‘Indians speak English in many languages, and the word “politics” is among dozens of English words now commonly used in all our languages’ (p. 181).
Of the many striking statements that run across this book, the above by Satish Deshpande captures the numerous shades of the political/political imaginaries that form the treasure chest in this edited volume by Manu Goswami and Mrinalini Sinha.
Mapping and remapping key points in India’s political history is an exercise that has been repeatedly undertaken by scholars. The book under review, an edited volume with contributions from 14 well known authors, revisits India’s political history, tapping into reservoirs of information, archives and perspectives that make this work an interesting, insightful and critical intervention. The chapters are mapped to interconnected themes addressed across three parts of the book, i.e., ‘Genealogies of the Political’, ‘Democratic Imaginaries’ and ‘Political Commentaries’ that examine, reiterate and restate questions of people’s participation and representation.