Rajesh Kasturirangan : An Indian Way of Thinking
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Apr 19 2010
OPINION
Politics: In need of revival
OPINION : Politics: In need of revival
The decline of politics and of intellectual discourse is related to the struggle between politics and economics as the arbiter of the moral commons and the role of the developmental state in this fight, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.
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Mar 17 2010
OPINION
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Institutional order and disorder
We should profitably contrast the flexible chaos of our institutions with the iron order of the west. The management of diversity requires a sensible mix of order and chaos, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.
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Feb 25 2010
OPINION
The knowledge economy and the knowledge society
OPINION : The knowledge economy and the knowledge society
The reasons for the decline of Indian academia are more complex than just the influence of IT, however significant that might be, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.
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Jan 28 2010
OPINION
The nation as a person
OPINION : The nation as a person
What happens once our self-understanding of India has been permanently transformed by the collective belief that India is a person? Some consequences are obvious; others are subtler, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.
Dec 31 2009
OPINION
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Playing the victim
A land in which every kind of oppression has a long history is a country in which wounds are deep and forgiveness difficult. Moral indignation comes too easily to us, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.
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Nov 30 2009
OPINION
The Indian mercantilist empire
OPINION : The Indian mercantilist empire
The pattern of development in India seems ominously like England in the nineteenth century. Are Indian companies the vanguard of a 21st century Indian imperialism, ask Rajesh Kasturirangan.
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Oct 31 2009
OPINION
1984
OPINION : 1984
The continuous repetition of 1984 style violence also says something very unflattering about the man on the street, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.
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Sep 30 2009
OPINION
Stories of development
OPINION : Stories of development
The images of developmental utopia cluster together in our head into a kind of heaven, a secular afterlife of instantly met desires. Rajesh Kasturirangan explores the narrative of development.
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Aug 29 2009
OPINION: SOCIETY
In praise of conservatism
OPINION: SOCIETY : In praise of conservatism
In the past few hundred years, every revolution has caused much more harm than the evil it sought to eradicate. Perhaps the conservative is on to something after all, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.
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Jul 20 2009
THE WORLD STAGE
The prickliness of our foreign relations
THE WORLD STAGE : The prickliness of our foreign relations
New forms of power and influence are emerging in the 21st century, with opportunities no longer controlled by the west. So why are we harking to outmoded forms of power, asks Rajesh Kasturirangan.
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Rajesh Kasturirangan is a faculty member at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore. He thinks that deeply rooted - and specifically Indian - philosophical, psychological and cultural intuitions play a bigger role in determining actions in the social sphere than is normally acknowledged; their effects can be seen in domains as varied as the conception of the state and its role in society to the structure of corruption and the relationship between a community and its natural environment. This column will attempt to communicate the link between philosophy, culture and society and to make these abstract ideas part of our daily conversation.

Dr Kasturirangan has a background in cognitive science, which is his main area of technical research. These days he is studying the interface between language, culture and cognition and how the mind emerges in large cognitive networks. Several Indian traditions of inquiry have much to say about these questions. His goal is to bring these traditions to bear upon research on the mind. Visit him online at rajeshkasturirangan.org.