Lineages of Political Society: Studies in Postcolonial Democracy (Cultures of History)

Partha Chatterjee, a pioneering theorist known for his disciplinary range, builds on his theory of "political society" and reinforces its salience to contemporary political debate. Dexterously incorporating the concerns of South Asian studies, postcolonialism, the social sciences, and the humanities, Chatterjee broadly critiques the past three hundred years of western political theory to ask, Can democracy be brought into being, or even fought for, in the image of Western democracy as it exists today? Using the example of postcolonial societies and their political evolution, particularly communities within India, Chatterjee undermines the certainty of liberal democratic theory in favor of a realist view of its achievements and limitations. Rather than push an alternative theory, Chatterjee works solely within the realm of critique, proving political difference is not always evidence of philosophical and cultural backwardness outside of the West. Resisting all prejudices and preformed judgments, he deploys his trademark, genre-bending, provocative analysis to upend the assumptions of postcolonial studies, comparative history, and the common claims of contemporary politics. Partha Chatterjee, a pioneering theorist, is known for his wide disciplinary range, incorporating the concerns of South Asian studies, postcolonialism, the social sciences, and the humanities with remarkable dexterity. His versatility made his early work, Politics of the Governed, a widespread hit, and it continues to draw audiences in an era of genre-defying, globalized scholarship. Building on his theory of ""political society, "" first developed in his Politics of the Governed, and reinforcing its salience to contemporary political debate, Chatterjee broadly critiqu Lineages of political society Five hundred years of fear and love The rule of subjects Two poets and death Tagore's non-nation The people in utopian and real time The sacred circulation of national images Critique of popular culture Community and capital Democracy and economic transformation Empire and nation today.