The Political Turn

Anthony Low in dramatic syntax announces in his fore- word that the academic world of post-1947 Indian subconti- nent was dominated by political ‘scientists’, while historians only dealt with events happening prior to that year. This has been recognized as a long-standing irony by Indian social scientists. But the irony also involves a certain serendipity. Historians have had the benefit of a prior theorization of the political of this period at a point when the commemorative decade of 50 years of Independence has pushed historians into reflecting on the post-1947 world. An additional blessing has been the present interest in freshly