Reconceptualizing India Studies

Abstract

As India emerges as an important global player, a serious question arises: how to relate to the existing descriptions of India that are centuries old? This question presents itself as a task for the current and future generations of intelligentsia in the twenty-first century, whether Indian or Western. This task will consist of reconceptualizing India Studies because most studies on India have been carried out using theories and concepts drawn primarily from the western culture. It also consists of reacquiring the insight that neither knowledge nor truth is a matter of majority decision or based on the strength of common-sense prejudice. Questioning inherited beliefs requires an intellectual courage that is on par with the bold nature of the challenge. Responding to this challenge in any meaningful way requires that we identify the scientific weakness of the current theories about the Indian culture and society. In this book, a first step is taken towards this end. It not only looks at debates about the concept of culture in anthropology and into the merits of critiques of Orientalism but also scrutinizes Studies on Hinduism, the nature of Inter-cultural dialogues, and their implications to normative political philosophy. It also outlines the methodology for a comparative study of cultures. Cutting across disciplinary boundaries, this book brings home the basic truth that understanding cultures and societies straddles multiple intellectual domains. By initiating a process of comparative study of cultures, this work is bound to challenge many uncritical assumptions made by students and scholars of Indian society and culture.