The first Dalit autobiography to be published, Baluta caused a sensation when it first appeared, in Marathi, in 1978. It quickly acquired the status of a classic of modern Indian literature and was also a bestseller in Hindi and other major languages. This is the first time that it has been translated into English. Set in Mumbai and rural Maharashtra of the 1940s and '50s, it describes in shocking detail the practice of untouchability and caste violence. But it also speaks of the pride and courage of the Dalit community that often fought back for dignity. Most unusually, Baluta is also a frank account of the author's own failings and contradictions-his passions, prejudices and betrayals-as also those of some leading lights of the Dalit movement. In addition, it is a rare record of life in Maharashtra's villages and in the slums, chawls and gambling dens of Mumbai.

This volume deals with the way in which money is symbolically represented in a range of different cultures, from South and South-east Asia, Africa and South America. It is also concerned with the moral evaluation of monetary and commercial exchanges as against exchanges of other kinds. The essays cast radical doubt on many Western assumptions about money: that it is the acid which corrodes community, depersonalises human relationships, and reduces differences of quality to those of mere quantity; that it is the instrument of man's freedom, and so on. Rather than supporting the proposition that money produces easily specifiable changes in world view, the emphasis here is on the way in which existing world views and economic systems give rise to particular ways of representing money. But this highly relativistic conclusion is qualified once we shift the focus from money to the system of exchange as a whole. One rather general pattern that then begins to emerge is of two separate but related transactional orders, the majority of systems making some ideological space for relatively impersonal, competitive and individual acquisitive activity. This implies that even in a non-monetary economy these features are likely to exist within a certain sphere of activity, and that it is therefore misleading to attribute them to money. By so doing, a contrast within cultures is turned into a contrast between cultures, thereby reinforcing the notion that money itself has the power to transform the nature of social relationships.

Reading Feminist Theory: From Modernity to Postmodernity interweaves classical and contemporary writings from the social sciences and the humanities to represent feminist thought from the late eighteenth century to the present. Editors Susan Archer Mann and Ashly Suzanne Patterson pay close attention to the multiplicity and diversity of feminist voices, visions, and vantage points by race, class, gender, sexuality, and global location. Along with more conventional forms of theorizing, this anthology points to multiple sites of theory production--both inside and outside of the academy--and includes personal narratives, poems, short stories, zines, and even music lyrics. Offering a truly global perspective, the book devotes three chapters and more than thirty readings to the topics of colonialism, imperialism and globalization. It also provides extensive coverage of third-wave feminism, poststructuralism, queer theory, postcolonial theory, and transnational feminisms.

This book is made up of twenty-three stories, each from a different author from across the globe. All belong to one world, united in their diversity and ethnicity. And together they have one aim: to involve and move the reader. The range of authors takes in such literary greats as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Jhumpa Lahiri, and emerging authors such as Elaine Chiew, Petina Gappah, and Henrietta Rose-Innes. The members of the collective are: Elaine Chiew (Malaysia) Molara Wood (Nigeria) Jhumpa Lahiri (United States) Martin A Ramos (Puerto Rico) Lauri Kubutsile (Botswana) Chika Unigwe (Nigeria) Ravi Mangla (United States) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria) Skye Brannon (United States) Jude Dibia (Nigeria) Shabnam Nadiya (Bangladesh) Petina Gappah (Zimbabwe) Ivan Gabirel Reborek (Australia) Vanessa Gebbie (Britain) Emmanual Dipita Kwa (Cameroon) Henrietta Rose-Innes (South Africa) Lucinda Nelson Dhavan (India) Adetokunbo Abiola (Nigeria) Wadzanai Mhute (Zimbabwe) Konstantinos Tzikas (Greece) Ken Kamoche (Kenya) Sequoia Nagamatsu (United States) Ovo Adagha (Nigeria) From the Introduction: The concept of One World is often a multi-colored tapestry into which sundry, if not contending patterns can be woven. for those of us who worked on this project, ‘One World’ goes beyond the everyday notion of the globe as a physical geographic entity. Rather, we understand it as a universal idea, one that transcends national boundaries to comment on the most prevailing aspects of the human condition. This attempt to redefine the borders of the world we live in through the short story recognizes the many conflicting issues of race, language, economy, gender and ethnicity, which separate and limit us. We readily acknowledge, however, that regardless of our differences or the disparities in our stories, we are united by our humanity. We invite the reader on a personal journey across continents, countries, cultures and landscapes, to reflect on these beautiful, at times chaotic, renditions on the human experience. We hope the reach of this path will transcend the borders of each story, and perhaps function as an agent of change. Welcome to our world.

1. History and Background 2. Bhakti Movements for Change: Chokhamelaand Eknath3. Mahar and Non-Brahman Movements of NineteenthCentury 4. Mahatma Phule: The Pioneer 5. Socio-Religious Reform Movements 6. The Dravidian Movement 7. Ambedkar's Role 8. Gandhi and Dalits 9. Post Ambedkar Development and Dalit PantherMovement Index