By denouncing science and secularization, the left was unwittingly contributing to what Nanda calls ""reactionary modernism." In contrast, Nanda points to the Dalit, or untouchable, movement as a true example of an ""alternative science" that has embraced reason and modern science to challenge traditional notions of hierarchy.
Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India
Paperback
Publication Date: 01/01/2004
The leading voices in science studies have argued that modern science reflects dominant social interests of Western society. Following this logic, postmodern scholars have urged postcolonial societies to develop their own ""alternative sciences" as a step towards ""mental decolonization". These ideas have found a warm welcome among Hindu nationalists who came to power in India in the early 1990s. In this passionate and highly original study, Indian-born author Meera Nanda reveals how these well-meaning but ultimately misguided ideas are enabling Hindu ideologues to propagate religious myths in the guise of science and secularism.At the heart of Hindu supremacist ideology, Nanda argues, lies a postmodernist assumption: that each society has its own norms of reasonableness, logic, rules of evidence, and conception of truth, and that there is no non-arbitrary, culture-independent way to choose among these alternatives. What is being celebrated as ""difference" by postmodernists, however, has more often than not been the source of mental bondage and authoritarianism in non-Western cultures. The ""Vedic sciences" currently endorsed in Indian schools, colleges, and the mass media promotes the same elements of orthodox Hinduism that have for centuries deprived the vast majority of Indian people of their full humanity.
By denouncing science and secularization, the left was unwittingly contributing to what Nanda calls ""reactionary modernism." In contrast, Nanda points to the Dalit, or untouchable, movement as a true example of an ""alternative science" that has embraced reason and modern science to challenge traditional notions of hierarchy.
By denouncing science and secularization, the left was unwittingly contributing to what Nanda calls ""reactionary modernism." In contrast, Nanda points to the Dalit, or untouchable, movement as a true example of an ""alternative science" that has embraced reason and modern science to challenge traditional notions of hierarchy.
- ISBN:
- 9780813533582
- 9780813533582
- Category:
- Regional studies
- Format:
- Paperback
- Publication Date:
- 01-01-2004
- Language:
- English
- Publisher:
- Rutgers University Press
- Country of origin:
- United States
- Pages:
- 288
- Dimensions (mm):
- 233x162x18mm
- Weight:
- 0.47kg
Click 'Notify Me' to get an email alert when this item becomes available
Great!
Click on Save to My Library / Lists
Click on Save to My Library / Lists
Select the List you'd like to categorise as, or add your own
Here you can mark if you have read this book, reading it or want to read
Awesome! You added your first item into your Library
Great! The fun begins.
Click on My Library / My Lists and I will take you there
Click on My Library / My Lists and I will take you there
Reviews
Be the first to review Prophets Facing Backward.
Share This Book: