| Lineages of the Present: Ideology and Politics in Contemporary South Asia Contributor(s): Ahmad, Aijaz (Author) |
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ISBN: 1859843581 ISBN-13: 9781859843581 Publisher: Verso OUR PRICE: $28.45 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 2002 Annotation: In March 1998, India broke a quarter century's silence when it detonated a series of nuclear devices in the Rajasthan desert. Having announced it possessed the requisite credentials for membership of the nuclear club in 1974, Indian quickly disavowed any desire to join, pledging not to develop its capability further. The Pokhran explosions revealed that promise to have been broken. The principal beneficiary of its breaking was a rightwing government seeking to shore up its shaky base with commitment to the 'Hindu bomb.' While most in the West were taken unawares by this sudden bellicosity in the land of Gandhi, more scrupulous observers on the Indian scene insisted it had a clear history. In Lineages of the Present, Ahmad untangles many of the intertwined threads of this important history, so often poorly understood in the metropolitan West. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | International Relations - General |
| Dewey: 320.53 |
| Series: Ideology and Politics in Contemporary South Asia |
| Physical Information: 1.1" H x 5.92" W x 8.94" (1.29 lbs) 384 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In March 1998, India broke a quarter-century's silence when it detonated a series of nuclear devices in the Rajasthan desert. Having announced it possessed the requisite credentials for membership in the nuclear club in 1974, India quickly disavowed any desire to join, pledging not to develop its capability further.. As the Pokhran explosions revealed, that promise would not be kept for ever, and the principal beneficiary of its breaking was now to be a right-wing government seeking to shore up its shaky political base by demonstrating its commitment to the 'Hindu bomb'. While most in the West were taken unawares by this sudden bellicosity in the land of Ghandi, more scrupulous observers on the South-Asian scene insisted it had a clear history. In this, his first book since the hotly debated In Theory, Aijaz Ahmad untangles many of the intertwined threads of historical and political traditions in a still-too-poorly-understood region of the world. |