The Secular Imaginary

Gandhi, Nehru and the Idea(s) of India
Erscheinungsjahr 2022
ISBN: 978-1-009-18029-0
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 300 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 454 g

Given the popularity and success of the Hindu-Right in India's electoral politics today, how may one study ostensibly 'Western' concepts and ideas, such as the secular and its family of cognates, like secularism, secularisation and secularity in non-Western societies without assuming them simply as derivative, or colonial legacies or contrast cases of Western societies? While recognizing that the dominant language of political modernity of Western societies is not easily translatable in non-Western societies, The Secular Imaginary elaborates upon an intellectual history of secularity in modern India by focusing on the two most influential political leaders – M.K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. It is an intellectual history of both idea(s) and intellectuals, which sheds light on Indian narratives of secularity – the Gandhian sarva dharma samabhava, Nehruvian secularism, and unity in diversity. It revisits this dominant narrative of secularity of the twentieth century that influenced and shaped the imagination of the modern nation-state.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Nath, Sushmita

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Gesellschaftstheorie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Ideologien Nationalismus

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements; Preface; Introduction; 1. Debating the secular beyond the west; 2. Gandhi's ashram and political thought: a counter-narrative of secularity; 3. Gandhi's associationalism: a non-state alternative to liberal secularism?; 4. Was Nehru Nehruvian? Religion, secularity, and Nehruism; 5. Nehru and the politics of liberalism of fear; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Nath, Sushmita
Sushmita Nath is a Fritz Thyssen post-doctoral fellow at 'Multiple Secularities – Beyond the West, Beyond Modernities', Leipzig University, Germany. She has previously held visiting fellowship positions in Humboldt University and Leipzig University.