India and Non-Western Secularism Seminar

Abstract

The critics of secularism, whether they are themselves religious or not, have focused on its European origins and allegedly Christian specificity as one of their chief lines of argument. India’s history and character as a secular state allows us to look at the way in which secularism has been debated and defined in quite different ways outside Europe. This lecture will explore such discussions not simply in constitutional terms but also as part of a new kind of secular culture outside the law.