Politics, Governance and Philosophy

Enclosed herein are some of my articles published earlier at different points of time, in different Journals. These cover variegated themes. The topics covered range from the condition of women agricultural labourers in India to local governance (Mandal system) in one province of India, to hermeneutics in the contemporary world, to modernity and democracy in India. The articles reflect some of my theoretical and empirical concerns over the years. These have evolved over time and bear the birth marks of the time in which they were written. I have grouped these under the title 'Politics, Governance and Philosophy' because, these words exactly reflect my academic concerns over time. These articles are not only products of their time, they also speak to our times. They speak to the crisis in our times: the crisis in politics, governance and philosophy. The themes in the book also reflect the crises in the alternatives to the contemporary world. The crisis in socialist theory and practice, for example. A comparison of Gramsci with Freire speaks about the role of knowledge and intellectuals; the question of interpreting the increasingly interconnected world raises many questions as to whose interpretation of the world is authentic. These raise questions for lay people and intellectuals alike. The article on Hannah Arendt speaks about the crisis in what came to be known as modernity. Finally, my reflections on Indian modernity are presented here viewing the same essentially as an unfinished project. A project now appears to have caught up in interminable tangles. These are not the themes that cogently sit with each other. The purpose of the book is two-fold: one, to struggle to express my ideas and two, to make the reader think. The book will be of interest to all those concerned with the above; students, scholars and all thinking people.