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Pluralities, Faith, Social Action

The contributions to this dossier try to address the challenges facing us in plural ways. The crisis is multi-pronged- at once economic, social, cultural, political, ecological and spiritual. Individual authors have offered their own distinctive lens for the reader.

Editorial

May you live in interesting times- so goes an allegedly traditional Chinese curse. One might wonder why it is considered a curse when clearly it seems like a wish for positive tidings. Apparently it is only overtly an expression of good-will even as its unexpressed intention is, if not diabolic, at least not as harmless as might appear. The expression is normally used ironically and while seemingly a blessing, its hidden message is that life is better in "uninteresting times" of peace and tranquility than in "interesting" ones, which are usually times of trouble.

By Siddhartha and Milind Wani

Radical Vision

Leaf

Nature(s) in Us

My core concern here is to wrestle with the idea of ‘nature’ and with the ‘ways in which we relate to it’. A nature that is both in us as humans, and the many nature(s), animate and non-animate, outside of us. Thus it seems possible to think of nature in singular and plural terms. I will argue that in order to combat the existential threats we face, as a society and as a planet; it is time to go back in some ways and go forward in others.

I call for a rejection of the homogenising tendencies of capitalism that reduces natures (including humans) to the category of a resource, whose main goal then becomes serving capitalism’s profiteering logic. Rather, I argue for recognition of the plurality of natures surrounding us and of the ways in which it is possible to live - with and in - them.

Annie James

Weave

Utopia and climate civil disobedience

Never before in human history have we faced such a dire crisis, where human beings and much of our bio-diversity are threatened with extinction: the sixth extinction. Clearly, there are distressing signs in this direction. But all is not lost. We humans can rise to the challenge, change our life-styles and patterns of production, pressure our governments, and where necessary, mobilize mass civil disobedience and non-cooperation movements of an entirely non-violent nature.

Money

Unity at the end of false beliefs

We cannot any longer afford to live under the illusion that we alone possess the only true perspective of the world and that this can just be handed over in readymade form to the others. For a genuine unity-in-difference to take place, it is necessary to establish a mode of conversation between diverse transformative movements from below that can allow for changing ourselves while changing society.

By Kalle Blomberg and Milind Wani

Cultural Practices and Plural Imagination

Wood

Ecological pluralities

The idea that we may be really related to animals in much more fundamental ways may come as a shock (or be rejected) by some, but if grasped, becomes one of the major avenues through which we reestablish a sense of unity with nature that strongly resists the temptation to exploit, damage it, or treat its sentient occupants with cruelty.

By John Clammer

Many major religions remain anthropocentric, but this shift in sensibility towards a more ecological world view is of profound significance, given the huge numbers of adherents that each of these religions claims and their impact on thinking and behavior.

John Clammer

Tradition textile

Plurality in the Context of Indian Folk Culture and Marginalized Traditions

Now, when we are faced with a climate crisis, we are struggling to find a sense of relatedness that includes difference and diversity. Unity is not something that can be imposed rationally. A human world-view tries to impose an order on the natural environment, which like artificial intelligence, follows the working of the human mind.

Entangled

Let go…

'You could be an ostrich at this moment. Standing in the queer pride parade two years ago, in solidarity with friends, could you have thought of this moment? You lean back against the wall, shut your eyes, and think of the many hers you know, but all that you see are the cops who had lined the road that day, not intruding but ready.'

By Sucharita Dutta-Asane

Great literature pushes our perceptions of singular truths and it does so by engaging the most untameable and powerful human faculty: the imagination.

Dr. Maya Joshi

Ret Samadhi cover

De-storying/ Re-storying

A glance at global history reveals that periodic attempts to diminish and contain this complexity of stories in the name of various causes have been a running refrain. This is particularly evident to those who are or have been at the receiving end of stories -other peoples’ stories, while their own remain muted.

By Dr. Maya Joshi

Faith and Social Action

kufi

Between the boundaries of religious worlds

These Sufi mystics and poets understood the violent jealousy of borders and so they aimed, in the words of Dārā Shikōh, to etch lines of demarcation in water rather than in stone. In Ibn ‘Arabī’s school, the variegated cosmos is nothing but the endless self-disclosure of the One as the Many. The One Reality or Essence shows itself by hiding as the many, effectively veiling itself through its unveiling.

By Bharatwaj Iyer

In an age of violent identification, the Sufis teach us the virtue of bewilderment, water-drawn demarcations, and to hold our hearts in living flux, ready for any form.

Bharatwaj Iyer

Mandala

A meditation on social action and spirituality

When those two words, ‘spiritual’ and ‘material’ appear in the same sentence almost always they are opposed to one another. If you trace this historically, this has done vast damage, not only philosophically, but in extremely practical terms

Cosmic Man

The Hinduism paradox

However, Hinduism also offers hope. It is imbued with features that make room for positive change and growth. Subsummation, the very feature that was (wrongly) used to undermine and absorb other cultures, is also Hinduism’s strength and herein lies Hinduism’s greatest paradox.

In an increasingly plural world where existential questions tear at the heart of the human condition, both secularism and religion/ theology need to be re-examined.

Anannya Bhattacharjee

Bell (Ghanti)

Spirituality as fearless enquiry for a plural and just world

Yet, the idea of secularism has become a form of “sacralisation of power… beyond the reach of contestation…” (Balibar 2018, 51). In an increasingly plural world where existential questions tear at the heart of the human condition, both secularism and religion/ theology need to be re-examined.

By Anannya Bhattacharjee

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

Charles Dickens (The tale of two cities)

Curators

Milind Wani

Milind Wani

Siddhartha

Siddhartha

Aspi Mistry

Aspi Mistry

Mirza

Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman, PhD

Programme Coordinator & Research Associate (Democracy & Pluralities)

Contributors

Annie James

Annie James

Kalle Blomberg

Kalle Blomberg

John Clammer

John Clammer

Jyoti Sahi

Jyoti Sahi

Maya Joshi

Dr. Maya Joshi

Suchitra Dutta-Asane

Sucharita Dutta-Asane

Anannya Bhattacharjee

Anannya Bhattacharjee

Urmi Chanda

Urmi Chanda

Bharatwaj Iyer

Bharatwaj Iyer

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