The Assembly of Listeners Jains in Society

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 addresses the sociology of the Jains and discusses 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 study 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 Reynell; Part II. Local Jain Communities: 6. Local Jain communities Caroline Humphrey; 7. The Jain merchant castes of Rasthan: some aspects of the management of social identity in a market town Christine M. Cottam Ellis; 8. Jain shopkeepers and moneylenders: rural informal credit networks in south Rajasthan J. Howard M. Jones; 9. A study of Jains in a Rajasthan town N. K. Singhi; Part III. Jains In The Indian World: 10. Jains in the Indian world Michael Carrithers; 11. The Digambara Jain warrior Paul Dundas; 12. Is there a popular Jainism? Padmanabh Jaini; 13. Fairs and miracles: at the boundaries of the Jain community in Rajasthan Caroline Humphrey; Part IV. New Jain Institutions In India and Beyond: 14. New Jain institutions in India and beyond Caroline Humphrey; 15. Reform movements among jains in modern India Vilas Sangave; 16. Orthodoxy and dissent: varieties of religious belief among immigrant Gujarati jains in Britain Marcus Banks; 17. The foundations of community among southern Digambar Jains: an essay on rhetoric and experience Michael Carrithers; Conclusion Michael Carrithers and Caroline Humphrey; Glossary and pronunciation; Select bibliography; Index.

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.