Sacred Ecology: Cosmologies, Ecologies and Rituals in Colonial India (1886-1936) (1)

Synopsis

This volume delves into the colonial past and identifies papers on nature and natural phenomenon that were deemed ‘primitive’ and ‘superstitious’ by those who narrated them and analyzed them in the pages of the Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay, published from 1886 to 1936; the period covered by the papers that have been reproduced in this volume. However, they have been recast in the contemporary framework of environmentalism, indigenous wisdom and critical reflections on Western science and scientific methodology. The positivist method or western rationalism was propagated during the exact time of the publication of these articles, through the political hegemony of colonial rule. Each of these papers was presented to criticise ‘primitive’ cultures and obscurantist thinking. Yet, each presents wisdom and knowledge about nature, which, if followed, would have averted much of the environmental distress that the world is facing today. These papers have been reproduced with a purpose, a purpose to show that real knowledge was thrown away as garbage. The volume invites critical rethinking and advocates a revised version of rationalism, reconceptualisingnature as sacred, moving away from anthropocentrism towards nature-centrism.

Copyright:

2026

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

Book Size:

128 Pages

ISBN-13:

9781040445174

Related ISBNs:

9781003622727, 9781041029694, 9781040445167

Publisher:

Taylor & Francis

Date of Addition:

10/17/25

Copyrighted By:

selection and editorial matter, Subhadra M. Channa and Lancy Lobo

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Outdoors and Nature, Religion and Spirituality, Social Studies, Earth Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, Sociology

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.

Edited by:

Subhadra M. Channa

Edited by:

Lancy Lobo