Titles Selection – November 2010

1. Panchayat Raj In India: Emerging Trends Across The States

Auth: R. P. Joshi, G. S. Narwani Year: 2002 Pgs: 290;
Price: 550; Pub: Rawat Publications
Summary: Panchayati Raj, as a system of governance at the grass roots level in rural
India, has been rightly conceived as the most viable and proper mechanism of realizing
the goals of democracy and decentralization. The current debate is not on its desirability
but on strengthening it by identifying its weaknesses and taking care of the lacunae
which are still there in spite of its constitutionalization through the historical 73rd
Constitution Amendment Act. Likewise, empowerment of women and weaker sections,
through a well-devised system of reservation, has not only brought about a change in
the socio-political culture of these sections of society but has also led to a virtual
transformation of the rural scene where people have increasingly become aware of their
rights and have started demanding their share in power. In fact, rural India today has
become the embodiment of a new revolution which seeks to provide direction to the
polity thereby making democracy and decentralization vibrant

2. South Asia: Societies in Political and Economic Transition

Auth: Tan Tai Yong, ISAS; Year:2010; Pub: Manohar Pgs: 517;Price:850.
Summary: The last few years have been significant for South Asia, with fundamental
political and economic transitions in several of the countries. Bangladesh opted for an
interim government followed by the election of a democratic government. Pakistan saw
the assassination of a former Prime Minister, followed by peaceful elections and,
perhaps, hope for stability. Nepal went through substantial change, with the Maoists
initially in power and, subsequently, opting out of the government. In contrast, elections
in Bhutan have brought a smooth transition to democracy. On the other hand, economic
issues have dominated India, including aggressive responses to the global slowdown,
fiscal expansion an early return to growth from the downturn.

3. The Imaginary Institution of India

Auth; Sudipta Kaviraj; Pub: Permanent Black; Year: 2010 Pgs; 308; Rs 695.00
Summary: Among Kaviraj’s many strengths is his quite exceptional ability to position
Indian politics within the frameworks of political philosophy in the West alongside
perspectives from Indian history and indigenous political thought. The writings collected
here range over a wide terrain, including studies of the peculiar nature of Indian
democracy; the specificities of the regimes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi;
political culture in Independent India; the construction of colonial power; the relationship
between state, society, and discourse in India; the structure of nationalist discourse;
language and identity formation in Indian contexts; the relation of development with
democracy and democratic functioning; and the interface of religion, politics, and
modernity in South Asia.

4 Challenging the Injustice of Poverty-Agendas for Inclusive Development in

South Asia ;
Auth: Rehman Sobhan, Year; 2010; Pub: Sage Pgs: 516; Rs: 895
Summary: This book explores issues related to poverty in South Asia in a two-pronged
manner—by focusing on injustice created and perpetuated by the unjust nature of a
social order as its source and by providing concrete suggestions about how
policymakers may move to challenge these injustices. Drawing on research inputs from
studies across various South Asian countries, the book redefines poverty as a process
that excludes certain segments of society from equitable participation in development
opportunities as well as decision making. It further identifies a variety of operational
ideas which can be used by policy makers, political activists and civil society advocacy
groups committed to build a more just, inclusive and poverty free society in South Asia.

5. Means of Awakening: Gender, Politics and Practice in Rural India

Auth: Sirpa Tenhunen Pub: Bhatkal & Sen Year; Nov 2008 ;Pgs:174 Price;Rs 345
Summary: Sirpa Tenhunen provides an ethnographically rich study of local politics and
gender in rural India. It is based on her extensive fieldwork in Janta, a village near
Bishnupur in Bankura, West Bengal, a state where the Communist Party of India
(Marxist), CPI(M), has been in power since 1977. She documents carefully how women
are emerging in the forefront of political struggles and the rise of the opposition
movements in rural West Bengal, a true marker of the momentous social and political
change in India. The book explores both women's political participation and agency,
including marriage, dowry and women's role in the panchayats, local government in the
villages. Her observations and interviews with both male and female political activists
give a candid picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the CPI(M). She also observes
how building of mobile networks has led to the intensification of rural networks. The book
relates the study of the political domain to that of cultural practices and considers how
translocal discourses facilitate local dialogue. Tenhunen argues that the gendered
understanding of politics not only limits women's political participation, but also enables
and shapes women's political action and critical discourses because the local concept of
politics does not exclude home, kinship, and the women's domain. She suggests that the
notions of modernity and development are not applied in local disputes because of their
universality or the supremacy of the Western model of modernisation, but because
these, through their local interpretations, offer concepts through which the taken-for-
granted practices can be discussed and questioned, which in turn become means of
awakening: of turning women's personal experiences into questions of social change.

6. Paradoxes Of Empowerment Development, Gender and Governance in

Neoliberal India
Auth: Aradhana Sharma;Year 2010; Pub: Zubaan Pgs: 260 Rs.595
Summary: Celebratory new features about India's thriving middle class tell only part of
the story of the country's recent economic rise, frequently glossing over the 300 million
Indians who live on the margins and struggle to survive under economic liberalization.
How do those, cast out of their country's successes, perceive and respond to their
position and mobilize against disempowerment? Aradhana Sharma takes up these
questions, focusing on the work of an innovative women's programme called Mahila
Samakhya, that is part governmental and part non-governmental and strives to empower
those rural Indian woman who have been pushed aside. Detailing the awkward
ideological articulations and paradoxical outcomes of this unique activist-cum-
government organization, Paradoxes of Empowerment fosters a deeper understanding
of development and politics in contemporary India.

7. Madrasa Education in Modern India-A study

Auth: Saral Jhingram; Year: 2010 Pub: Manohar Price: 1050 Pgs:424
Summary: This study steers clear of the stereotype conception of madrasas as the
training ground of terrorists. Its chief concern is the search for the ground realities about
madrasas what and how they teach: and whether the syllabus or the ambience of
madrasas prepares the students for successfully facing the challenges of the modern
world. It enquires into the reasons for a relatively large number of muslims opting for
madrasa education for their children. A sociological analysis is therefore undertaken.

8. The Flaming feet and other essays-The Dalit movement in India

Auth: D.R. Nagaraj; Year 2010 ;Pub: Permanent Black; Price;595 Pgs:254
Summary; This book gives us Nagraj’s vision of caste in relation to Dalit politics. It
theorizes the caste system as a mosaic of contestations centred around dignity,
religiosity and entitlement. Examining moments of untouchable defiance, Nagraj argues
out a politics of cultural affirmation within his redefinition of Dalit identity. More
significantly he argues against self- pity and rage in artistic imagination, and for re-
creating the banished worlds of gods and goddesses.

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