Overview

How have South Asian traditions responded to plurality and difference? The question lies at the centre of this collection, inviting us to challenge established conceptions of pluralism and understand South Asian ways of thinking about difference, diversity, and ‘the other’. This diverse collection is the first in-depth treatment of the variety of ways that South Asian traditions theorise plurality. Bringing together case studies across South Asia’s distinctive religious landscape, it marks a significant contribution to re-thinking pluralism in the 21st century.

Full Product Details

Author:   Brian Black (Lancaster University, UK) ,  James Madaio (Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions:   Width: 17.60cm , Height: 3.60cm , Length: 24.80cm
Weight:   0.820kg
ISBN:  

9781350436039

ISBN 10:   1350436038
Pages:   544
Publication Date:   16 October 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  

Table of Contents

Introduction: Brian Black (Lancaster University, UK) and James Madaio (Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia). Part 1: Pluralisms in Ancient South Asia Chapter 1: Claire Maes (University of Tübingen, Germany): ‘“I heard it through the grapevine.” Gossip and Rumour in the Pali Canon as Strategies to Deal with Religious Others’ Chapter 2: Sonam Kachru (Yale University, USA): 'Asoka’s Principled Pluralism' Chapter 3: Mark McClish (Northwestern University, USA): ‘Pluralism and Religious Policy in the Arthasastra' Chapter 4: Brian Black (Lancaster University, UK): ‘The Mahabharata’s Dharmic Pluralism’ Chapter 5: Vrinda Dalmiya (University of Hawai’I, USA): ‘In Defence of Double-Think: Stances, Standpoints, and Justice in the Mahabharata and Feminist Epistemology’ Chapter 6: Jessica Frazier (University of Oxford and the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, UK): ‘Collaboration, Inference, and Virtue in the Caraka Sa?hita’ Chapter 7: Anil Mundra (University of California, Santa Barbara, USA): ‘Pluralistic Selves: Jain Engagements with Doctrinal Difference and Identity' Chapter 8: Patrick Lambelet (Maitripa College, USA): ‘Weaving Many into One: Plurality and Unity in the Buddhist Mantrayana’ Part 2: Pluralisms in Pre-Modern South Asia Chapter 9: Nancy M. Martin (Chapman University, USA): ‘Forging Self and Sampraday: Inclusion, Equality, and Religious Diversity in Pre-Modern Bhakti’ Chapter 10: Pashaura Singh (University of California, Riverside, USA): 'Religious Pluralism and the Bhagat Ba?i in the Guru Granth Sahib' Chapter 11: Jaroslav Strnad (Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia): ‘Plurality of Spiritual Paths in the Dadupanthi Community of 17th Century Rajasthan’ Chapter 12: Rembert Lutjeharms (Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, USA): ‘Encounters with the Inconceivable: Experience and Inclusivism in Early Gau?iya Vai??ava Theology’ Chapter 13: Rosie Edgley (Independent Scholar) and Jacqueline Suthren Hirst (University of Manchester, UK): ‘Addressing Plurality in Madhusudana Sarasvati’s Bhagavadgita commentary’ Chapter 14: Supriya Gandhi (Yale University, USA): 'Reconciling Difference Through Ta?biq: Pluralism and Comparative Religion at the Mughal Court Part 3: Pluralisms in Modern South Asia Chapter 15: Scott R. Stroud (University of Texas, Austin, USA): ‘Ambedkar, Pragmatic Buddhism, and Democratic Pluralism’ Chapter 16: Elise Coquereau-Saouma (Erwin Schrödinger Postdoc Fellow, Austrian Science Fund): ‘Witnessing and Realising Plurality in 20th Century Indian Philosophy’ Chapter 17: Arindam Chakrabarti (Ashoka University, India): ‘Seesaw Worlds, Interrogative Reality, and Alternative Theories of Error: From Kalidas Bhattacharya back to Abhinavagupta’ Chapter 18: James Madaio (Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia): ‘Plurality and the Other in Ramchandra Gandhi’s Hermeneutics of Being’ Chapter 19: Humeira Iqtidar (King's College London, UK): ‘Is Tolerance Liberal? Javed Ahmed Ghamidi and the Non-Muslim Minority' Chapter 20: Brian Black (Lancaster University) and James Madaio (Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia): ‘Concluding Reflections: Thinking Pluralistically about Pluralism’

Reviews

‘Attempts to mine the past of India or China for philosophical purposs are often met with accusations of anachronism. Through detailed and sophisticated case studies, the authors of Provincialising Pluralism have demonstrated how the past can and does speak to the present. This is a master work of historical interpretation answering some urgent issues relating to pluralism in a globalised world.’ -- Patrick Olivelle * Professor Emeritus, The University of Texas at Austin, USA * ‘This is a landmark volume in South Asian studies and intellectual history, distinguished by its capacious canvas and the scholarly depth of the essays. The contributors pluralize “pluralism” itself, making a distinctive contribution to the rich debates on pluralism and syncretism that have characterised South Asia's long intellectual and religious history.’ -- Vinay Lal * Professor, University of California at Los Angeles, USA * ‘This stimulating collection of essays understands pluralism less as a modern social and political ethic and more as an epistemic framework for understanding plurality. It makes a convincing case that a long, varied tradition of South Asian understandings of diversities exist that has the potential to enrich how humans view each other’s distinctiveness and try to respond to it.’ -- Rajeev Bhargava * Honorary Fellow and Director, Parekh Institute of Indian Thought, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, India * ‘The essays included in this thoughtful volume analyse a variety of pluralisms across Indian philosophical discourses and time periods. It is a challenging collection which makes a timely intervention in our current debates about the past and the potential for pluralism in the future.’ -- Romila Thapar * Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India *

Author Information

Brian Black is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University. He is author of The Character of the Self in Ancient India: Priests, Kings, and Women in the Early Upanisads (2007) and In Dialogue with the Mahabharata (2021) James Madaio is Head of the Department of South Asia at the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague and a Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

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