For A Just Republic eBook

From the forging of a constitution for the postindependence republic to the reign of Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party today, the idea of India as a nation-state has predominated. Yet the country encompasses a vast diversity of communities, regions, languages, and cultures, calling into question any unitary identity.

In this magisterial account of Indian politics over the past seventy-five years, the renowned scholar Partha Chatterjee challenges common notions of state and nation, arguing for a more capacious understanding of the people. He examines the varying trajectories of the Indian nation-state, as opposed to what he calls the people-nation, analyzing the complex connections between the two. Chatterjee offers a persuasive political-economic analysis of the transition from the time of developmental planning to the present era of capitalist dominance. He combines keen analysis of changing caste-class-gender formations in the countrys diverse regions with a close examination of the uneven spread of Indias capitalist economy.

By looking beyond the nation-state, this book unveils many hidden aspects of Indian politics todayand makes a powerful case for a future in which the federal system respects the equal worth of each part of the country.