Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Prologue
Introduction

Part I: Object of Inquiry: Indian Rationalists, Modes of Unbelief & Disenchantment
1. Indian Rationalists
2. Modes of Unbelief
3. Rationalization and Disenchantment
4. Methodological Remarks and Research Setting

Part II: History: Roots of Organized Rationalism in India
5. ''Narrative'' of the Indian Roots of Rationalism
6. Evolution of Rationalism in Colonial India
7. Influence of the English Rationalist Movement
8. Organized Rationalism in 20th Century India
9. Recent History of Organized Rationalism in Maharashtra

Part III: Ethnography: Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ANiS)
10. ANiS in Action: The Science-Van
11. Organizational Structure and Set-Up of ANiS
12. Profile and Agenda of ANiS
13. Individual Interpretations and Applications of Rationalism
14. Rationalism as a Way of Life
15. ANiS in Context
16. Impact of ANiS

Part IV Theory: The Mode of Unbelief of ANiS

Bibliography
Appendix

About the Author

Johannes Quack studied Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Anthropology at the Universities of Bayreuth, Edinburgh, and Heidelberg. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cluster of Excellence "Asia & Europe," Heidelberg University and is currently research fellow at McGill University, Montreal.

Reviews

"Johannes Quack has ventured into new territory in his close study of the Indian rationalist movement, particularly its manifestations in early twenty-first century Maharashtra. He has combined ethnographic analysis, social theory, and a deep knowledge of Indian history with reflections on secularism, religious belief, rationality, enchantment, and disenchantment. The result is a vivid depiction of India in the throes of modernity, in which class, gender,
nationalism, and ideological and discursive strategies are contesting for the very future of India. This excellent volume must be examined by anyone interested in modern and contemporary India because it
addresses in a most illuminating way a desperately understudied topic."--Frederick M. Smith, Professor of Sanskrit and Classical Indian Religions, University of Iowa
"The book is a rich source of information...It provides the reader with food for thought on complex questions...The narrative is engaging and full of ethnographic detail about personal dilemmas, doctrinal conicts, and rationalist performances. Disenchanting India is a major contribution to and entry point for the study of complex and long-standing problems of Indian society."--H-Net Reviews