The Matua people: Sounds and rituals strengthen cross-border sense of community

Professor Carola Lorea of the University of Tübingen's Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology has published a comprehensive academic study on the Matua, a community of 50 million people scattered across India, Bangladesh and 32 other nations in the wake of evictions and forced migration.

Despite national borders and natural barriers such as the Bay of Bengal Delta, swamps and the sea, the community's cohesion has only grown over the decades.

Lorea's work represents more than 10 years of field studies into Matua life, and she describes how religious songs, drum rhythms and shared stories play a vital role in Matua society and have even made a protest movement possible. ...