Spirituality played a key role in the construction of Indian modernity. While science has certainly been an agent of modernization in India and other non-Western countries, what makes Indian modernity somewhat special is that spiritual leaders have also been instrumental in the process. Moreover, leading Indian scientists and spiritualists have recognized the immense potential for dialogue between the two disciplines. Post-colonial India, with its ready access to a holistic spirituality and significant achievements in science and technology, is a fertile site for such a dialogue. Each of the...
Spirituality played a key role in the construction of Indian modernity. While science has certainly been an agent of modernization in India and other ...
Care for the elderly has increased in both duration and intensity, particularly because of better medical conditions resulting in increased lifespan. Understanding the numerous dimensions of ageing will play a consequential role in determining future national policies. This book addresses a wide spectrum of issues faced by the elderly in India, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands, primarily from social and economic perspectives. South Asian cultures more than others have traditionally endorsed living arrangements that entail co-residence of aged parents with their children, which has been the crux...
Care for the elderly has increased in both duration and intensity, particularly because of better medical conditions resulting in increased lifespan. ...
The history of human civilizations is also the history of human displacements. From ancient times to the contemporary age, every year millions of people flee from their homes and lands in the face of imminent persecution for physical, social and cultural traits, which they cannot control, or exercising their religious or political beliefs. Large-scale 'development' projects as well as natural calamities have also caused large-scale displacements followed by ill-managed rehabilitation regimes. As a result, over one percent of the world's total population today consists of refugees and...
The history of human civilizations is also the history of human displacements. From ancient times to the contemporary age, every year millions of p...
While the rise of China has long been an accepted fact of international economic and political relations, the more recent rise of India as an economic power has provoked intense global interest. This book presents a Chinese assessment of how China and India see themselves each in relation to the other, focusing on their experiences of modernization and economic reform and their ramifications on each country's role in global affairs. Eschewing the geo-political idiom of competition and rivalry between emerging Asian giants, the book seeks to understand the parallel, complementary, convergent...
While the rise of China has long been an accepted fact of international economic and political relations, the more recent rise of India as an economic...
This book dissects the politicization of caste massacres and provides a provocative portrayal of the private caste armies operant in so-called 'barbaric-Bihar'. Mediating between predatory politicians and radical Maoists, Kumar argues that these caste armies act as both a surrogate arm of the state and a violent defender of their community's self-perceived purity. His focus on vicious agrarian conflicts and the increasing powerlessness to deal with these conflicts challenges transcendental notions of the state's autonomy and the legitimacy. Community Warriors is anchored in historically and...
This book dissects the politicization of caste massacres and provides a provocative portrayal of the private caste armies operant in so-called 'barbar...
'Altered Destinations' addresses the complex interrelations of state, nation and identity in India through the medium of culture, and compellingly reframes the debate in the context of the Gandhian concept of swaraj. Engaging with Gandhi's classic text 'Hind Swaraj', which envisioned an entirely new form of identity and governance in India in opposition with its colonial past, Paranjape extends the discussion by exlporing how ideas of autonomy, selfhood, and cultural independence have been expressed, depicted and studied.
'Altered Destinations' addresses the complex interrelations of state, nation and identity in India through the medium of culture, and compellingly ...
A city is more than its buildings and streets. A city is the people who live, work, and play in it and make it their own. This book brings together original essays and interviews which trace the history of the peoples in the city of Calcutta. Those who came and stayed; why they did so; and how they contributed in building the city. Once celebrated as the second city of the British Empire after London and more recently derided as the dying city, Calcutta is simultaneously associated with intellectual creativity, processions and palaces and a unique way of claiming the outsider as its own....
A city is more than its buildings and streets. A city is the people who live, work, and play in it and make it their own. This book brings together...
'Another Canon: Indian Texts and Traditions' in English traces the development of Indian English literary and textual practice over a period of seven decades, focussing on classic texts which have fallen beyond the scope of the established canon. Central to this volume is an inquiry into the nature of Indian modernity. Through careful and path-breaking readings of such important writers as Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan, Raja Rao, M. Ananthanarayanan, Nayantara Sahgal, Anita Desai, Bharati Mukherjee, U. R. Anantha Murthy, Kiran Nagarkar, Vikram Seth, and Upamanyu Chatterjee, the author...
'Another Canon: Indian Texts and Traditions' in English traces the development of Indian English literary and textual practice over a period of sev...
Arun Kumar Das Gupta taught English literature for over 40 years, first at Presidency College, Kolkata, and then at the University of Calcutta. His interpretations of Western literature and thought, particularly of the Renaissance, shaped a whole generation of students. Some of them have produced this volume of essays in tribute to their mentor.
Two essays directly address the intellectual milieu of the European Renaissance. Sukanta Chaudhuri examines the unusual merger of modes and registers in Renaissance philosophic discourse, while Niranjan Goswami looks at a particular example of...
Arun Kumar Das Gupta taught English literature for over 40 years, first at Presidency College, Kolkata, and then at the University of Calcutta. His...
The book explores the pattern of rural development in contemporary India from a multidisciplinary and historical perspective. The essays overcome the limits of disciplinary approaches to provide a comprehensive analysis of the processes of change and growth at work in the Indian countryside and to review the social and cultural dynamics that have led to the contemporary situation. Providing an analysis of the economic, political and social changes experienced in rural India, they examine the interactions between actors and institutions at different levels. Some contributions focus on the...
The book explores the pattern of rural development in contemporary India from a multidisciplinary and historical perspective. The essays overcome t...
