Focusing on politics and society in India, this book explores new areas enmeshed in the complex social, economic and political processes in the country. Linking the structural characteristics with the broader sociological context, the book emphasizes the strong influence of sociological issues on politics, such as social milieu shaping and the articulation of the political in day-to-day events. Political events are connected with the ever-changing social, economic and political processes in order to provide an analytical framework to explain ‘peculiarities’ of Indian politics. Bidyut Chakrabarty argues that three major ideological influences of colonialism, nationalism and democracy have provided the foundational values of Indian politics.
Structured thematically and chronologically, this work is a useful resource for students of political science, sociology and South Asian studies.
Author Biography:
India: Government and Politics in a Developing Nation Robert Hardgrave and Stanley Kochanek (Harcourt College Publishers, 2000) - GBP25.99 - A standard text thematically organized, with extensive lists of suggested readings. Supplementary material available at the "India Update" website Reinventing India Stuart Corbridge and John Harriss (Polity, 2000) - GBP17.99 The Politics of India Since Independence Paul R. Brass (Cambridge University Press, 1994) - (New Cambridge History of India) - GBP60.00 - More than a textbook but not quite a definitive in-depth political history, it has three parts: "Political Change" (structures, parties, state and local politics); "Pluralism and National Integration" (language problems, crises in Punjab, the Northeast, and Kashmir, Hindu-Muslim and caste conflict, and Hindu nationalism); "Political Economy" (economic development, social change, agricultural change) India Briefing, 1987-1999 [multiple volumes] (Sharpe, M.e., Inc. or Westview Press) - A series of volumes of essays covering politics, economy, society, and culture. Each volume has typically one essay on domestic politics and one on international relations, and frequently an additional essay on an aspect of domestic politics Contemporary India Satish Deshpande (Penguin-India, 2003) - Comments: The focus of this book is narrow and seeks to explain Indian politics with reference to sociological models that are not easy to comprehend unless the readers are acquainted with the literature. India after independence, 1947-2000 Bipan Chandra, Mridula Mukherjee and Aditya Mukherjee Penguin-India, 2000) Comments: The book is useful for the beginners given the lucidity (to the extent of even diluting the complex themes). It main weakness stems from the fact that it is hardly analytical. Modern South Asia: history, culture, political economy Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal (Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1998) - Comments: The book is dated and meant for beginners focusing on broad themes which are useful to initiate academic works on issues relating to the subcontinent.
