In 1957, Kerala became the first region in Asia to elect a communist government parliamentary procedure. Dilip Menon's book traces the social history of comunism in Malabar, the bastion of the movement, and looks at how the ideology was transformed into a doctrine of caste equality, as national strategies were reshaped by local circumstance and tinged by pragmatism. While existing literature concentrates on the intricacies of party policy, Dilip Menon explores the diversity of political practice within a particular region. He particularly analyses the relationship between landowners and cultivators, demonstrating their economic and cultural interdependence. Inequality and difference were tempered by a perception of shared symbols and values. As the author points out, the success of communism in Kerala lies in its recognition of this fact.

Hindu Nationalism in South India engages with a range of factors that shapes the trajectory of Hindu nationalism in Kerala, the southern state of India. Until recently, Kerala was considered a socio-political exception which had no room for Hindu nationalism. This book questions such Panglossian prognosis and shows the need to map the ideological and political growth of Hindu nationalism which has been downplayed in the academic discourse as temporary aberrations. The introduction to the book places Kerala in the context of South India. Arguing that Hindutva is a real force which needs to be contended within theoretical and empirical terms, the chapters in this book examine Hindu nationalism in Kerala in relation to themes such as history, caste, culture, post-truth, ideology, gender, politics, and the Indian national space. Considering the rise of Hindu nationalism in the recent years, this pioneering book will be of interest to a students and academics studying Politics, in particular Nationalism, Asian Politics and Religion and Politics and South Asian Studies.

The phenomenon of caste has probably aroused more controversy than any other aspect of Indian life and thought. Susan Bayly's cogent and sophisticated analysis explores the emergence of the ideas, experiences and practices which gave rise to the so-called 'caste society' from the pre-colonial period to the end of the twentieth century. Using an historical and anthropological approach, she frames her analysis within the context of India's dynamic economic and social order, interpreting caste not as an essence of Indian culture and civilization, but rather as a contingent and variable response to the changes that occurred in the subcontinent's political landscape through the colonial conquest. The idea of caste in relation to Western and Indian 'orientalist' thought is also explored.

From Hierarchy to Ethnicity discusses the origins of politicized caste identities in twentieth-century India, and how they evolved over time.

This volume traces the caste system from the medieval kingdoms of southern India through early colonial archives to the 20th century. It surveys the rise of caste politics and how caste-based movements have threatened nationalist consensus.

This book is a ground-breaking intervention on Dalit politics in India. Challenging received ideas, it uses a comparative framework to understand Dalit mobilisations for political power, social equality and justice. The monograph traces the emergence of Dalit consciousness and its different strands in north and south India — from colonial to contemporary times — and interrogates key notions and events. These include: the debate regarding core themes such as the Hindu–Muslim cleavage in the north and caste in the south; the extent to which Dalits and other backward castes (OBC) base their anti-Brahminism on similar ideologies; and why Dalits in Uttar Pradesh (north India) succeeded in gaining power while they did not do so in the region of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh (south India), where Dalit consciousness is more evolved. Drawing on archival material, fieldwork and case studies, this volume puts forward an insightful and incisive analysis. It will be of great interest to researchers and scholars of Dalit studies and social exclusion, Indian politics and sociology.