India is one of the fastest changing countries in the world. The rules of global competition clash with the subcontinent's cultural traditions in all their variety. This study examines the mutual influence and transformation between these complexes by reference to two prominent examples.The first part considers transnational migration by professionals following the call of the global labour market for specialists (brain circulation) and breaking with their culture's traditions. The second part looks at the transformation of the attitude towards gold, which is seen both as a religious symbol that also makes for material security, and as a rare resource on the global market.By considering and representing these transitional junctures from a philosophical angle, the author emphasises the importance to the transformation of present-day India of the country's path-dependent history and culture. The book is published in English.Indien ist gegenwärtig eines der sich am schnellsten verändernden Länder weltweit. Die globalen Regeln des Wettbewerbs treffen dabei auf die kulturelle Tradition in ihrer gesamten Vielfalt des Subkontinents. Das Buch arbeitet die wechselseitige Beeinflussung und Transformation anhand zweier Beispiele heraus.Im ersten Teil geht es um die transnationale Migration von Fachkräften, die Angeboten eines globalen Arbeitsmarktes für Spezialisten folgen (brain circulation) und so mit der Tradition ihrer Kultur brechen. Der zweite Teil untersucht den Wandel im Umgang mit Gold als religiösem Symbol zur materiellen Absicherung und als knapper Ressource auf dem Weltmarkt.Durch die philosophische Betrachtung und Konstruktion dieser transitionalen Verschränkungen zeigt das Buch den Wandel des gegenwärtigen Indiens im Lichte seiner pfadabhängigen Geschichte und Kultur. Die Buchsprache ist englisch.Der Autor erhielt für diese Arbeit im Jahr 2005 den Straniak Philosophiepreis. Der Preis wird alle 3 Jahre vergeben und hat sich dem Dialog zwischen Ost und West verschrieben.Introduction: Claiming common ground · Rules in institutional economics and in religious life · The Hindu World in transition: significant paradoxes · A View of the Hindu World in Institutional Economic Terms · Institutions as 'explanans': how institutions develop in a path-dependent way · Circumstances of institutional development and validity · Path-dependency in the Hindu world: transcendence matters! · Douglass C. North on path-development and control mechanisms · Institutions as 'explanandum': how institutions affect human behaviour · Rationality, bounded rationality, and irrationality in the Hindu world · Stenmark's 'Holistic Rationality' · Shared mental models and ideology: recurring ritual dynamics and the stabilization of behaviour · Institutional change and 'ceremonial encapsulation' · Stability, persistence, and 'efficiency' · Theoretical Conclusions from the Institutional Economic Analysis · 'Solving human problems': An appreciation of allegedly inefficient institutions · Institutional trust + transcendence matters = institutional faith · The theoretical frame · Trust and Williamson's 'institutional trust' · Fukuyama's view of social capital as 'mysterious cultural process' · Institutional faith: A concept proposed · Fundamentalism and/or institutional faith? A differentiation · The Hindu World on the Threshold of Transformation: Two Instances of Transitional Juncture · Instances of transitional juncture 1: Profession and migration · Profession: caste vs. global labour market · The caste order: 'Caste unites while it divides' · Profession in the caste system as an 'ontological given'? · The competition for skilled workers on the global labour market · Transitional juncture: 'liminality of caste' and 'brain circulation' · Instances of transitional juncture 2: Attitudes towards Gold · Gold as Hindu religious symbol and scarce resource · Gold as a religious symbol of purity · Gold as 'the ultimate form of payment' · Transitional juncture: Prosperity and Persistence · Recapitulation and Prospects · References