Why Secularism is Losing Ground in South Asia? | Postcolonial Theory & the Rise of Hindu ...
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Dr. Meera Nanda argues postcolonial theory itself helped fuel Hindu nationalism — the intellectual movement meant to liberate may have armed the illiberal.
Postcolonial TheorySecularization TheoryNationalism TheoryUnintended Consequences
Theory Briefing
- Dr. Meera Nanda, philosopher and historian of science, links postcolonial theory directly to the rise of Hindu nationalism in South Asia.
- Her argument inverts the usual story: the academic framework designed to challenge Western dominance may have legitimized religious nationalist movements instead.
- Secularism is losing ground in South Asia, raising the question of whether Western-imported liberal frameworks were ever equipped to hold it.
- The conversation probes how anti-colonial intellectual tools can be repurposed to justify the very exclusions they were meant to dismantle.