India is frequently represented as the quintessential land of religion. Johannes Quack challenges this representation through an examination of the contemporary Indian rationalist organizations: groups who affirm the values and attitudes of atheism, humanism, or free-thinking. Quack shows the rationalists' emphasis on maintaining links to atheism and materialism in ancient India and outlines their strong ties to the intellectual currents of modern European history. At the heart of Disenchanting India is an ethnographic study of the organization ''Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti'' (Organization for the Eradication of Superstition), based in the Indian State of Maharashtra. Quack gives a nuanced account of the Organization's specific "mode of unbelief." He describes the group's efforts to encourage a scientific temper and to combat beliefs and practices that it regards as superstitious. Quack also shows the role played by rationalism in the day-to-day lives of the Organization's members, as well as the Organization's controversial position within Indian society. Disenchanting India contributes crucial insight into the nature of rationalism in the intellectual life and cultural politics of India.

Empirical studies of life science research and biotechnologies in Asia show how assemblages of life articulate bioethics governance with global moralities and reveal why the global harmonization of bioethical standards is contrived.

Philosophizing for, with, and by children in a community of inquiry has proven to be an internationally successful learning strategy that enhances both the cognitive and emotional growth of children. Pioneering democratic programs for philosophizing with children now exist throughout the world. The work described in this book represents the latest research on theoretical concepts and applied projects within this field and brings together contributions from twenty-nine countries, representing all continents. The authors address questions on the theoretical foundation of Philosophy for Children, the application of philosophical methods, the community of inquiry, international and national didactical concepts as well as the evaluation of those concepts. A primary goal of this book is to enhance intercultural academic exchange and to encourage further research and practical work in this field.

Explore how Western-trained Asian-born scientists' return migrations are fueling and fueled by Asia's rise in the global scientific field.

This book explores the promissory discourses and practices associated with the bioeconomy, focusing especially on the transformation of institutions; the creation, appropriation, and distribution of value; the struggle over resources, power, and meaning; and the role of altruism, kinship, and care practices. Governments and science enthusiasts worldwide are embracing the bioeconomy, championing it as the key to health, wealth, and sustainability, while citing it as justification to transform research and regulatory institutions, health and agricultural practices, ethics of privacy and ownership, and conceptions of self and kin. Drawing together studies from Asia, Australia, the Americas, and Europe, this volume encompasses subjects as diverse as regenerative medicine, population health research, agricultural finance, biobanking, assisted reproduction, immigration, breastfeeding, self-help groups, GM fish, and mining sewage.

The great geopolitician, Halford J. Mackinder, had the dream that Monsoon Asia, when it grows to prosperity, will balance those who “live between Missouri and the Yenisei.” In Asia in Post-Western Age, Niraj Kumar offers a vivid picture of the global distribution of material power and the emergence of three pan-regions, envisaged by German Nazi geopolitician, Karl Haushofer, fuelled by the logic of regionalised globalisation. These pan-regions will be glued by corresponding Pan-Ideas of Atlanticism, Eurasianism and Asianism. The trialectics between these three pan-regions will establish harmony and balance. The diplomacy in multipolar world will no longer be deciphered through the sports metaphor of chess, football or boxing, but the universal game of hopscotch. Asia in Post-Western Age is an indispensable interdisciplinary work about contemporary global conflicts as well as future trends, and proposes a way to establish Kant’s “perpetual peace.”