Full Description
This book analyses how multiple and hybrid 'modernities' have been shaped in colonial and postcolonial India from the lens of sociology and anthropology, literature, media and cultural studies, law and political economy. It discusses the ideas that shaped these modernities as well as the lived experience and practice of these modernities. The two broad foci in this book are: (a) The dynamism of modern institutions in India, delineating the specific ways in which ideas of modernity have come to define these institutions and how institutional innovations have shaped modernities; and (b) perspectives on everyday practices of modernities and the cultural constituents of being modern. This book provides an enriching read by bringing together original papers from diverse disciplines and from renowned as well as upcoming scholars.
Contents
1. Understanding the Modern in India Leïla Choukroune & Parul Bhandari. Part I. Imagining the Modern: Ideas, Institutions, and Challenges.- 2. Transgressions, Demosprudence, and Justice Upendra Baxi.- 3. From Without to Within: Indian International Law as Modernizer Leïla Choukroune.- 4. The Political Economy of Being "Modern" in 21st century India Jayati Ghosh.- 5. Political Innovation in the working of Indian Democracy: A study of the Group of Ministers Device (1998-2014) Balveer Arora & K. K. Kailash.- 6. Three Languages of Discourse of Modernity in India Savita Singh. Part II. Experiencing the Modern: Makings and Practices.- 7. Makings of Modern Marriage: Choice, Family, and the Matchmakers Parul Bhandari.- 8. Modern Bombay: Making of a Cultural Metropolis from 1850 to 1950 Christine Ithurbide.- 9. Modern Mixes: The Hybrid and the Authentic in Indian Cuisine Ishita Banerjee-Dube.- 10. Ritual at the Cutting Edge: Everyday Animal Slaughter as Practice and Symbol Rita Brara. Part III. Narrating the Modern: Texts and Travels.- 11. Religion and Hospitality in the Modern: Thinking with Abdul Bismillah Simona Sawhney.- 12. Modernity's Nightmares: Narrating Sexuality in Kerala Navaneetha Mokkil.- 13. Exploring Modernism as Reflected in Post-Partition Hindi/Urdu Fiction Sukrita Paul.- 14. Latin American Travellers in Modern India Minni Sawhney.- 15. Chinese and Indian Attitude Towards the Past: A Paradoxical Appropriation Nicolas Idier.- 16. From 'Savages' to 'Saviours': Genealogy of Santal Portrayal in Colonial Modernity Anshul Avijit.
