“Hindutva 2.0 as Information Ecology”
with Associate Prof. Anustup Basu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Event Details:
Wednesday, 10th February 2021 @ 6PM NZDT
Facebook Livestream: @CAREMassey
Link: https://www.facebook.com/CAREMassey/posts/4520591251290578
Abstract:
As an ideology, Hindu nationalism has traditionally struggled to create a universal ‘monotheme’ for a larger, pan-Indian Hindu community. That is, to unite believers in different gods and goddesses — different caste, linguistic, cultural, and regional groups — into an axiomatic identity. This was obviously a difficult project because Hinduism had no universal ‘church’ and there were no traditional ways of brining a people divided by caste and untouchability under one roof as a congregation or ‘flock.’ In the course of the twentieth century, Hindutva had attempted to recast disparate energies of ‘Hinduism’ into a ‘Political Monotheism’ with a jealous mission and one destination narrative. It had used disciplinary institutions like the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS), ecumenical organizations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and organs of print capitalism to that purpose. This paper inquires whether we now have a dispensation of Hindutva 2.0, that is, an electronic information culture that seeks to create a new, increasingly pan-Indian and transnational virtual Hindu ‘commons’ beyond traditional caste strictures and taboos pertaining to custom, touch, food, or water.
Author of “Hindutva as Political Monotheism” (Durham: Duke University Press, 2020)Bio:
Dr. Basu is an Associate Professor of English, Criticism, Cinema and Media Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Profile: http://www.english.illinois.edu/people/basu1Author of “Hindutva as Political Monotheism” (Durham: Duke University Press, 2020)https://www.dukeupress.edu/hindutva-as-political-monotheism
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