A New India? : Critical Reflections in the Long Twentieth Century

This volume critically examines the notion of a ‘new’ India by recognizing that India is changing remarkably and by exposing the many economic, social, and political contradictions that are integral to contemporary India.

`Highly readable, thoroughly rigorous and anchored in serious historical scholarship... A brilliantly nuanced narrative of the two Indias, their interactions and consequences.'' ---Ajit Singh, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Cambridge

`D'' Costa has created a fine multidisciplinary team not only from history but also from anthropology, art and architecture, development studies, economics and business to explore the need for a New India and the contradictions it generates.''---Professor Barbara Harriss-White, Director, Contemporary South Asia Studies Programme, Oxford University

A New India? presents a collection of original essays that examine the concept of a `new'' India against the backdrop of the long-twentieth century, allowing for historical contextualization and continuity. While India has experienced economic growth and development and active participation in the global economy, vast swathes of Indian society remain mired in poverty, illiteracy, and ill health. The essays in this volume seek to unravel contemporary India in its complexities and uncover some of the hidden tensions plaguing the country at the economic, social, political, cultural and intellectual spheres.