Culture and the Making of Identity in Contemporary India

Usha Thakkar is Honorary Director, Institute of Research on Gandhian Thought and Rural Development; and Honorary Secretary, Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya, Mumbai. She retired as Professor and Head, Department of Political Science, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai. She has done postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago on Fulbright Fellowship, at Cornell University on Sr. Fulbright Fellowship and at York University (Canada) on WID Fellowship from the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute. Her research areas are Women’s Studies, Gandhian Studies and Indian Politics. Her publications include Politics in Maharashtra (co-editor, 1995); Women in Indian Society (co-author, 2001); Zero Point Bombay: In and Around Horniman Circle (co-editor, 2008) and Culture and Making of Identity in Contemporary India (co-editor, 2005).

• Foreword - B G DeshmukhIntroduction - Kamala GaneshFields of Culture: Conversations and ContestationsFrom Interior Landscapes into Cyberspace - Kapila VatsyayanFluidity and Dynamics of Tradition From Sankara to Fusion - Ashok Ranade An Indian Musical SpectrumLineages of the Modern in Indian Art - Tapati Guha-ThakurtaThe making of a National HistoryDivided by a Common Language - Meenakshi MukherjeeNovel in India, in English and in English TranslationTranslating Sensibility - Dilip ChitreWhat does Translation Mean in India? - U R AnanthamurthyInterculturalism and the Question of Body - Anuradha KapurInterculturalism and Intraculturalism in Theatre - Vijaya MehtaA Personal ResponseStri Shakti - Vimla BahugunaDimensions of Woman Power in IndiaVimla Bahuguna and the Legacy of Gandhian Politics - Usha ThakkarHeritage of Bhakti - Vidyut BhagwatSant Women′s Writings in MarathiFeminism and Feminist Expression - Devaki JainA Dialogue`Re′ Inscribing the Past - Uma ChakravartiInserting Women into Indian History The Humanist Perspective and the Civilising Role of History - Mariam DossalIndigenous Knowledges and the Hegemony of Science - Claude AlvaresTowards an Informed Science Criticism - Gita ChadhaThe Debate on Science in Post-Independence IndiaIndex

Truly interdisciplinary in nature...The articles are written by some very distinguished scholars and practitioners including poets and activists...All the articles provide a discourse on Indian culture, providing a link between knowledge, culture and identity. This book will be of immense interest to researchers working on Indian culture International Sociology Review of Books