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CHS organises a lecture by Robert A. Yelle

CHS organises a lecture by Robert A. Yelle

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CHS organises a lecture by Robert A. Yelle
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CHS SPECIAL LECTURE

 

"The Disenchantment of Charisma: The Theological Origins of Secular Polity"

 

Robert A. Yelle

 Professor for the Theory and Method of Religious Studies and Chair of the Interfaculty Program in Religious Studies at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich

 

28th January 2019 , 12 pm, room number 326, CHS SSS 3, JNU

 

Almost a century after Max Weber, it has rarely been noted that his theory of the routinization of charisma closely resembles an earlier theological claim that miracles and other signs of grace (charismata) ceased in Apostolic times. A supersessionist narrative, which identified the Gospel as the final miracle and revelation, was dominant in English Protestantism already by 1600, although the debate over miracles lingered on into at least the mid-18th century. The narrative of a cessation of miracles and prophecy was connected with the idea of a decline from absolute sovereignty to an orderly, rule-governed sovereignty, as reflected in the Deist concept of a “watchmaker God” who, having presided over the miracle of creation, withdraws from intervening further. Weber’s ostensibly scientific account of disenchantment reflected his embrace of a particular position in a theological debate concerning how to reconcile God’s absolute and orderly powers. The theological genealogy of Weber’s theory confirms Schmitt’s famous contention, in Political Theology (1922), that the sovereign decision was proscribed together with the miracle under Deism.

 

Robert A. Yelle is, since 2014, Professor for the Theory and Method of Religious Studies and Chair of the Interfaculty Program in Religious Studies at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. He studied at Harvard College (BA in Philosophy 1988), the University of California at Berkeley (JD 1993), and the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he received a PhD in the History of Religions (2002) based on research conducted in Calcutta, India, on a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship. Prior to arriving in Munich, Yelle was Associate Professor at the University of Memphis. He has received fellowships from the University of Toronto, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, New York University School of Law, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Yelle is presently Editor of the American Academy of Religion/ Oxford University Press book series Religion, Culture, and History, and was previously Executive Secretary of the North American Association for the Study of Religion (2007-2011). His monographs include Explaining Mantras (Routledge, 2003), The Language of Disenchantment (Oxford University Press, 2013), Semiotics of Religion (Bloomsbury, 2013), and Sovereignty and the Sacred(University of Chicago Press, 2019).

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.