Prophets Facing Backward

This book argues that the secularization of cultural commonsense is the best answer to Hindu nationalist bigotry in contemporary India. It demonstrates how, under a Hindu nationalist regime, the country took a turn towards reactionary forms of modernism, acquiring cutting-edge technologies-including nuclear weapons-while reviving superstition in the guise of 'Vedic Sciences'. Aggressive modernization in the technological sphere accompanied an assault on modernity in the cultural sphere. Prophets Facing Backward examines the intellectual sources of this reactionary modernism. It shows a convergence between 'Vedic Science', 'Hindu modernity', and postmodernist/postcolonial critiques of science by left-inclined intellectuals and new social movements. The ideology of Hindutva on the Right is scrutinized alongside social movements on the Left, the latter including alternative science, people's science, and ecofeminist/post-development movements. Nanda asks fundamental questions that tend to be brushed aside: are local knowledge good for marginalized groups? Are there trans-cultural criteria to evaluate the truth-content of local knowledge against modern science? Is modern science a source of Eurocentrism or does it have unfulfilled potential for challenging the political appropriation of traditional Hinduism.