New Books in South Asian Studies

Interviews with Scholars of South Asia about their New Books

Society & Culture
History
1076
Borayin Larios, "Embodying the Vedas: Tradition...
Larios probes the backbone of what makes Hinduism the world’s oldest living tradition: the unbroken chain of transmission of Vedic texts composed over 3,000 years ago, originating circa 1750-1200 BCE...
64 min
1077
Paul J. Kosmin, "Time and Its Adversaries in th...
In the aftermath of Alexander the Great’s conquests, the Seleucid kings ruled a vast territory stretching from Central Asia to Anatolia, Armenia to the Persian Gulf...
70 min
1078
Discussion of Massive Online Peer Review and Op...
In the information age, knowledge is power. Hence, facilitating the access to knowledge to wider publics empowers citizens and makes societies more democratic...
29 min
1079
Richa Kaul Padte, "Cyber Sexy: Rethinking Porno...
Parents, teachers, feminists, conservatives, lawyers, the concerned citizen – pornography raises everyone's hackles...
40 min
1080
Claire Pamment, "Comic Performance in Pakistan:...
Claire Pamment’s book is a fantastic new book centered on the Punjabi folk art of the Bhānd, or comic performance...
52 min
1081
Prakash Shah, "Western Foundations of the Caste...
The Indian caste system is an ancient, pervasive institution of social organization within the subcontinent – or is it?
58 min
1082
Nico Slate, "Lord Cornwallis is Dead: The Strug...
Slate paints a picture of the two countries as learning perpetually from each other...
51 min
1083
Richard Salomon, "The Buddhist Literature of An...
One of the great archeological finds of the 20th century, the Gandhāran Buddhist Texts, dating from the 1st century CE, are the oldest Buddhist manuscripts ever discovered...
55 min
1084
Ethan Mills, "Three Pillars of Skepticism in Cl...
The existence of skepticism in Indian Philosophy has long been neglected in favor of dogmatic positions...
64 min
1085
Gil Ben-Herut, "Śiva’s Saints: The Origins of D...
Studies of Hindu saints tend to focus primarily on the saints themselves—their words, teachings, and practices—rather than tending to the often complex and complicated world of texts and traditions about those saints...
68 min
1086
Caleb Simmons, "Nine Nights of the Goddess: The...
This work maps manifestations of the festival across historical periods and local celebrations over the regions of West Bengal, Odish...
39 min
1087
Richard Gombrich, "Buddhism and Pali" (Mud Pie ...
Far more than just an introductory book, Richard argues not only that the Pali Canon records the words of the Buddha, but that the Buddha himself is responsible for the Pali language...
68 min
1088
B.R. Ambedkar, "Annihilation of Caste: The Anno...
This landmark speech by Dr. B.R. Ambedakar is the pinnacle of his scholarly work and cements his legacy alongside Mahatma Gandhi in Indian politics...
67 min
1089
Mani Rao, "Living Mantra: Mantra, Deity, and Vi...
What role does mantra play in the lives of Hindu practitioners?
61 min
1090
Brannon D. Ingram, "Revival from Below: The Deo...
Through careful analysis of historical textual discourses, Ingram carefully guides his readers through important polemics that manifested amongst the Deoband ‘ulama...
52 min
1091
Chinmay Tumbe, "Moving India: A History of Migr...
Tumbe analyses the interlinked histories of migrations of different communities in and out of India and the world...
41 min
1092
Alf Gunvald Nilsen, "Adivasis and the State: Su...
This longue-durée approach allows Alf Gunvald Nilsen to unravel the Indian state's everyday tyranny against its adivasi citizens...
39 min
1093
Patrick Eisenlohr, "Sounding Islam: Voice, Medi...
Through the exploration of na‘t, or devotional poetic recitations that honor the prophet Muhammad, Eisenlohr captures the sensory dimension of Islam...
37 min
1094
Radhika Govindrajan, "Animal Intimacies: Inters...
Animal Intimacies is a path paving work that combines theoretical innovation and playfulness, ethnographic depth, and profound attunement to capturing the aspirations and tragedies of everyday life through the art of narrative...
52 min
1095
Snigdha Poonam, "Dreamers: How Young Indians Ar...
49.91% of India’s population was below the age of 24 in the 2011 Census...
38 min
1096
McKenzie Wark, "General Intellects: Twenty-One ...
McKenzie Wark’s new book offers 21 focused studies of thinkers working in a wide range of fields who are worth your attention...
61 min
1097
Llerena Searle, "Landscapes of Accumulation: Re...
Few who have visited India in the past two decades will have failed to noticed the sudden and spectacular urban transformation that has taken place in many of its cities...
44 min
1098
Jessica Marie Falcone, "Battling the Buddha of ...
What can we learn from the anthropological study of projects that are never realized, or of dreams that are never fulfilled?
59 min
1099
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, "The Politics of Common Se...
asim Sajjad Akhtar’s The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan (Cambridge University Press, 2018) is an incisive study of continuity as well as change in Pakistan that has moved the country towards religious conservatism and increased authoritarianism
56 min
1100
Sumantra Bose, "Secular States, Religious Polit...
Sumantra Bose's new book Secular States, Religious Politics, India, Turkey and the Future of Secularism (Cambridge University Press, 2018) is a fascinating comparison of the rise of religious parties...
55 min