India & Cambridge - Cambridge University Press India

SOCIOLOGY & ANTHROPOLOGYThe Untouchables:Subordination, Povertyand the State in ModernIndiaOliver Mendelsohn & MarikaViczianyIn a compelling account of thelives of those at the bottom ofIndian society, the authors explorethe construction of theUntouchables as a social andpolitical category, the historicalbackground which led to such adefinition, and their position in India today. The authorsargue that, despite efforts to ameliorate their condition, aconsiderable edifice of discrimination persists. The bookpromises to make a major contribution to the social andeconomic debates on poverty, while its wide-rangingperspectives will ensure a readership from across thedisciplines.Oliver Mendelsohn, La Trobe University, Victoria.Marika Vicziany, Monash University, Victoria.2 tables9788175960749 307pp PB ` 495.00Empowering Society: AnAnalysis of Business,Government and SocialDevelopment Approachesto EmpowermentUsha JumaniEmpowerment is an integralelement of a democratic system.The maturity of a democracy isdirectly related to the level ofempowerment its citizens andinstitutions experience. The term‘empowerment’ is used in differentcontexts and this book addresses this problem through acomparative analysis of three major organisational systems- business, government and social development. The bookpresents a new conceptual framework for understandingthe process of empowerment. It combines case studiesspecially for this volume, with secondary data and theauthor’s first hand experience of working with developmentorganisations.Usha Jumani is a Fellow of the Indian Institute ofManagement, Ahmedabad with specialization inOrganisation Development.9788175963177 263pp HB ` 595.00Socio-Religious Reform Movements in BritishIndiaKenneth W. JonesIn Socio-Religious Reform Movements in British India, KennethW. Jones examines the numerous nineteenth-centurymovements for social and religious change - Christian,Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Zoroastrian – movements throughoutthe subcontinent. He discusses the division between thosemovements that arose withoutbeing influenced by the newcolonial world and those thatemerged within this world andwere led by individuals influencedby western culture.Socio-Religious Reform Movementsin British India presents an originaland detailed study of the impact ofBritish rule upon religion, socialbehaviour and culture.Kenneth W. Jones is Professor ofSouth Asian History at KansasState University.9788185618470 255pp PB ` 295.00(The New Cambridge History of India)Hindu Kingship and Polityin Precolonial IndiaNorbert PeabodyThrough the analysis ofeighteenth- and early nineteenthcenturytexts on the HinduKingdom of Kota in Rajasthan,Norbert Peabody explores theways in which historicalconsciousness, or memory, isculturally constructed and howthis consciousness informs socialexperience. By building on thepremise that no society receivesthe past in a transparent, universal and objective way, heunravels how the past in Kota has been fashioned. In thisway, he suggests that different societies not only establishdifferent co-ordinates of value in their constructions of thepast, but also that the very processes of social and politicaltransformation differ from society to society.Norbert Peabody is the Graduate Officer in Research at theCentre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge.9 half-tones 5 figures 2 maps9788175963665 206pp HB ` 595.00Seeking Bauls of BengalJeanne OpenshawBauls are known as wanderingminstrels and mystics in India andBangladesh. Jeanne Openshawuses her fieldwork, and oral andmanuscript texts, to chart the riseof their present iconic status. Hersis a challenging andcomprehensive approach to aspiritual and creative people.Jeanne Openshaw is Lecturer inReligious Studies at the Universityof Edinburgh.9 half-tones9788175962057 304pp PB ` 495.00order online at www.cambridgeindia.org39