities on their own.

This website is the major public gateway to the Network.  It provides

• announcements of events and publications of interest to scholars of religion and society among adivasis,
• reflections, reports, and other material submitted by member scholars, and
• a membership list which serves as a directory of scholars interested in the study of adivasi religion and society.

The Network intends to maintain an email discussion list and is planning to host a regular series of workshops, alternating between South Asia, Europe, and North America.  Watch the announcements section for further details.

Scholars with an interest in religion and society among adivasis from all academic backgrounds and of any rank are encouraged to join the network by following this link. They are also invited to join the email discussion group by [not yet established].  There are no membership fees.

All persons, whether members of the Network or not, are invited to send announcements of events and publications to info@arsnetwork.org for inclusion on the ARS Network website.