Authors: Archana Melroy Pereira
Abstract: Indian religious movements have played a foundational role in shaping patterns of social change from the nineteenth century to the present. Far from being confined to ritual or belief, these movements intervened actively in domains such as caste hierarchy, gender relations, education, nationalism, labour ethics, and political mobilisation. This paper examines how major Indian religious and reform movements—such as the Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, Satyashodhak Samaj, Sikh reform movements, Islamic revivalist initiatives, and Ambedkarite Neo-Buddhism—have contributed to social transformation. Drawing on historical sociology, religious studies, and political theory, the study synthesises existing scholarship to analyse ideological foundations, organisational strategies, and social outcomes of these movements. Using a qualitative narrative review methodology, the paper identifies three broad pathways through which religious movements influenced social change: moral reform and ethical modernity, institutional interventions in education and welfare, and political reconfiguration of identity and rights. The findings highlight that Indian religious movements simultaneously functioned as vehicles of emancipation and arenas of contestation. While they challenged entrenched social inequalities, they also generated new hierarchies and exclusions. The paper concludes by arguing that religious movements must be understood as dynamic social actors embedded within historical contexts rather than as static cultural forces.
