Indian secularism
Subtitle: a social and intellectual history, 1890-1950
By: Shabnum Tejani.
Publisher: Indiana University Press; Combined Academic [distributor]
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Bloomington, Ind; Chesham
Language: eng
Number of pages: 302
ISBN-13: 9780253352569; 9780253220448
Subjects: Secularism -- India -- History -- 20th century; Communalism -- India -- History -- 20th century; Religion and politics -- India -- History -- 20th century; Nationalism -- Religious aspects -- Hinduism
Description: "Many of the central issues in modern Indian politics have long been understood in terms of an opposition between ideologies of secularism and communalism. Observers have argued that recent Hindu nationalism is the symptom of a crisis of Indian secularism and have blamed this on a resurgence of religion or communalism. Shabnum Tejani unpacks prevailing assumptions about the meaning of secularism in contemporary politics, focusing on India but with many points of comparison elsewhere in the world. She questions the simple dichotomy between secularism and communalism that has been used in scholarly study and political discourse. Tracing the social, political, and intellectual genealogies of the concepts of secularism and communalism from the late nineteenth century until the ratification of the Indian constitution in 1950, she shows how secularism came to be bound up with ideas about nationalism and national identity."--Pub. desc.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [266]-296) and index.