Decolonization in South Asia : meanings of freedom in post-independence West Bengal, 1947-52
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Decolonization in South Asia : meanings of freedom in post-independence West Bengal, 1947-52
(Routledge studies in South Asian history, 2)
Routledge, 2009
- : hbk
Available at 5 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
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  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [233]-239) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This book explores the meanings and complexities of India's experience of transition from colonial to the post-colonial period. It focuses on the first five years - from independence on 15th August 1947 to the first general election in January 1952 - in the politics of West Bengal, the new Indian province that was created as a result of the Partition.
The author, a specialist on the history of modern India, discusses what freedom actually meant to various individuals, communities and political parties, how they responded to it, how they extended its meaning and how in their anxiety to confront the realities of free India, they began to invent new enemies of their newly acquired freedom. By emphasising the representations of popular mentality rather than the institutional changes brought in by the process of decolonization, he draws attention to other concerns and anxieties that were related to the problems of coming to terms with the newly achieved freedom and the responsibility of devising independent rules of governance that would suit the historic needs of a pluralist nation.
Decolonization in South Asia analyses the transitional politics of West Bengal in light of recent developments in postcolonial theory on nationalism, treating the 'nation' as a space for contestation, rather than a natural breeding ground for homogeneity in the complex political scenario of post-independence India. It will appeal to academics interested in political science, sociology, social anthropology and cultural and Asian studies.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1. Arrival of Freedom: Celebrations, Anxieties and Realities 2. The Discontents of Freedom 3. Congress Raj in a 'Problem Province' 4. The Communists: From Insurgency to Electoral Politics 5. The Fractured Opposition 6. A 'Great Adventure': Election of 1952. Conclusion
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