Study finds religious songs and drums strengthen transnational Matua community

Professor Carola Lorea of the University of Tübingen’s Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology has released a comprehensive study on the Matua community, a group of roughly 50 million people dispersed across India, Bangladesh and 32 other countries. The work, which follows more than a decade of field research, examines how the Matua have navigated repeated evictions and forced migrations while maintaining a cohesive social fabric that transcends national borders and natural barriers such as the Bay of Bengal Delta, swamps, and the sea.

Lorea’s analysis highlights the central role of cultural practices—religious songs, drum rhythms, and shared storytelling—in sustaining community identity and mobilizing collective action. She documents how these traditions have not only reinforced internal solidarity but also enabled the Matua to organize protest movements against displacement and land loss. The study maps the evolution of these practices over time, illustrating how they have adapted to changing political and environmental contexts while preserving core elements of Matua life.

The publication underscores the resilience of the Matua in the face of ongoing displacement pressures and offers a nuanced understanding of how cultural continuity can support resistance movements. It provides a valuable resource for scholars of migration, anthropology, and South Asian studies, and may inform policy discussions on displacement and community rights in the region.