What happens when ancient systems of oppression travel across oceans? How do Indian diaspora communities across five nations challenge centuries-old systems of oppression while building new forms of solidarity? Caste, Country, and Creed: Struggles for Social Justice in the Contemporary Indian Diaspora takes readers inside the dynamic world of contemporary social justice activism spanning Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.Thi...

Most of us transit through life embracing and immersing in experiences, which are soon forgotten; but not Usha Kumar. Usha is not only gifted with the ability to recollect these passings of life be it trivial or significant but is also talented to pen them with clarity and simplicity into an interesting web of short stories.Dispatches from Sowparnika is a microcosm of the passage of human life. With stories of people and places, it is a compilation of everyday experiences as percei...

From websites devoted to battling a 'Left-liberal' media ecosystem to the formidable internet army of Hindu Right volunteers, from online narratives of Hindu valour to Narendra Modi's impeccably-managed social media presence, new media is an integral part of present-day Hindu nationalism.The Virtual Hindu Rashtra examines the relationship of Hindu nationalism and new media across a range of internet spaces, including Twitter trends in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party's government poli...

Sikh Nationalism and Identity in a Global Age examines the construction of a Sikh national identity in post-colonial India and the diaspora and explores the reasons for the failure of the movement for an independent Sikh state: Khalistan. Based on a decade of research, it is argued that the failure of the movement to bring about a sovereign, Sikh state should not be interpreted as resulting from the weakness of the ‘communal’ ties which bind members of the Sikh ‘nation’ t...

Wendy Doniger and Martha Nussbaum bring together leading scholars from a wide array of disciplines to address a crucial question: How does the world's most populous democracy survive repeated assaults on its pluralistic values? India's stunning linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity has been supported since Independence by a political structure that emphasizes equal rights for all, and protects liberties of religion and speech. But a decent Constitution does not implement itself, an...

Conventional wisdom says that integration into the global marketplacetends to weaken the power of traditional faith in developingcountries. But, as Meera Nanda argues in this path-breaking book,this is hardly the case in todays India. Against expectations ofgrowing secularism, India has instead seen a remarkable intertwiningof Hinduism and neoliberal ideology, spurred on by a growingcapitalist class. It is this “State-Temple-Corporate Complex,”she claims, that now wields decisive political...

Pain, Pride, and Politics is an examination of diasporic politics based on a case study of Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada, with particular focus on activism between December 2008 and May 2009. Amarnath Amarasingam analyzes the reactions of diasporic Tamils in Canada at a time when the separatist Tamil movement was being crushed by the Sri Lankan armed forces and revises currently accepted analytical frameworks relating to diasporic communities. This book adds to our understanding of ...

Vibrant, dynamic, spirited and forceful. The contemporary women’s movement in India, which began in the late 1970s protested against the dark times, the violence and the misogyny. It also colourfully celebrated liberation, solidarity among women and breaking the shackles of patriarchy. It sang, performed and painted, to draw attention to the burning issues of the time: dowry death, widow immolation, acid throwing and rape. Over the past three decades, the women’s movement has matured and broa...

When India was invented as a "modern" country in the years after Independence in 1947 it styled itself as a secular, federal, democratic Republic committed to an ideology of development. Nehru's India never quite fulfilled this promise, but more recently his vision of India has been challenged by two "revolts of the elites": those of economic liberalization and Hindu nationalism. These revolts have been challenged, in turn, by various movements, including those of India's "Backward Classes...

Identity movements, based on ethnicity, caste, language, religion and regional identity, have become increasingly significant in Nepal, reshaping debates on the definition of the nation, nationalism and the structure of the state. This book analyzes the rapid rise in ethnic and nationalist mobilization and conflict since 1990, the dynamics and trajectories of these movements, and their consequences for Nepal.From an interdisciplinary perspective, the book looks at the roots of mobi...

By making religious community a relevant category for discussing development deficit, the Sachar Committee Report (that was submitted to the Prime Minister of India in 2007) initiated a new political discourse in India. While the liberal secular framework privileged the individual over the community and was more inclined to use the category of class rather than the identity of religion, the Sachar Committee differentiated citizens on the basis of their religious identity. Its conclusions r...

Post-Mandal, the demand for reservations by various groups has become a consistent feature of Indian politics. Yet, the focus remains on caste, with little attention paid to the under-representation of religious minorities in India. The book takes up the case of relative disadvantage and interogates the multiple and overlapping dimensions of deprivation. Hasan argues that, in view of the comparative evidence avaiable, presently excluded and disadvantaged groups should also qualify for affi...