Monday, October 14, 2019

EPW - Reading India - 3 volumes


 Economic Political Weekly அனைவரும் அறிந்த வார ஆங்கில ஏடு துவக்கப்பட்டு 50 ஆண்டுகள் முடிந்துள்ளது. அந்த இதழில் வெளியான முக்கியமான வரலாறு, அரசியல், பொருளாதாரம் போன்ற இந்திய குடியரசை குறித்தான கட்டுரைகள் மூன்று தொகுப்புகளாக ஓரியண்ட் பிளாக்ஸ்வான் பதிப்பகம் வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. வாசிக்க வேண்டிய தரவுகள் அடங்கிய கட்டுரைகளின் தொகுப்பாகும். இது ஒரு வரவேற்க வேண்டிய வெளியீடுகளாகும்.
Reading India Volume 1,2 & 3 commemorate 50 years of economic political weekly by bringing together selection of articles about India in various aspects from 1949 – 2017. It is a good reference and landmark studies in sociology, politics, economics etc., along with research on Indian democracy. Orient Blackswan Pvt Ltd published these three volumes.

Volume 1
Image may contain: 1 person, textThe economic weekly was launched in 1949, shortly after Indian Independence. This period was full of hope and expectation, but also questioning and Rethinking. Under the leadership of its illustrious founding editor, Sachin Chaudhuri, the journal soon became a major platform for the finest minds of the time, providing a diverse range of scholarship and space for differing, often conflicting, ideological positions. Reading India: selections from the economic weekly: volume 1: 1949–1965 brings together landmark studies in sociology, politics and economics that capture the major analytical and policy debates published in the journal from 1949–65.The articles span a wide range of studies, exploring diverse topics, from the classic anthropological village studies, the issue of caste and religious identity, to economic policy debates on growth and investment, and agricultural and industrial policies. The final section discusses the influence of leaders such as Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore, analyses the positions of National and regional languages, and looks at the fostering of socio-economic development in independent India. The volume also presents a sample of the many excellent Indian and foreign scholars with a deep knowledge of local and historical contexts and commitment to a new india—m. N. Srinivas, Bernard Cohn, iravati Karve, Amartya Sen, V. K. R. V. Rao, rajni Kothari, andrébéteille, and Ghanshyam Shah, to name a few.


Volume 2
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Reading India, Vol. II, the second of the three volumes commemorating 50 years of the EPW, brings together a selection of articles from 1966-1991. Divided into three fields of inquiry—the political, social and economic—it presents an analysis of the issues and concerns that dominated this period, and in some ways, shaped the discourse of the following decades.The first section, dealing with politics, focuses on two normative concerns of this period - democracy and equality. The essays examine issues related to political representation, electoral processes, policies of reservation, inter-caste and inter-religious conflict, status of women and measurement of poverty. The second section takes up the concerns highlighted by sociologists and social anthropologists: the changing Indian family, rural leadership patterns, economic and social changes taking place in India’s rural economy, affirmative action and the marginalisation of religious minorities. The final section showcases trends in economic thinking during this period, which questioned the economic policies of the era and shaped the direction and nature of the post-1991 reforms.


Volume 3
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The period 1991–2017 was marked by communal aggression, the official start of economic liberalisation, growing inequality, and state militarisation. All of these have been reflected in the pages of the Economic and Political Weekly, which stood steadfast witness—quietly, reflectively, but also urgently and passionately.
Reading India, Vol. III (1991–2017), the final commemorative volume celebrating 50 years of the EPW, provides a selection of papers published during this period, reflecting on the social, political, and economic changes of the time. The chapters focus on five themes that dominated India’s public sphere: the question of secularism versus communalism; social justice and power-sharing by the backward castes; political configurations in a post-Congress polity; the entrenchment of impunity instead of the rule of law; and the political economy of economic policy.
The contributors to this volume have observed, analysed, and commentated on a range of topics, from the lack of justice for victims of the 2002 Gujarat massacres, farmer suicides, and agrarian distress, to the Indo–China border dispute. Focusing on India’s society, economy, and polity, the volume includes research on the environment, health, education, censorship, and free speech, among other themes which have formed subjects of prescient debates that will help us to make sense of the present times as well.

கே.எஸ். இராதாகிருஷ்ணன்
14.10.2019

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*Being happy and joyful doesn't mean everything is perfect; it means you've learned to see the beauty in bad. Don't wait for thi...