W&L Politics Professor Publishes New Book
Stu Gray, associate professor of politics at Washington and Lee University, recently published a book titled “The Political Theory of the Bhagavad-Gita.”
The book, which was published by De Gruyter Brill and hit bookshelves on March 17, provides the first systematic analysis and interpretation of the Bhagavad-Gita as a work of political theory. The Bhagavad- Gita, often translated as “The Song of God,” is a Hindu scripture of Indian religious thought that dates to the first or second century BCE.
Gray identifies a lack of understanding of pre-modern Indian political thought and explores the narrative and characters of the Bhagavad-Gita to fill this gap. The book examines key text themes including monarchy, pluralism and power, analyzing their influence on Hindu nationalism and their enduring impact on political rhetoric today. Through his work, Gray seeks to develop Indian political theory on its own terms by using its own texts.
“This book also locates a hitherto unnoticed form of political ideology, what I call ‘deep ideology,’ that was designed to instantiate and preserve the interests and religious-philosophical position of brahmins in Indian society,” said Gray. “Specifically, this deep ideology was intended to be a perpetual resource for preserving Brahmanical power over time by constructing a worldview that included theories of time, reality, selfhood and politics within a totalizing cosmological vision.” “Finishing this project was very meaningful to me because it helped identify and explain how a pervasive form of political ideology could survive over long periods, and how elements of this ideology have provided problematic resources for Hindu nationalist causes,” he added. “Another reason this project is personally meaningful is because it has its roots in the first Spring Term class I taught at W&L, with multiple students having contributed research assistance over the years to help bring the project to completion.”
Gray has been a member of the W&L faculty since 2015. He earned a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of California, Davis and both a master of arts and doctorate in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
