Religion, Morality, and Economics: Insights from the Sikh Tradition

Abstract

This paper analyses the Sikh religious tradition in light of research on the connections between religion, morality, and economics. Sikhism provides a compact and well-documented example of the creation and evolution of a religious community, in which moral guidance is paramount, but interacts with material incentives and material conditions. The time scale of this case, and its geographic and conceptual location in juxtaposition to Hinduism and Islam, make Sikh tradition a useful additional data point for analyses of the relationship of religion, morality, and economics. At the same time, considering the Sikh tradition in these more general conceptual frameworks provides a clearer understanding of this specific case.