The Caste Question

A powerful book on caste, a subject that has dramatic importance not only for the history of democracy in modern India, but for the general discussion on the interferences of social inequalities and cultural exclusions. The Caste Question goes beyond the usual antitheses of localism and globalism, and illustrates a decisive notion of intensive universality.-Etienne BalibarA sustained and probing analysis of the modern history of caste in Western India, connecting issues of gender, personhood, property, and politics to facts of oppression and inequality. This is the most politically and theoretically engaged book on caste to have come out in a long time.-Dipesh Chakrabarty, author of Habitations of ModernityA profound reflection, at once historically rich and theoretically nuanced, on the nature of political modernity itself.-John Comaroff, co-author (with Jean Comaroff) of Of Revelation and RevolutionRao is entirely convincing in this brilliant and audacious re-evaluation of political modernity in India through the perspective of anti-caste struggles.-Mrinalini Sinha, author of Specters of Mother India: The Global Re-Structuring of an Empire