The Assembly of Listeners: Jains in Society - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521365058 ISBN 13: 9780521365055

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1991

Synopsis

The Jains have exerted an influence on Indian society and religion out of proportion with their relatively small numbers. The Assembly of Listeners: The Jains in Society is the first book to address the sociology of the Jains and to discuss the notion of the "community" based on religious affiliation in India. Topics covered include Jain ideals and identity; women in the Jains community; popular Jainism; Jain reform and Jain identity in the UK. This collection is an important theoretical addition to the studies of Indian society, which has previously focused mainly on caste and class politics as the fundamental social units. With much recent fieldwork providing unique information on the ethnography of the Jains, this study will prove indispensable to any scholar interested in this little known but highly influential social group.

About this title

Book Description:

The Jains have exerted an influence on Indian Society and religion out of proportion with their relatively small numbers. The Assembly of Listeners: Jains in Society is the first book to address the sociology of the Jains and to discuss the notion of the 'community' based on religious affiliation in India.

About the Author:

Michael Carrithers is Professor of Anthropology at Durham University. He is author of a biography of the Buddha and of "Why Humans Have Cultures" (Oxford University Press, 1992). He has also written about Buddhist forest monks and of Jainism in India. At present he is researching rhetoric and public culture in East Germany.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0521365058
• ISBN 13: 9780521365055
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 344
• Editor: Carrithers Michael, Humphrey Caroline