The Assault on Reason : Our Information Ecosystem, From the Age of Print to the Era of Trump

**Now with a New Preface and Conclusion: 'Post-Truth: On Donald Trump and the 2016 Election'** The United States of America is in the midst of a deepening crisis for their democracy. After the strangest election cycle in modern American history it is important that the grave threats to the American way of life that were glaringly revealed in this campaign are addressed. In __The Assault on Reason__, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Vice President Al Gore examines how faith in the power of reason – the idea that citizens can govern themselves through rational debate – is in peril. Democracy depends on a well-informed citizenry and a two-way conversation about ideas, but the public sphere has been degraded by fake news and the politics of fear, partisanship and blind faith. Now updated to investigate the rise of Trump and post-truth politics, __The Assault on Reason__ is a farsighted and powerful manifesto for clear thinking, crucial if... "With Narendra Modi's right-wing anti-Muslim government tightening its control over Kashmir, it is clear that Hindu nationalism, also known as Hindutva, holds immense political importance in India. Anustup Basu traces the genealogy of this ideology, from its colonial roots to its contemporary form. Prior to colonialism, Hinduism manifested as a constellation of diverse spiritual beliefs and pieties that could co-exist with Christianity or Islam. Basu demonstrates that European thinkers imposed a monotheistic imperative on Hinduism, imagining it as one of a constellation of "world religions," a framing that bolstered the Enlightenment ideology of ethnocentric nationhood. HINDUTVA AS POLITICAL MONOTHEISM traces how the idea of a Hindu religion and a Hindu state persisted after formal colonialization ended-taken up by Indian philosophers and nationalists, and then circulated through Bollywood films and other cultural forms as part of a political project to imagine India as modern, secular, and Hindu. In the first section of the book, Basu traces the invention of Hinduism as a religion in the minds of European anthropologists starting in the 1920s. Basu demonstrates that the very idea of India as a Hindu nation was inspired by the fascist political theorist Carl Schmitt and his European interlocutors, who sought a monotheme of religiosity that harnessed pluralistic customs into one tradition, called Hinduism, in the model of an Abrahamic religion. Next, Basu turns to the founding of right-wing Hindu organizations and political parties in the 1920s, which suggested that all Indians shared a common spiritual and biological Aryan ancestry, in tension with the ongoing caste system and regional differences. The next sections considers the theology underpinning the idea of Hindu monotheism: the idea that the Brahman is a singular deity, that Krishna is a prophet akin to Christ, and that the Bhagwad Gita is the singular book of Hinduism. Finally, Basu turns to what others have called Hindutva 2.0-the contemporary manifestation of Hinduness that has ushered in a culture of technophilia, Islamophobia, and rigid gender norms. He shows how Indian modernity relies on advertising Hindutva as modern, secular, and entwined with the advance of capitalism-and that Narendra Modi's rise as a media phenomenon merges Hindu pride with the promise of smart cities, military power, and a digital economy"-- Provided by publisher In Hindutva as Political Monotheism, Anustup Basu offers a genealogical study of Hindutva—Hindu right-wing nationalism—to illustrate the significance of Western anthropology and political theory to the idea of India as a Hindu nation. Connecting Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt's notion of political theology to traditional theorems of Hindu sovereignty and nationhood, Basu demonstrates how Western and Indian theorists subsumed a vast array of polytheistic, pantheistic, and henotheistic cults featuring millions of gods into a singular edifice of faith. Basu exposes the purported “Hindu Nation” as itself an orientalist vision by analyzing three crucial moments: European anthropologists'and Indian intellectuals'invention of a unified Hinduism during the long nineteenth century; Indian ideologues'adoption of ethnoreligious nationalism in pursuit of a single Hindu way of life in the twentieth century; and the transformations of this project in the era of finance capital, Bollywood, and new media. Arguing that Hindutva aligns with Enlightenment notions of nationalism, Basu foregrounds its significance not just to Narendra Modi's right-wing, anti-Muslim government but also to mainstream Indian nationalism and its credo of secularism and tolerance. In Hindutva as Political Monotheism , Anustup Basu offers a genealogical study of HindutvaHindu right-wing nationalismto illustrate the significance of Western anthropology and political theory to the idea of India as a Hindu nation. Connecting Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt's notion of political theology to traditional theorems of Hindu sovereignty and nationhood, Basu demonstrates how Western and Indian theorists subsumed a vast array of polytheistic, pantheistic, and henotheistic cults featuring millions of gods into a singular edifice of faith. Basu exposes the purported Hindu Nation as itself an orientalist vision by analyzing three crucial European anthropologists and Indian intellectuals invention of a unified Hinduism during the long nineteenth century; Indian ideologues adoption of ethnoreligious nationalism in pursuit of a single Hindu way of life in the twentieth century; and the transformations of this project in the era of finance capital, Bollywood, and new media. Arguing that Hindutva aligns with Enlightenment notions of nationalism, Basu foregrounds its significance not just to Narendra Modi's right-wing, anti-Muslim government but also to mainstream Indian nationalism and its credo of secularism and tolerance. Now with a New Preface and Conclusion: 'Post-Truth: On Donald Trump and the 2016 Election' The United States of America is in the midst of a deepening crisis for their democracy. After the strangest election cycle in modern American history it is important that the grave threats to the American way of life that were glaringly revealed in this campaign are addressed. In The Assault on Reason , Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Vice President Al Gore examines how faith in the power of reason – the idea that citizens can govern themselves through rational debate – is in peril. Democracy depends on a well-informed citizenry and a two-way conversation about ideas, but the public sphere has been degraded by fake news and the politics of fear, partisanship and blind faith. Now updated to investigate the rise of Trump and post-truth politics, The Assault on Reason is a farsighted and powerful manifesto for clear thinking, crucial if the vitality of democracy is to be rebuilt and good decisions made once more. A powerful indictment of the Bush-led radical Right's disdain for the principles of reasoned decision-making, and a rallying cry for a return to reason-based policies at home and abroad