Conversations and Transformations: Toward a New Ethics of Self and Society (Global Encounters: Studies in Comparative Political Theory) - Softcover

Giri, Ananta Kumar

9780739103227: Conversations and Transformations: Toward a New Ethics of Self and Society (Global Encounters: Studies in Comparative Political Theory)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0739103229 ISBN 13: 9780739103227

Publisher: Lexington Books, 2001

In this intriguing new book, Indian social theorist Ananta Kumar Giri issues a stirring call for scholars of contemporary social theory and practice to grapple with late modernity's most pressing social and political issues. Giri counterposes Western thought with Indian social theory in a work that ranges across an array of Indian texts and ideas, hitherto ignored by Western scholarship. Included, along with the mainstays of Indian intellectual thought like Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo, are lesser known Indian social theorists, economists, sociologists, and essayists who argue for transcendence of self-interest, social responsibility, and political renewal. Thoughtfully argued and lucidly written, this work offers the reader a genuine 'transdisciplinary' learning experience, going beyond European ethnocentrism to make social theory a truly global conversation.

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Review:

These essays show how an Indian thinker creatively responds to problems and challenges from the East as well as the West. They testify to a brilliant mind which is not deterred by the post-modernist onslaught on unity and identity and headlong challenges the glorification of power which many thinkers undertake today. It is a highly inspiring and ennobling work.--J N. Mohanty, Temple University

With his far-ranging inquiries and probing insights, Giri belongs to a group of innovative Indian social theorists who offer a welcome counterpoint to ivory-tower academicism. . . .Conversations and Transformations issues a stirring call for contemporary social theory as well as social practice. Although dealing with a multiplicity of distinct issues, the book's chapters coaleasce into a crucial overall theme: the need for personal self-transcendence as well as social and political renewal.--Fred Dallmayr, University of Notre Dame

About the Author:

Ananta Kumar Giri is Associate Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies. He is the author of Global Transformations: Postmodernity and Beyond (1998).

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