Political Theories and Social Reconstruction: A Critical Survey of the Literature on India - Hardcover

Pantham, Thomas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0803992165 ISBN 13: 9780803992160

Publisher: SAGE Publications Pvt. Ltd, 1995

Synopsis

"Thomas Pantham is a creative and insightful political theorist of our times who has consistently striven to widen the universe of discourse of contemporary political theory by engaging himself in a dialogue with significant interlocutors of the human condition both in India and in the West. . . . Pantham′s book is a critical survey of literature aiming at identifying trends in political theorizing in India from 1971 to the present." --Gandhi Marg "This book provides a critic al survey of the available literature on the subject of political science as applicable to India. The survey covers the period from 1971 to 1992 during which a host of political theorizations have been devoted to India both within India and in the Western social and political world.... The reader will find the book scholarly, thought-provoking and very relevant to the proliferating political ailments in the country." --The Hindustan Times "Each chapter provides an overview of the various streams of theorization of Indian politics. The survey also addresses the question of how, and to what extent, they differ from each other. What is more important, the reader has the distinct advantage of the author′s interpretative summaries and commentaries for undertaking further inquiries.... A useful reference for students and scholars of political science." --Social Action How do the liberal-democratic, Marxist-Leninist, Gandhian, and Hindutva theorizations of Indian politics differ from one another? Have these differences been properly explained and critically examined by Indian and/or India-oriented social and political theorists? These are the central questions addressed in this comprehensive survey of the literature concerning the major political theories relating to the restructuring of Indian society. The book first examines the diverse ways in which the different liberal models of democracy and development seek to realize the freedom and welfare of the individual. Later chapters are devoted to examining the Marxist, Gandhian, and Hindutva critiques of, and alternatives to, liberal-democratic theory.

About this title

About the Author:

Thomas Pantham is Professor of Political Science at the M.S. University of Baroda. He has been nominated UGC National Lecturer in Political Science (1985–86), has been a Visiting Fellow at the University of Essex (1973) and a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the universities of Princeton and Massachusetts (1981). He has contributed numerous articles to journals and edited volumes and has written Political Parties and Democratic Consensus (New Delhi, 1976).

Review:

`This admirable book provides an invaluable introduction to recent political and theoretical writing about modern India. Pantham is widely read and has a talent for apt encapsulation of trends and arguments. He takes readers on a tour of recent (1971-92) Indian writing about the nature of India′s politics, its political ideas and its state.... Clear, accessible and concise, this book will help scholars, teachers, undergraduates, journalists - indeed, anyone seeking an introduction to the rich literature of ideas about the state and politics in modern India′ - Australian Journal of Political Science

About this edition

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Pvt. Ltd
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0803992165
• ISBN 13: 9780803992160
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 232