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Religion and Modernity in India

Online ISBN:
9780199087631
Print ISBN:
9780199467785
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Religion and Modernity in India

Sekhar Bandyopadhyay (ed.),
Sekhar Bandyopadhyay
(ed.)

Professor of Asian History and Director

Professor of Asian History and Director, New Zealand India Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
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Aloka Parasher Sen (ed.)
Aloka Parasher Sen
(ed.)

Professor of History and Director

Professor of History and Director, University of Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
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Published online:
19 January 2017
Published in print:
26 January 2017
Online ISBN:
9780199087631
Print ISBN:
9780199467785
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

Modernity, which emphasizes the relegation of religion firmly to an individual’s private life, is a challenging idea for any culture. In India it faces a particularly unusual problem: the persistence of numerous traditional and religious practices means that religion and modernity co-habit here in a complex, plural, transient, and historically evolving relationship. Religion and Modernity in India explores this complex relationship through a series of case studies on the quotidian experiences of people practising a variety of religions. It presents the dynamically interacting textures of society engaging with modernity in divergent ways, both historically and in contemporary times. The essays in this collection consciously bring in the idea of inclusivity by factoring in the small and local contexts. They raise important questions about marginality and sexuality, and discuss the oral and cultural traditions of both mainstream and marginal communities such as tribal communities and women. In doing so, they put forward the perspectives of groups that represent difference but at the same time are linked to a larger whole.

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