p>Introduction: Reconceptualizing Region and Nation in Modern
South Asia

Part I: Debates about Origins: Pre/Modern Religious Pluralities
in South Asia

Part II: The Study of South Asian Society and the Emergence of
Modern Forms of Social Classification

Part III: Partition, Nationalism, and the Formation of South
Asian National States

Part IV: States and Communal Conflict in South Asia

Part V: Development and Liberalization

Part VI: Social Movements

"Dense with information and thoughtfully organized and presented, this reader provides students with a thorough overview of the study of the region, as well as in-depth examples of its culture, society, economics, and daily life." (Book News, 1 August 2011)

"This anthology is a boon to all teachers of South Asian Studies. It maps a varied and vast critical terrain. The volume testifies to the vitality and revisionist power of contemporary South Asian Studies, and the intellectual and methodological debates on view here will challenge theorists of culture, politics, and society in other fields."
--Suvir Kaul, University of Pennsylvania

"The thematic organization of this excellent collection supports the persuasive analytic thrust of the volume. There are many welcome surprises. Particularly notable is the inclusion of articles about less studied communities and countries within the region."
--Barbara D. Metcalf, University of California, Davis

"An original blend of gems from the past and newer writings; this volume will inspire students to learn more about one of the most fascinating regions of the world."
--K. Sivaramakrishnan, Yale University

"This splendid collection provides an excellent introduction to the region, its history and the political challenges it faces, while raising exciting new questions for the future.
--Jonathan Spencer, University of Edinburgh

"This is an invaluable collection of classic and new essays drawn from different disciplines that seamlessly brings together scholarship on ancient, colonial and contemporary South Asia. A book that teachers and students alike will be glad to have within reach at all times.
--Mukulika Banerjee, London School of Economics

"This is an outstanding collection of essays that offers entry into some of the most foundational and influential debates in the study of modern South Asia. Its far-reaching comparative approach to the region cuts across national boundaries, and will no doubt be of great value to students and scholars of South Asian society."
--Saloni Mathur, UCLA

Kamala Visweswaran is Associate Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies at the University of Texas, Austin. She is the author of Fictions of Feminist Ethnography (1994), Uncommon Cultures (2010), and the forthcoming A Thousand Genocides Now: Gujarat in the Modern Imaginary of Violence.

K. Visweswaran, University of Texas, Austin, USA