This volume examines the ways in which multicultural societies balance diversity and the quest for equality with common national identities. It does not restrict the discourse on secularism to the state and public policy alone, but extends it to other non-institutionalised actors while addressing issues arising from the lived experience of religious diversity in various countries.

Sonia Sikka is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Ottawa, Canada.

Bindu Puri is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Delhi, India.

Lori G. Beaman is the Canada Research Chair in the Contextualization of Religion in a Diverse Canada and Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa, Canada.

Foreword Karan Singh. Acknowledgements. Introduction Sonia Sikka, Lori G. Beaman and Bindu Puri Part I. Negotiating Difference in Practice 1. Religious Other or Religious Inferior? Linda Woodhead 2. Faith, Ethnicity and Nationalism: St. Thomas Christians in India Sebastian Velassery 3. Reframing Understandings of Religion: Lessons from India Lori G. Beaman 4. Islam and Religious Pluralism in India Arshad Alam Part II. Religion and Caste 5. Conversions, Desire and Dalit Women in Colonial India Charu Gupta 6. Buddhism in Indian Philosophy A. Raghuramraju 7. Religion, Caste and the Politics of Overlapping Consensus in India Gopal Guru Part III. Religious Education 8. Education in Secular Democratic Societies: The Challenge of Religious Diversity Ratna Ghosh 9. A Cultural and Dialogic Approach to Religious Education Solange Lefebvre 10. Religious Education in a Secular State Rajeev Bhargava 11. Teaching 'Religion' and 'Philosophy' in India Sonia Sikka Part IV. Interrogating Liberal Solutions 12. Diversity, Secularism and Religious Toleration Ashwani Peetush 13. Religious Diversity and the Devout Bindu Puri 14. The International Politics of Religious Freedom Elizabeth Shakman-Hurd