Planning Democracy

Nikhil Menon is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame.

• List of Figures; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I. Data: 1. A Nation in Numbers; 2. Calcutta Conquers Delhi; 3. Chasing Computers; Part II. Democracy?: 4. Help the Plan—Help Yourself; 5. Salvation in Service; Epilogue; Notes; Select Bibliography; Index.

'Written with wit and energy, impeccably well researched, Planning Democracy makes a bold new contribution to our understanding of the Indian state after 1947. Menon's is the best history we have of India's great experiment with statistics: a data-driven attack on social and economic inequality that aimed, not always successfully, to be compatible with participatory democracy. Menon combines intellectual and institutional history to make a compelling case that we should focus less on whether planning “succeeded” or “failed,” in any narrow sense, and more on the profound ways it shaped India's political imagination. This excellent book is sure to find a wide and appreciative audience across disciplines.' Sunil Amrith, Yale University