Disenchanting India

Post-Doctoral Fellow, Heidelberg University

• Acknowledgments ; Prologue ; Introduction ; Part I: Object of Inquiry: Indian Rationalists, Modes of Unbelief & Disenchantment ; 1. Indian Rationalists ; 2. Modes of Unbelief ; 3. Rationalization and Disenchantment ; 4. Methodological Remarks and Research Setting ; Part II: History: Roots of Organized Rationalism in India ; 5. "Narrative" of the Indian Roots of Rationalism ; 6. Evolution of Rationalism in Colonial India ; 7. Influence of the English Rationalist Movement ; 8. Organized Rationalism in 20th Century India ; 9. Recent History of Organized Rationalism in Maharashtra ; Part III: Ethnography: Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ANiS) ; 10. ANiS in Action: The Science-Van ; 11. Organizational Structure and Set-Up of ANiS ; 12. Profile and Agenda of ANiS ; 13. Individual Interpretations and Applications of Rationalism ; 14. Rationalism as a Way of Life ; 15. ANiS in Context ; 16. Impact of ANiS ; Part IV Theory: The Mode of Unbelief of ANiS ; Bibliography ; Appendix

Johannes Quack has ventured into new territory in his close study of the Indian rationalist movement, particularly its manifestations in early twenty-first century Maharashtra. He has combined ethnographic analysis, social theory, and a deep knowledge of Indian history with reflections on secularism, religious belief, rationality, enchantment, and disenchantment. The result is a vivid depiction of India in the throes of modernity, in which class, gender, nationalism, and ideological and discursive strategies are contesting for the very future of India. This excellent volume must be examined by anyone interested in modern and contemporary India because it addresses in a most illuminating way a desperately understudied topic.