Millennial Sikhs in a Capitalist Economy

Sikh teachings emphasize hard work and individual responsibility, as well as sharing and social justice. Those teachings also speak to the fundamental limits of material wealth accumulation. This paper examines how millennial Sikhs in northern California individually and collectively address the tensions of living and thriving in a modern capitalist economy, while also living up to Sikh principles. Arguments are developed based on interviews with young Sikh entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as other ethnographic research examining individual attitudes and collective action strategies by millennial Sikhs. The paper shows how young Sikhs specifically articulate and navigate the tensions between a religious ethical framework that places normative constraints on material accumulation and wealth inequality, and an ideology of individual pursuit of material success.