The last few decades have witnessed a shift towards a more balanced view in political theory and social science, one that acknowledges the cultural dimension of politics an the political dimension of culture. The essays in this volume reflect this shift by bringing together a number of interrelated themes of the multicultural perspective, such as the need for a stable identity; the link between identity, recognition and cultural community; and the importance of belonging and cultural particularity. Significant questions are raised and discussed: What does it mean to recognize cultural communities? Does recognition entail subsidies from the state? Should every culture be publicly recognized? How can multiculturalism be prevented from being hierarchical and authoritarian? Can it be made liberal and democratic? Can the presence of different cultures within one political order be trouble free or will it always be conflict ridden?

Multiculturalism, Liberalism and Democracy

Politics & Social Sciences

Bhargava, Rajeev

Bagchi, Amiya Kumar

Sudarshan, R

Politics & Government

Oxford University Press

The central argument of this book is that methodological individualism--the view that all social phenomena are explicable in ways that only involve individuals--is seriously challenged by a different approach in social science called contextualism. At the outset of his book, Rajeev Bhargava designs a two-fold programme. First, to identify the significant versions of methodological individualism, and to assess both their plausibility and feasibility. Second, to articulate contextualism as a rival conception of social science and to show that it is superior to even the most plausible forms of methodological individualism.   This book challenges this assumption by claiming that methodological individualism is neither trivial nor obviously true. The author presents this challenge by outlining an equally, if not more, credible non-individualist alternative. The dispute over individualism versus holism in social science is best treated here.

Individualism in Social Science: Forms and Limits of a Methodology

Social Sciences

In this collection of essays, Bhargava answers important questions related to Political Theory and its aims. The aim of political theory, he says, is not only to clear up conceptual muddles but to reason systematically and ethically about some of the major social and political problems we face, to illuminate which ethical values are relevant to the context and why, and to give some direction to what we should do. Using the tools of political theory, he tells us the value and dangers of multiculturalism, the significance of political secularism in religiously diverse societies, the continuing relevance of some socialist ideas and explains why modernity must not be viewed only as a monolithic, homogenizing process. What is Political Theory and Why Do We Need It? asks what, if any, the cultural injustices of colonialism are and how we should respond to them, assesses the value of institutions such as Truth and Reconciliation in societies that have gone through violence and injustice on a massive scale, argues why it is urgent to jettison stereotypes of one another held by religious and secular persons, clarifie the importance of free expression in democratic societies, and how the state should act amidst growing intolerance and offers a morally complex reflection on 9/11. The book also includes philosophical essays on the methodology of social science.

What is Political Theory and Why Do We Need It? (Collected Essays)

Philosophy

These essays are written over the last two decades by Rajeev Bhargava, one of the most insightful commentators on philosophical and historical questions around secularism. The topics covered are the democratic vision of the new republic of India, the evolution and distinctiveness of India's linguistic federalism, the distinctiveness of Indian secularism, India's secular constitution, and Muslim personal law and the majority-minority syndrome.The essays are crucial to the debates about secularism. They raise and answer important questions pertaining to it. This collection has one common thread running through the chapters--democracy and India. The topics covered are highly significant not only for India, but for the modern world in general. It is a part of regular reading for courses on religion and secularism.

The Promise of India's Secular Democracy

History

World

Bhargava carefully disentangles the different forms of methodological individualism, and then identifies the key assumptions of its most plausible version that beliefs are attitudes individuated entirely in terms of what lies within the individual mind. He argues that once this assumption is challenged, it is possible to rehabilitate a non-individuated methodology that permits a contextual study of beliefs and desires and even a study of social context relatively independent of the beliefs and desires of individuals.

Individualism in Social Science: Forms and Limits of a Methodology (Oxford Philosophical Monographs)

Clarendon Press

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org.\nThe rise of China and India could be the most important political development of the twenty-first century. What will the foreign policies of China and India look like in the future? What should they look like? And what can each country learn from the other? Bridging Two Worlds gathers a coterie of experts in the field, analyzing profound political thinkers from these ancient regions whose theories of interstate relations set the terms for the debates today. This volume is the first work that systematically compares ancient thoughts and theories about international politics between China and India. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the growth of China and India and what it will mean for the rest of the world.

Bridging Two Worlds: Comparing Classical Political Thought and Statecraft in India and China (Great Transformations) (Volume 4)

Acharya, Amitav

Bell, Daniel A.

Xuetong, Yan

Asia

University of California Press

An original analysis of religion versus the religionization of society in India. &nbsp; What is unique about Indian secularism? In this book, Rajeev Bhargava argues that secularism in India, as opposed to in the West, did not arise in a society that had already been religiously homogenized, where the need of the hour was to break the political nexus between church and state. In India, secularism does not demand that the state is against or indifferent to religion, but rather that it combat institutionalized religious domination, both between and within religions. Apathy or antipathy to religion, Bhargava points out, would foment inter-religious rivalries that intensify anti-reformist tendencies, fueling further division. &nbsp; As secularism receives daily ridicule in India, Bhargava provides an account of how this "principled distance" from religion has been a victim of misunderstandings by its proponents, abuse by its practitioners, and deliberate distortion by its opponents. Reimagining Indian Secularism offers a proposal of how we might one day be able to rehabilitate secularism. &nbsp;

Reimagining Indian Secularism (History for Peace)

Seagull Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bhargava, Rajeev. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Bhargava, Rajeev

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bhargava, Rajeev. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Multiculturalism, Liberalism and Democracy

Individualism in Social Science: Forms and Limits of a Methodology

What is Political Theory and Why Do We Need It? (Collected Essays)

The Promise of India's Secular Democracy

What is Political Theory and Why Do We Need It? (Collected Essays)

Individualism in Social Science: Forms and Limits of a Methodology (Oxford Philosophical Monographs)

Bridging Two Worlds: Comparing Classical Political Thought and Statecraft in India and China (Great Transformations) (Volume 4)

Reimagining Indian Secularism (History for Peace)