“This is a superb analysis of India’s changing political economy from the 1940s to 2000. The authors sustain a clear and compelling argument while negotiating a thicket of contentious issues related to politics and the state at different levels, democracy, class structures, modes of accumulation, development, ideologies and religions. Essential reading for all scholars who have an interest in these subjects.” David Potter, The Open University

‘This is a useful book. The authors should be congratulated for providing a comprehensive treatment of a complex and fast changing political economy. The book can be used with profit for upper division courses dealing with post-independence India.’ Contemporary Sociology

“This is a Superb book, deserving readers from several fields.” Canadian Journal of Sociology Online

“Those who are seriously interested in acquiring an understanding of contemporary India are recommended to tackle this scholarly text.” Progress in Human Geography

“Interesting to the student of contemporary democracies, and i found reading them in conjunction very illuminating. When there is such an excellent body of English Language Literature on contemporary India society one wonders why it is that so many sociology students in the west will complete their studies without ever having read an article or picked up a book written on the ‘world’s largest democracy’.” Journal of the British Sociological Association

Reinventing India examines the history of modern India and its contemporary transformation, proving a lucid and eminently readable account of the changes which are shaking India today.

Part I of the book describes India’s transformation under colonial rule, and the ideas and social forces which underlay the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly which was convened in 1946 to consider the shaping of the postcolonial state. Part II narrates the story of the making and unmaking of this modern India in the period from 1950 to the present day, paying attention to both economic and political developments, and engaging with the interpretations of India’s recent history by such key writers as Francine Frankel, Sudipta Kaviraj and Partha Chatterjee. Part III has chapters on the dialectrics of economic reform, religion and the politics of Hindu nationalism, and popular democracy. These chapters articulate a distinct position on the state and society in India at the beginning of the new century, and they allow the authors to engage with some of the key debates which concern public intellectuals in contemporary India.