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The Dispeller of Disputes: Nagarjuna's Vigrahavyavartani

Jan Westerhoff

The Vigrahavyāvartanī is a short work by the second-century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna. In this text, which is written in a lively question-and-answer style he addresses a number of ... More

The Vigrahavyāvartanī is a short work by the second-century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna. In this text, which is written in a lively question-and-answer style he addresses a number of objections (coming both from Buddhists and from non-Buddhists) which have been put forward against his theory of emptiness discussed in his main work, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. The Vigrahavyāvartanī is especially noteworthy for its treatment of topics which Nāgārjuna does not much discuss elsewhere, in particular questions of epistemology and the philosophy of language. The purpose of this book is to unlock the philosophical contents of the texts by providing a comprehensive commentary on Nāgārjuna’s arguments as well as a somewhat more general discussion of the philosophical points these raise. It is divided into three sections: the introduction, the translation, and the commentary. The introduction discusses the history of the text and gives a survey of the presently available editions and translations. I then address the question of the authenticity of the Vigrahavyāvartanī, discussing in detail some of the arguments put forward in the secondary literature which attempt to show that the text was not composed by Nāgārjuna. This is followed by some notes on the peculiar structure of the Vigrahavyāvartanī. Here I also explain why I chose to arrange the text differently in the translation and in the commentary. The introduction is concluded by a synopsis which gives a brief survey of the contents of the ten sections into which I have divided the text. The translation is based on the most recent edition of the Sanskrit text (Yonezawa 2008). All explanatory notes, discussions of variant readings and so forth have been left to the commentary. The commentary contains the entire text of the Vigrahavyāvartanī, though in an arrangement which differs from the one followed in the translation. My remarks on a specific section of the text usually follow this section directly, distinguished by a different typeface. The commentary divides Nāgārjuna’s text into ten main thematic units: (1) The status of the theory of emptiness; (2) Epistemology; (3) Intrinsically good things; (4) Names without objects; (5) Extrinsic substances; (6) Negation and existence; (7) The mirage analogy; (8) Emptiness and reasons; (9) Negation and temporal relations; (10) ConclusionLess

Reverence for Life: Albert Schweitzer's Great Contribution to Ethical Thought

Ara Paul Barsam

Albert Schweitzer maintained that the idea of “Reverence for Life” came upon him on the Ogowe River as an “unexpected discovery, like a revelation in the midst of intense thought.” While Schweitzer ... More

Albert Schweitzer maintained that the idea of “Reverence for Life” came upon him on the Ogowe River as an “unexpected discovery, like a revelation in the midst of intense thought.” While Schweitzer made numerous significant contributions to an incredible diversity of fields —medicine, music, biblical studies, philosophy and theology — he regarded Reverence for Life as his greatest contribution and the one by which he most wanted to be remembered. Yet this concept has been the subject of a range of distortions and misunderstandings, both academic and popular. This book provides a new interpretation of Schweitzer's reverence and shows how it emerged from his studies of German philosophy, Indian religions, and his biblical scholarship on Jesus and Paul. By throwing light on the origin and development of Schweitzer's thought, we are led to a closer appreciation of the contribution that reverence makes to current ethical concerns. Life‐centered ethics — in the broadest sense — has continued to flourish, though Schweitzer's pioneering contribution is often overlooked. Not only did he help put the issue on the moral agenda, but, most significantly, he also provided much sought after philosophical and theological foundations. Schweitzer emerges from this critical study of his life and thought as a remarkable individual who should rightfully be regarded as a moral giant of the 20th‐century.Less

Cross-Cultural Research

Jorge Delva, Paula Allen-Meares, and Sandra L. Momper

The purpose of the book is to provide researchers with a framework to conduct research in a culturally sensitive manner with individuals, families, and communities in diverse cultural settings in the ... More

The purpose of the book is to provide researchers with a framework to conduct research in a culturally sensitive manner with individuals, families, and communities in diverse cultural settings in the United States, as well as in a global context within the context of three aims: (1) To understand and describe the nature and extent to which a particular problem occurs; (2) To understand the etiology or potential factors associated with the occurrence of a particular problem; (3) To evaluate programs or interventions designed to ameliorate or eliminate a problem. For each of these three aims, applications of different research methods with various population groups are discussed with considerable detail. The work presented falls into different sides of the emic–etic continuum, with some studies taking a more emic perspective (i.e., Chapter 2, a mixed methods study with American Indian populations), others presenting more of an etic approach (i.e., Chapter 3, a multicountry study of drug use in Central America), and yet others presenting an emic–etic distinction that is less salient (i.e., Chapters 4–6, a longitudinal studies of ecological factors and drug use in Santiago, Chile; a longitudinal study of ecological factors and PTSD in the City of Detroit; and a randomized clinical trial and community-based participatory research project both also conducted in Detroit). Two central themes that guided this work are that culture is not static, rather it is fluid and changing, and that cross-cultural researchers should avoid making sweeping generalizations that risk taking on essentialist characteristics. The book concludes with a call for anyone conducting cross-cultural research to include an intersectionality lens, one that encompasses a broader range of multiple identities, into their work.Less

Dwelling in the Archive: Women Writing House, Home, and History in Late Colonial India

Antoinette Burton

This book uses the writing of three 20th century Indian women to interrogate the status of the traditional archive, reading their memoirs, fictions, and histories as counter-narratives of colonial ... More

This book uses the writing of three 20th century Indian women to interrogate the status of the traditional archive, reading their memoirs, fictions, and histories as counter-narratives of colonial modernity. Janaki Majumdar was the daughter of the first president of the Indian National Congress. Her unpublished “Family History” (1935) stages the story of her parents' transnational marriage as a series of homes the family inhabited in Britain and India — thereby providing a heretofore unavailable narrative of the domestic face of 19th century Indian nationalism. Cornelia Sorabji was one of the first Indian women to qualify for the bar. Her memoirs (1934 and 1936) demonstrate her determination to rescue the zenana (women's quarters) and purdahnashin (secluded women) from the recesses of the orthodox home in order to counter the emancipationist claims of Gandhian nationalism. Last but not least, Attia Hosain's 1961 novel, Sunlight on Broken Column, represents the violence and trauma of partition through the biography of a young heroine called Laila and her family home. Taken together, their writings raise questions about what counts as an archive, offering insights into the relationship of women to memory and history, gender to fact and fiction, and feminism to nationalism and postcolonialism.Less

Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka: A Philosophical Introduction

Jan Westerhoff

This book contains a discussion of thought of the 2nd-century Indian Buddhist philosophy Nāgārjuna, the founder of the ‘Middle Way’ (Madhyamaka) school of Buddhist thought. The discussion is based on ... More

This book contains a discussion of thought of the 2nd-century Indian Buddhist philosophy Nāgārjuna, the founder of the ‘Middle Way’ (Madhyamaka) school of Buddhist thought. The discussion is based on Nāgārjuna’s main philosophical works preserved either in the original Sanskrit or in Tibetan translation. It offers a synoptic presentation of the main philosophical topics Nāgārjuna investigates, focusing on the central notion of emptiness (sūnyatā). Particular emphasis is put on an analysis of the philosophical content of Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka. Apart from discussing the soundness of Nāgārjuna’s arguments for particular conclusions the book also examines to which extent Nāgārjuna’s philosophy forms a coherent philosophical system rather than a collection of individual ideas.Less

The Inner World: A Psychoanalytical Study of Childhood and Society in India

Sudhir Kakar

Feelings, impulses, wishes, and fantasies—the dynamic content of the inner world—occupy the deepest recesses of the psyche. It is through introspection and empathy, essential to psychotherapy, that ... More

Feelings, impulses, wishes, and fantasies—the dynamic content of the inner world—occupy the deepest recesses of the psyche. It is through introspection and empathy, essential to psychotherapy, that the outside observer can grasp the meaning of the inner world of an individual. First published in 1978 and hailed by critics globally as the best application of psychoanalysis to Indian culture, The Inner World is an inquiry into the development of Indian identity. It examines the network of social roles, traditional values, and customs with which the threads of Indian psychological development are interwoven and, in doing so, reveals important aspects of Indian society, myths, rituals, fables, and arts.Less

Structure and Cognition: Aspects of Hindu Caste and Ritual

Veena Das

Hindu caste and ritual are two features of the Hindu society that are discussed in Structure and Cognition. The book presents a thorough analysis of two Sanskrit texts, the Dharmaranya Purana and the ... More

Hindu caste and ritual are two features of the Hindu society that are discussed in Structure and Cognition. The book presents a thorough analysis of two Sanskrit texts, the Dharmaranya Purana and the Grihya Sutra of Gobhila; the former contains information on Hindu castes, while the latter contains information on Hindu rituals. The discussions try to show that Sanskrit texts—which are not normally used to study Indian social institutions—may also be used to study different features of Hindu social life. It introduces topics such as jatis and the categories of the Brahman, sanyasi, and king, and studies the issue of the sacred and the profane. It also considers the differences between the Chaturvedi Brahmans and Trivedi Brahmans, and narrates several myths found in the Dharmaranya Purana. The book also contains discussions on the right and left and the basic categorization of space that is used in Hindu rituals.Less

The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate

Edwin Bryant

As a result of the discovery of similarities between Sanskrit and the classical languages of Europe, scholars hypothesized the existence of an early “proto-Indo-European” people who spoke the ... More

As a result of the discovery of similarities between Sanskrit and the classical languages of Europe, scholars hypothesized the existence of an early “proto-Indo-European” people who spoke the language from which the other Indo-European speakers evolved. The solution to this Indo-European homeland problem has been one of the most consuming intellectual projects of the last two centuries. At first it was assumed that India was the original home of all the Indo-Europeans. Soon, however, Western scholars were contending that the Vedic culture of ancient India must have been the by-product of an invasion or migration of “Indo-Aryans” from outside the subcontinent. Over the years, Indian scholars have raised many arguments against this European reconstruction of their nation’s history, yet Western scholars have generally been unaware or dismissive of these voices from India itself. Edwin Bryant offers a comprehensive examination of this ongoing debate, presenting all of the relevant philological, archaeological, linguistic, and historiographical data, and showing how they have been interpreted both to support the theory of Aryan migrations and to contest it. Bringing to the fore those hitherto marginalized voices that argue against the external origin of the Indo-Aryans, he shows how Indian scholars have questioned the very logic, assumptions, and methods upon which the theory is based and have used the same data to arrive at very different conclusions. By exposing the whole endeavor to criticism from scholars who do not share the same intellectual history as their European peers, Bryant’s work newly complicates the Indo-European homeland quest. At the same time it recognizes the extent to which both sides of the debate have been driven by political, racial, religious, and nationalistic agendas.Less

Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks

Mark David Spence

This book examines the ideal of wilderness preservation in the United States from the antebellum era to the first half of the twentieth century, showing how the early conception of the wilderness as ... More

This book examines the ideal of wilderness preservation in the United States from the antebellum era to the first half of the twentieth century, showing how the early conception of the wilderness as the place where Indians lived (or should live) gave way to the idealization of uninhabited wilderness. It focuses on specific policies of Indian removal developed at Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Glacier national parks from the early 1870s to the 1930s.Less

Growth, sustainability, and India's Economic Reforms

T.N. Srinivasan (ed.)

This book examines the origins, rationale, and outcomes of India's economic reforms in the context of changes in the economy, polity, and society. Looking at India's development experience across ... More

This book examines the origins, rationale, and outcomes of India's economic reforms in the context of changes in the economy, polity, and society. Looking at India's development experience across time, the book provides a comprehensive review of policies and performance of the economy since independence; a comparative analysis of the Indian experience with that of China as well as low-income countries; and an understanding of the recent global financial crisis vis-à-vis its implications for growth, sustainability, and the necessity of further reforms. Emphasizing the intrinsic goal of India's development — eradication of mass poverty — this book highlights future challenges and suggests appropriate policies.Less

The Modern Spirit of Asia: The Spiritual and the Secular in China and India

Peter van der Veer

This book challenges the notion that modernity in China and India are derivative imitations of the West, arguing that these societies have transformed their ancient traditions in unique and ... More

This book challenges the notion that modernity in China and India are derivative imitations of the West, arguing that these societies have transformed their ancient traditions in unique and distinctive ways. The book begins with nineteenth-century imperial history, exploring how Western concepts of spirituality, secularity, religion, and magic were used to translate the traditions of India and China. The book traces how modern Western notions of religion and magic were incorporated into the respective nation-building projects of Chinese and Indian nationalist intellectuals, yet how modernity in China and India is by no means uniform. While religion is a centerpiece of Indian nationalism, it is viewed in China as an obstacle to progress that must be marginalized and controlled. The book moves deftly from Kandinsky's understanding of spirituality in art to Indian yoga and Chinese qi gong, from modern theories of secularism to histories of Christian conversion, from Orientalist constructions of religion to Chinese campaigns against magic and superstition, and from Muslim Kashmir to Muslim Xinjiang.Less

Melancholia of Freedom: Social Life in an Indian Township in South Africa

Thomas Blom Hansen

The end of apartheid in 1994 signaled a moment of freedom and a promise of a nonracial future. With this promise came an injunction: define yourself as you truly are, as an individual, and as a ... More

The end of apartheid in 1994 signaled a moment of freedom and a promise of a nonracial future. With this promise came an injunction: define yourself as you truly are, as an individual, and as a community. Almost two decades later it is clear that it was less the prospect of that future than the habits and horizons of anxious life in racially defined enclaves that determined postapartheid freedom. This book offers an in-depth analysis of the uncertainties, dreams, and anxieties that have accompanied postapartheid freedoms in Chatsworth, a formerly Indian township in Durban. Exploring five decades of township life, the book tells the stories of ordinary Indians whose lives were racialized and framed by the township, and how these residents domesticated and inhabited this urban space and its institutions, during apartheid and after. The book demonstrates the complex and ambivalent nature of ordinary township life. While the ideology of apartheid was widely rejected, its practical institutions, from urban planning to houses, schools, and religious spaces, were embraced in order to remake the community. The book describes how the racial segmentation of South African society still informs daily life, notions of race, personhood, morality, and religious ethics. The book also demonstrates the force of global religious imaginings that promise a universal and inclusive community amid uncertain lives and futures in the postapartheid nation-state.Less

Serving the Nation: Cultures of Service, Association and Citizenship

Carey Anthony Watt

This book offers an innovative analysis of social service, and charitable and philanthropic initiatives in late colonial north India during the first two decades of the twentieth century. It also ... More

This book offers an innovative analysis of social service, and charitable and philanthropic initiatives in late colonial north India during the first two decades of the twentieth century. It also shows the crucial interdependency between an active citizenry and a vibrant associational culture or civil society as revealed in groups such as the Arya Samaj, The Servants of India Society, the Theosophical Society, and the Seva Samiti of Allahabad, among others. How foreign ideas of social service, charity and philanthropy were negotiated by Hindu living traditions of seva, dana, karmayoga, sannyas and brahmacharya are also discussed. The book also analyses different social processes exemplifying the complex nexus between tradition and modernity in these decades. The author feels that the Indian belief in the bio-moral connection between healthy bodies and patriotic action making for ‘manly’ citizens was part of a global trend. How changing practices in the overlapping fields of charity and service, and the creation of active and patriotic Indian citizens affected politics, nation-building, and civil society in India is detailed.Less

Sovereignty For Survival: American Energy Development and Indian Self-Determination

James Robert Allison III

This book shows how American Indians fulfilled the promise of Indian self-determination by reclaiming control over reservation resources. During America’s 1970s quest for energy independence, tribes ... More

This book shows how American Indians fulfilled the promise of Indian self-determination by reclaiming control over reservation resources. During America’s 1970s quest for energy independence, tribes possessing valuable minerals resisted massive mining projects threatening their indigenous communities. They also launched a national campaign to improve their tribal governments’ capacity to manage reservation land. Working with federal agencies tasked with increasing domestic energy production, these groups created the Council of Energy Resource Tribes to educate tribal leaders and broker deals that could provide energy to the nation and revenue for the tribes. Unfortunately, an antiquated legal structure hindered tribal efforts at development. Progressive-Era laws embedded with notions of Indian inferiority – namely, the 1938 Indian Mineral Leasing Act – denied tribes the right to control reservation mining, placing this authority instead with unprepared federal agents. By the early 1980s, however, increasingly sophisticated tribes demanded the legal authority to match their newfound capacity. Working with industry representatives, federal officials, and members of Congress, energy tribes thus constructed a new legal regime – anchored by the 1982 Indian Mineral Development Act – that recognized tribal, not federal, control over reservation development. But importantly, these efforts to restructure federal law also reshaped Indian Country. As tribes altered their governments to better manage resources, intense internal debates erupted over whether these new forms of governance were culturally “authentic.” In the end, efforts to increase tribal capacity and secure legal authority over reservation resources produced both expanded sovereignty and deeply divided communities.Less

Metro Rail Projects In India: A Study In Project Planning

M. Ramachandran

Taking stock of the urban transport scenario in Indian cities, this is the first full-length study of the metro rail system in India. In recent times the metro rail has come up as a favoured ... More

Taking stock of the urban transport scenario in Indian cities, this is the first full-length study of the metro rail system in India. In recent times the metro rail has come up as a favoured alternative of mass transport in urban spaces faced with growing population, heightened vehicular traffic, and increased pollution. Using data, analysis, and first-hand information, this book tells the story of metro rail as proposed and undertaken across India — from Kolkata in the east and Mumbai in the west to Delhi and Jaipur in the north and Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kochi in the south. Focusing on the complexities of project planning and contrasting the Indian experience with those of its global counterparts, this volume distils important lessons for future infrastructure projects. While the metro rail system has considerably improved inter-city connectivity, the metro story in India is an ongoing one.Less

Tantric Treasures: Three Collections of Mystical Verse from Buddhist India

This book provides accurate, accessible translations of three classics of medieval Indian Buddhist mysticism: the “couplet-treasuries” of the great tantric masters Saraha, Kanha, and Tilopa. Since ... More

This book provides accurate, accessible translations of three classics of medieval Indian Buddhist mysticism: the “couplet-treasuries” of the great tantric masters Saraha, Kanha, and Tilopa. Since their composition around 1000 CE, these poems have exerted a powerful influence on spiritual life, as well as poetry and song, in India, Nepal, and Tibet. The book offers new translations of the poetry aiming to capture the sense and spirit of the poems in the original. It also offers an introduction that summarizes the latest scholarship, situating the poems in their historical context.Less

Sociology of Education in India: Changing Contours and Emerging Concerns

Geetha B. Nambissan and Srinivasa Rao (eds)

This volume examines the history and research on the sociology of education (SoE) in India. It analyses the influence of culture, identities, structural inequalities, and poverty on education, and ... More

This volume examines the history and research on the sociology of education (SoE) in India. It analyses the influence of culture, identities, structural inequalities, and poverty on education, and evaluates how sociological tools can be used to address the impending crisis in the educational system. The consistent study of SoE has been slow in India, as is evident in the only recent attempts to establish the structure of the discipline. This volume places the SoE as a sub-discipline of Indian sociology, with the first few studies on education being undertaken in the 1950s/1960s by Kothari Commission (1964-6). The book emphasizes the need to grow the sociological imagination as there is still a lack of understanding of education as a social institution and its interlinkages with poverty, cultural diversity, and the world of work. This book attempts to deal with how structural inequalities, cultural diversity, and identities of different social groups mediate institutional practices and influence learning. These are areas of research where sociologists of education in India have a critical role to play.Less