Suchergebnisse

In the first part of his article, the author proposes to give an overview of the interaction between religion & politics on the Indian subcontinent & to describe the ambivalent role played by religion in the course of India's long history. In the second part, he concentrates on the rise of nationalistic, right-wing Hindu movements since the beginning of the 20th Century & describes their impact on Indian politics from the beginning of independence until the present day. In the end, Stephan Schlensog finds that the power of militant Hindu-nationalist movements depends very much on the economic situation in India. Therefore, the decisive question is whether or not an economic development can be facilitated that dries up the breeding-ground for nationalism & fundamentalism on the subcontinent. References. Adapted from the source document.

"Im ersten Teil des Artikels gibt der Autor einen Überblick über die Interaktion zwischen Religion und Politik auf dem indischen Subkontinent und beschreibt die ambivalente Rolle, die die Religion in der umfangreichen Geschichte Indiens spielte. Im zweiten Teil wird der Fokus auf den Aufstieg der nationalistischen, rechts gerichteten Hindu-Bewegungen seit Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts gelegt. Zudem wird ihr Einfluss auf die indische Politik von den Anfängen der Unabhängigkeit bis heute beschrieben. Letztendlich konstatiert der Autor, dass die Macht der militanten hindu-nationalistischen Bewegungen in starkem Maße von der ökonomischen Situation in Indien abhängig ist. Daher stellt sich die entscheidende Frage, ob es gelingt, die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung so zu gestalten, dass Nationalismus und Fundamentalismus auf dem Subkontinent der Nährboden entzogen werden kann." (Autorenreferat)

The idea that India is a Hindu majority nation rests on the assumption that the vast swath of its population stigmatized as 'untouchable' is, and always has been, in some meaningful sense, Hindu. But is that how such communities understood themselves in the past, or how they understand themselves now? When and under what conditions did this assumption take shape, and what truths does it conceal? In this book, Joel Lee challenges presuppositions at the foundation of the study of caste and religion in South Asia. Drawing on detailed archival and ethnographic research, Lee tracks the career of a Dalit religion and the effort by twentieth-century nationalists to encompass it within a newly imagined Hindu body politic. A chronicle of religious life in north India and an examination of the ethics and semiotics of secrecy, Deceptive Majority throws light on the manoeuvres by which majoritarian projects are both advanced and undermined.

Though nominally a secular state, under BJP rule, Hinduism in India has seen a greater prominence in politics and society than at any time in the post-independence era. As such, it is worthwhile examining how, in certain core aspects, Hinduism may affect the key variables of economic and social development. This is a neglected area that has largely been ignored by international institutions, especially by UN agencies and the World Bank. This exploratory paper provides some historical context and focuses particularly on the impact of caste on India's body politic and development. It examines the arguments of those that suggest that Hinduism may have positive effects and those that suggest otherwise. It concludes by arguing that negative effects far outweigh any putative benefits.

Gandhi's relationship with Hinduism and other religio-cultural traditions has generally been understood as part of a narrative of uniformity in which there is little scope for internal variations and ambiguities. One of the most important consequences of this uniformity is that the complexities and subtleties of Gandhi's approaches to the questions of religious and cultural spheres as well as identities are often not given the attention they deserve. Whereas Gandhi carried on a lifelong campaign for the reform of the Hindu society, his self-description as an orthodox or sanatani Hindu also holds important meanings for our understanding of him, especially in view of the fact that he was among the few leaders and thinkers of modern India who accepted and defended what may be described as popular Hinduism. The idea of the equality of all religions implying that all religions are equally true provided the template for his interface with Islam, Christianity and other traditions, without, however, denying the existence and relevance of difference in forms between various religions. Approaching politics as a deeply religious man, he had a lifelong engagement with Hindu leaders and organisations wherein the complexities of his perspective are clearly expressed.

"Covering the earliest Sanskrit rulebooks through to the codification of 'Hindu law' in modern times, this interdisciplinary volume examines the interactions between Hinduism and the law. The authors present the major transformations to India's legal system in both the colonial and post colonial periods and their relation to recent changes in Hinduism. Thematic studies show how law and Hinduism relate and interact in areas such as ritual, logic, politics, and literature, offering a broad coverage of South Asia's contributions to religion and law at the intersection of society, politics and culture. In doing so, the authors build on previous treatments of Hindu law as a purely text-based tradition, and in the process, provide a fascinating account of an often neglected social and political history"--

Most overviews of Hindu belief and practice follow a history from the ancient Vedas to today. Such approaches privilege Brahmanical traditions and create a sense of Hinduism as a homogenous system and culture, and one which is largely unchanging and based solely on sacred texts. In reality, modern Hindu faith and culture present an extraordinary range of dynamic beliefs and practices. ''Contemporary Hinduism'' aims to capture the full breadth of the Hindu worldview as practised today, both in the sub-continent and the diaspora. Global and regional faith, ritualised and everyday practice, Brahm