The Assembly of Listeners Jains in Society [Hardcover]

The Jains have exerted an influence on Indian Society and religion out of proportion with their relatively small numbers.The Jains have exerted an influence on Indian Society and religion out of proportion with their relatively small numbers. The Assembly of Listeners: Jains in Society is the first book to address the sociology of the Jains and to discuss the notion of the 'community' based on religious affiliation in India.The Jains have exerted an influence on Indian Society and religion out of proportion with their relatively small numbers. The Assembly of Listeners: Jains in Society is the first book to address the sociology of the Jains and to discuss the notion of the 'community' based on religious affiliation in India.The Jains have exerted an influence on Indian society and religion out of proportion with their relatively small numbers. The Assembly of Listeners: The Jains in Society is the first book to address the sociology of the Jains and to discuss the notion of the community based on religious affiliation in India. Topics covered include Jain ideals and identity; women in the Jains community; popular Jainism; Jain reform and Jain identity in the UK. This collection is an important theoretical addition to the studies of Indian society, which has previously focused mainly on caste and class politics as the fundamental social units. With much recent fieldwork providing unique information on the ethnography of the Jains, this study will prove indispensable to any scholar interested in this little known but highly influential social group.List of illustrations; List of contributors; Acknowledgements; Introduction Michael Carrithers and Caroline Humphrey; 1. Jains as a community: a position paper Michael Carrithers and Caroline Humphrey; Part I. Jain Ideals and Jain Identity: 2. Jain ideals and Jain identity Michael Carrithers; 3. Somadeva Suri and the question of Jain canon K. R. Norman; 5. Women and the reproduction of the Jain community Josephine Relƒ-