Social Theory and Asian Dialogues [electronic resource] : Cultivating Planetary Conversations /
Giri, Ananta Kumar.editor.
Critically exploring the presuppositions of contemporary social theory, this collection argues for a trans-civilizational dialogue and a deepening of the universe of intellectual discourse in order to transform sociology into a truly planetary conversation on the human condition. Focusing on perspectives from Asia, notably East Asia and India, it interrogates presuppositions in contemporary critical social theory about man, culture and society, and considers central themes such as knowledge and power, knowledge and liberation. The diverse contributions tackle key questions such the globalization of social theory, identity and society in east asia, as well as issues such as biopolitics, social welfare and eurocentrism. They also examine dialogues along multiple trajectories between social theorists from the Euro-American world and from the Asian universe, such as between Kant and Gandhi, Habermas and Sri Aurobindo, the Bildung tradition in Europe and the Confucian traditions. Arguing for a global comparative engagement and cross-cultural dialogue, this is a key read for all those interested in the future of social theory in the wake of globalization and the rise of the global south.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Social Theory and Asian Dialogues: An Introduction and an Invitation -- Part One: Theorizing as Dancing Transformations: Social Theory, Asian Dialogues and Beyond -- Social Theory and Asian Dialogues: Cultivating Planetary Conversations -- Theorizing Alternative Futures of Asia: Activating Enabling Traditions -- Critical Theory after the Rise of the Global South -- Beyond Ethnocentrism: Towards a Global Social Theory -- Part Two: Social Theory and Asian Dialogues: Creative Engagement and Transformative Learning -- Selfhood and Morality: East-Asian and Western Dimensions -- Iridescent Self in the Womb of the Wholly M(O)ther: A Vajrayani Meditation -- The Taijitu, Western Dialectics, and Brain Hemisphere Function: A Dialogue facilitated by the Scholarship of Complex Integration -- A Middle Way of Emptying Dualism in Social Theory -- Indo-Chinese Knowledge and Wisdom: A Cross-Cultural Dialogue Between Confucius and Tiruvalluvar -- Dancing East and West: Charting Intercultural Possibilities in the Thought of Gilles Deleuze and Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar -- The Micropolitics and Metaphysics of Mobility and Nomadism: A Comparative Study of Rahul Sankrityayan’s ‘GhumakkaṚ ŚĀatra’ and Gilles Deleuze / FÉlix Guattari’s ‘Nomadology’ -- From Ecological Ontology to Social Ecology: John Dewey, Radhakamal Mukerjee, and Interscalar Ethics -- Part Three: Social Theory and Asian Dialogues: Asia, Europe and the Call of Planetary Conversions -- Nature, Culture and the Debate With Modernity: Critical Social Theory in Japan -- The Self-Description of Society in East Asia: If It is Not Society, What Else Could it Be? -- An Intercultural Perspective on Chinese Aesthetics -- Making Sociology Universal: Revisiting the Contributions of Syed Hussein Alatas -- Political Intrusion in Social Science: The Elimination of Leftist Critical Thinking in Indonesia -- Social Welfare and Harmony in East Asia and the Nordic Region -- Critical Theory and Communicative Action: The Challenge of Legitimation in a World at Risk -- The Gift of the Grain: Beyond Biopolitics? -- Democracy and Meritocracy: A New Inter-Civilizational Challenge -- Afterword: Communication and the Consilience of Eastern and Western Ideas.
Critically exploring the presuppositions of contemporary social theory, this collection argues for a trans-civilizational dialogue and a deepening of the universe of intellectual discourse in order to transform sociology into a truly planetary conversation on the human condition. Focusing on perspectives from Asia, notably East Asia and India, it interrogates presuppositions in contemporary critical social theory about man, culture and society, and considers central themes such as knowledge and power, knowledge and liberation. The diverse contributions tackle key questions such the globalization of social theory, identity and society in east asia, as well as issues such as biopolitics, social welfare and eurocentrism. They also examine dialogues along multiple trajectories between social theorists from the Euro-American world and from the Asian universe, such as between Kant and Gandhi, Habermas and Sri Aurobindo, the Bildung tradition in Europe and the Confucian traditions. Arguing for a global comparative engagement and cross-cultural dialogue, this is a key read for all those interested in the future of social theory in the wake of globalization and the rise of the global south.
Social sciences-Philosophy.
Globalization.
Ethnology-Asia.
Social Theory.
Globalization.
Asian Culture.