The Imaginary Institution of India : Politics and Ideas

Contents: Introduction. 1. On state, society, and discourse in India. 2. On the construction of colonial power: structure, discourse, hegemony. 3. On the structure of nationalist discourse. 4. Writing, speaking, being: language and the historical formation of identities in India. 5. The Imaginary Institution of India. 6. A state of contradictions: the post-colonial state in India. 7. Government and opposition: fifty years of Indian independence. 8. The reversal of orientalism: Bhudev Mukhopadhyay and the project of indigenist social theory. Index.

"Sudipta Kaviraj is among India's most insightful political thinkers and analysts, and among the subtlest and most learned writers on Indian politics in recent times. Paradoxically, this has remained something of a state secret, because Kaviraj's writings on these subjects have been scattered in learned journals, many of which remain difficult to access. The present volume fills a crucial gap in the literature on politics and political thought in South Asia.

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. This volume will be indispensable for every student and scholar of South Asian politics, history, and sociology." (jacket)