Fills a gap in terms of uncovering the history of contemporary groups and locating their political work in the contexts of intersecting issues of class, caste, gender, and political power play. Importantly, it also carefully exposes the political conditions under which groups such as Janam and Budhan operate and the limitations and possibilities of their operations. Situating the work of the above-mentioned groups in the context of developmental discourses and within global networks of power (especially the role of UN organizations in defining 'creativity' and its implications for local contexts within India) adds an extremely important dimension to the work.--Nandi Bhatia, author of Performing Women/Performing Womanhood: Theatre, Politics, and Dissent in North India"An ambitious book. . . . offering both a critical analysis of the sentiment of optimism that so frequently surrounds the creative economy and a sympathetic critique of the compromised opportunities that this discourse allows for marginal and oppositional cultural groups in postcolonial India."--Geraldine Pratt, author of Families Apart: Migrant Mothers and the Conflicts of Labor and Love
