Naming a phenomenon
(a) Paolo Friere, a Brazilian educationalist, has spoken about such a phenomenon at length in his Pedagogy of the Oppressed. He calls it as an ‘internalisation of the oppressor by…
Read moreTwo kinds of research in social sciences
There is, on the one hand, the intellectual tradition of expressing opinions and points of view. Here, as it suits thoughtful minds, one tries to express ideas carefully and in…
Read moreDoes Feynman know about his culture?
Paraphrasing Feynman: “the answers proposed like counting angels that can dance on the head of a pin are trivial.” 1. I am not in the least impressed by (in fact, I…
Read moreDoes Kripal have an agenda?
I do understand the anger that people feel when they read Jeffrey Kripal’s and other people’s assessment of Indian traditions. If someone were to come up with a similar distortion…
Read moreThe Future of the Present. Thinking Through Orientalism—S.N.Balagangadhara
[Appeared in Cultural Dynamics July 1998 10: 101-121] Though the book was published nearly two decades ago, Said’s Orientalism continues to be topical. Many have rejected the message of this work; others have attempted…
Read moreHow to produce knowledge about people and their cultures?—S.N. Balagangadhara
1. Let us begin in a very intuitive way and ask ourselves this question: where do we encounter ‘cultural differences’? In human contacts, of course. What kind of human contacts?…
Read moreOn explanations that make people stupid—S.N.Balagangadhara
I do not believe that any cultural practice (i.e. a practice that has survived and been transmitted through successive generations) should be explained by attributing beliefs to its practitioners in…
Read moreWhy Social sciences are not providing knowledge, including the likes of Wendy Doniger and her children?
1. The general pattern that has come to the fore is that Wendy and her children (including Jeffrey Kripal) systematically portray the Indian traditions in an unfavorable light, even when…
Read moreReductive explanations in social sciences – S.N. Balagangadhara
1. To begin with, there is the feeling that scientific explanations, with their emphasis on rationality and objectivity, are reductive in nature. Wherein lies the root of this feeling? Let…
Read moreNegative portrayals of non-Western Cultures like Indian: Secularization of Christianity – S.N. Balagangadhara
I want to raise three issues: (a) how to analyze what Rajiv portrays about Wendy and her children in the field of religious studies; (b) depending on that, what an…
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