Religion, Gender and the Postcolonial Crisis of the Present: Reflections on and from India

Kalpana Ram

    Research output: Contribution to journalConference paperpeer-review

    Abstract

    The paper explores the crisis in modernity's incapacity to address the Other in various overlapping domains, those of 'religion', 'woman', 'tradition' and 'non-western societies'. It argues that this incapacity, intrinsic to the very construction of modernity, has seriously weakened secular modern emancipatory projects not only in the west, but within countries like India. In India, projects strong among Indian intellectuals, such as feminism, secularism and socialism, face a crisis in their capacity to oppose the rise of Hindu religious nationalism. The paper explores the weaknesses in these projects particularly in their understanding of human agency, through a detailed examination of the way religion has been constructed in modern understandings of belief, ritual, choice and tradition.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)20-31
    Number of pages12
    JournalAustralian Religion Studies Review
    Publication statusPublished - 2004
    EventFear and Fascination: The Other in Religion - Sydney
    Duration: 16 Jul 200418 Jul 2004

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Religion, Gender and the Postcolonial Crisis of the Present: Reflections on and from India'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this