Utilizing his fieldwork done in south Gujarat between 2004 and 2006, Jan Breman critically analyses the historical roots of the ongoing subordination of the rural poor in what has come to be recognized as a booming economy.

Gyan Pandey's latest book is a compelling examination of the violence that marked the partition of India in 1947, and how the preceding events have been documented. In the process, the author provides a critique of history-writing and nationalist myth-making. He also investigates how local forms of community are established by the way in which violent events are remembered and written about. The book will be of interest to historians of South Asia, to sociologists and to anyone concerned with the Indian subaltern story.

In this book, a study of the population processes of two castes in north India, the authors ask why fertility levels are higher among the Muslim Sheikhs than the Hindu Jats. They conclude that explanations can only partly be attributed to gender and religion, and that economic and political status is a defining factor. The book has implications for the understanding of population and politics in India generally, and will be invaluable to students of the region and anyone interested in the demography of developing countries.

Challenging the view that a shared colonial legacy led to contrasting patterns of political development in South Asia--democracy in India and authoritarianism in Pakistan and Bangladesh--Ayesha Jalal argues that, despite differences in form, central political authority in each state has confronted similar threats from ethnic and regional movements. By comparing state structures and political processes, the author evaluates and redefines democracy, citizenship, sovereignty and the nation state, arguing for more decentralized government.

In a compelling account of the lives of those at the bottom of Indian society, the authors explore the construction of the Untouchables as a social and political category, the historical background that led to such a definition and their position in India today. The authors argue that, despite efforts to ameliorate their condition, a considerable edifice of discrimination persists. The book promises to make a major contribution to the social and economic debates on poverty, while its wide-ranging perspectives will ensure a readership from across the disciplines.

In a penetrating anthropological study of the working poor in India, Jan Breman examines the lives of those who, pushed out of the agrarian labor market, depend on casual work. By considering two villages in south Gujarat, the author discusses the mobilization of casual labor, demonstrating that this is characteristic of an employment pattern that dominates the rural and urban economy of large parts of South Asia. Elaborating on the social profile of the work migrants, the author shows that little has been done to improve their quality of life, which is defined by caste and class relations.

How has democracy taken root in India in the face of a low-income economy, poverty, illiteracy and ethnic diversity? Atul Kohli brings together leading scholars of Indian politics to explore this intriguing anomaly. Themes addressed include politics, ethnicity, federalism, caste, poverty, and Hindu nationalism. This is a tightly conceived volume on an important and controversial topic, which will be as useful in the classroom as it will be for professionals and general readers. It is a book for anyone who wants to learn more about the world's largest democracy.

The causes of the Asian economic crisis have been the subject of fierce debates among economists, yet little is known about the impact on employment and wellbeing. In Indonesia, the worst affected country, the malaise turned into a political and societal upheaval which brought an end to the New Order regime. Based on anthropological fieldwork in two villages along the coast of West Java, the monograph discusses the repercussions for work and welfare in the rural hinterland. The authors criticize the policies of the government of Indonesia as well as those of other transnational agencies on...

Successive Indian governments have remained committed to market-oriented reform since its introduction in 1991. In a well-argued and controversial examination of the political dynamics that underlie that commitment, Jenkins challenges existing theories of the relationship between democracy and economic liberalization. He contends that while democracy and liberalization are no longer considered incompatible, the new thinking emphasizes the wholesome aspects of democracy, downplaying the temptations of populism and its reliance on obfuscatory tactics in defusing political resistance. In fact,...

Coffee has been grown on Java for the commercial market since the early eighteenth century, when the Dutch East India Company began buying from peasant producers in the Priangan highlands. What began as a commercial transaction, however, soon became a system of compulsory production. This book shows how the Dutch East India Company mobilized land and labor, why they turned to force cultivation, and what effects the brutal system they installed had on the economy and society.