| Description |
First meeting for preparation: 23 february 2026, 12.30-2.00 p.m. (per zoom); Classes are taking place on 23/24 April 2026 and 21/22. May 2026 (starting on Thursdays in the afternoon from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. On Fridays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
India’s religious and cultural pluralism is the outcome of a long and complex historical process shaped by indigenous traditions, colonial encounters, and religious and political developments. This block seminar, together with an conference, seeks to examine the historical, theological, cultural, and political factors that contributed to the emergence of this pluralism and its significance for social cohesion and religious harmony in India. The seminar also addresses contemporary cultural nationalism marked by the rise of religiously motivated political movements and politically driven religious leadership. Under the rubric of cultural nationalism, these forces increasingly construct oppositional narratives between majority and minority communities. Such developments have led to the rejection of plurality, the erosion of interreligious harmony, and the growing marginalization of minority groups. There are four Key themes:
1. Indian Nationalism under Colonial Rule: Minority Responses and Christian Engagement:
2. Churches, Nation-Building, and National Integration in India: This focuses on the church’s responses to the formation of a unified Indian nation and their contributions to national integration, democratic values, and social harmony.
3. Religious and Cultural Nationalism in Contemporary India: Minority Experiences:
This theme critically analyses the rise of religious and cultural nationalism in postcolonial India and its social, political, and cultural impact on minority communities.
4. Politics of ‘Othering’, Social Cohesion, and the Role of Christian Women:
This theme investigates their effects on harmony and peace in Indian society, while highlighting the significant contributions of Indian Christian women to nationalism, social reform, and community leadership.
Literature for first reading:
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined communities, reflections on origin and spread of nationalism, Revised version London, New York: Verso, 1991.
Devamony, Mariasusai. Hindu Spirituality. Rome: Editrice Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, 1999.
Golwalkar, Madhav Sadasiva. We or Our Nationhood Defined. Nagpur: Bharati Publications, Nagpur, 1939.
Jafferlot, Christophe. The Hindu nationalist movement and Indian politics: from 1925 to the 1990’s. London: Hurst & Co, 1993.
Jafferlot, Christophe. The Hindu Nationalist Movement in India. New Delhi: Viking, 1996.
Jafferlot, Christophe, ed. Hindu Nationalism: A Reader. Princeton/Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2007.
Jafferlot, Christophe. Religion caste and politics in India. New Delhi: Primus book, 2010.
Sahayadas, R. Hindu Nationalism and the Indian Church. New Delhi: Christian World Imprints, 2016.
Savarkar, VD, - Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?. New Delhi: Bharateeya Sahitya Sadan, 1989.
Daniel, Joseph. Politics of Othering in Indian Narionalism and Chrstians in India. Institute of Christkatholische Theologie, (Unpublished Habilitation), 2023.
The classes are held in English language. Inscription via Ilias required. |
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