Breaking the Spell of Dharma

In four celebrated and controversial essays Meera Nanda connects religious fundamentalism with fascism and talks about the respon-sibility of intellectuals. She examines the link between Hindutva and reactionary modernism, argues for linking rationalism and science for the cause of social justice and provides a detailed critique of anti-rationalist and antisecularist currents dominant in several academic and research circles in India. This little book is a timely reminder to all those who believe in the necessity of intellectual and moral intervention in the present affairs of society and culture. First published in 2002, this book has gone on to become a classic. A new essays has been added to the present edition. Contents: 1. Dharma and the Bomb 2. A Broken People Defend Science: Dewey meets the Buddha of India s Dalits 3. Breaking the Spell of Dharma: A Case for Indian Enlightenment 4. How Modern Are We? Cultural Contradictions of India s Modernity

Meera Nanda is a teacher, researcher and philosopher of science working in the US. She is author of Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and the Making of Hindu Nationalism in India (2004); The Wrongs of the Religious Right: Reflections on Science, Secularism and Hindutva (2005); and Postmodernism and Religious Fundamentalism: A Scientific Rebuttal to Hindu Science (2003). She was trained as a biologist and has worked with the peopleís science movement and as a science correspondent in India. She is currently a John Templeton Foundation Fellow in Religion and Science (2005-2007).