000			02170nam a2200217Ia 4500
999			_c71907 _d71907
005			20220217235540.0
008			200204s9999 xx 000 0 und d
020			_a9780195663303
082			_a307 COM
100			_aChakrabarty, Bidyut ( ed.)
245		0	_aCommunal identity in India : _bits construction and articulation in the twentieth century
260			_aNew Delhi
260			_bOUP
260			_c2003
300			_a327 p.
365			_b 545.00
365			_dRS
520			_aCommunal identity is a matter of serious debate and discussion in contemporary India. Not only is the definition of community controversial, the processes of its formation are equally debatable. Identity is negotiated within an often volatile mix of influences hinging on nation, region, religion, gender, language, and citizenship. This collection acquaints the reader with issues that are central to the discourse on the construction of identity and its manifestations in reality, presenting key extracts in an increasingly urgent historiographical debate. The essays in this volume, the third in the Debates in Indian History and Society series, address the contested issue of community identities as they evolved historically in the course of the twentieth century in India. They explore both the circumstances and the forms in which identity, communal identity in particular, is recast in a transitional post colonial society like India. Employing a two pronged approach, they take into account theoretical inputs as well as historical circumstances that have moulded aspects of the debate. Ultimately, the volume reveals the folly in 'essentialist' definitions of identity, a view particularly pertinent to India today, while concluding that communal identity, though imagined and constructed, is nevertheless not intangible. With a useful introductory survey and a comprehensive bibliography, this volume will be invaluable to scholars and students of contemporary Indian history, sociology, and politics, as well as informed general readers interested in the topical subject of identity politics in modern India.
650			_aCommunities
942			_cB _2ddc