Suchergebnisse

This book probes the complex interweaving, across time and cultures, of violence and non-violence from the perspective of the present. One of the first of its kind, it offers a comprehensive examination of the interpenetration of violence and non-violence as much in human nature as in human institutions with reference to different continents, cultures and religions over centuries. It points to the present paradox that even as violence of unprecedented lethality threatens the very survival of humankind, non-violence increasingly appears as an unlikely feasible alternative. The essays presented here cover a wide cultural-temporal spectrum - from Vedic sacrifice, early Jewish-Christian polemics, the Crusades, and medieval Japan to contemporary times. They explore aspects of the violence-non-violence dialectic in a coherent frame of analysis across themes such as war, jihad, death, salvation, religious and philosophical traditions including Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, mysticism, monism, and Neoplatonism, texts such as Ramayana, Mahabharata and Quran, as well as issues faced by Dalits and ethical imperatives for clinical trials, among others. Offering thematic width and analytical depth to the treatment of the subject, the contributors bring their disciplinary expertise and cultural insights, ranging from the historical to sociological, theological, philosophical and metaphysical, as well as their sensitive erudition to deepening an understanding of a grave issue. The book will be useful to scholars and researchers of history, peace and conflict studies, political science, political thought and cultural studies, as well as those working on issues of violence and non-violence.

This is the second edition of a remarkable study of a young woman's defiant stand against Hindu orthodoxy and the colonial legal establishment in late nineteenth-century India. It revolves around a suit for 'restitution of conjugal rights' filed against Ruhkmabai, who was married at age eleven and refused to go and live with her husband. This lucid and engaging account captures the dramatic unfolding of the litigation, as well as the huge social and political debate set off by it. The narrative skilfully weaves together the details of the case with larger issues of gender and law, colonialism, culture, reform, and modernity ... (Quelle: Text Verlagseinband / Verlag)

Adopting a radical-feminist stance, this book discusses the case of Dadaji Bhikaji against his 22 year-old wife Rukhmabai, filed when, after 11 years, she refused to live with him as per the Hindu marriage law. The book examines the lawsuit, looks at the role of the British during the court proceedings, and highlights some details of Rukhmabai's life that could reveal some psycho-social factors that gave her the strength to rebel.

"Gandhi was perhaps the most influential yet misunderstood figure in the 20th century. Drawing close attention to Gandhi's last years, this book explores the marked change in his understanding of the acceptance of non-violence by Indians. It points to a startling discovery Gandhi made in the years preceding India's Independence and Partition: the struggle for freedom which he had all along believed to be non-violent was in fact not so. He realised that there was a causal relationship between the path of illusory ahimsa which had held sway during the freedom struggle and the violence that erupted thereafter during Partition. In the second edition of this much-acclaimed volume, Chandra revisits Gandhi's philosophy to explain how and why the phenomenon of the Mahatma has been understood and misunderstood through the years. Calling for a rethink of the very nature and foundation of modern India, this book throws new light on Gandhian philosophy and its far-reaching implications for the world today. It will interest not only scholars and researchers of modern Indian history, politics, and philosophy but also lay readers."--

Writing for Premchand (1880–1936) was a mission. In the course of a literary career that spanned over three decades he passionately clung to the belief that no writer in a subject country could afford the luxury of writing without a social purpose. India, so long as it was 'under the yoke of alien subjection', could not 'scale the highest peaks of art'. Her writers were obliged by their political and social conditions to educate the people wherever it was possible for them to do so. The more intensely they felt, the more effectively educative became their work. Aware of the inevitable price, in terms of literary quality, that the colonial writer had willy-nilly to pay, Premchand had the insight to see the identity between the demands of society and the demands of literature. And precisely because he could perceive this identity, he succeeded increasingly in creating works that combined social purpose and artistic excellence.