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Now available in paperback, the Routledge Handbook of South Asian Politics examines key issues in politics of the five independent states of the South Asian region: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Written by experts in their respective areas, this Handbook introduces the reader to the politics of South Asia by presenting the prevailing agreements and disagreements in the literature.
In the first two sections, the Handbook provides a comprehensive introduction to the modern political history of the states of the region and an overview of the independence movements in the former colonial states. The other sections focus on the political changes that have occurred in the postcolonial states since independence, as well as the successive political changes in Nepal during the same period, and the structure and functioning of the main governmental and non-governmental institutions, including the structure of the state itself (unitary or federal), political parties, the judiciary, and the military. Further, the contributors explore several aspects of the political process and political and economic change, especially issues of pluralism and national integration, political economy, corruption and criminalization of politics, radical and violent political movements, and the international politics of the region as a whole.
This unique reference work provides a comprehensive survey of the state of the field and is an invaluable resource for students and academics interested in South Asian Studies, South Asian Politics, Comparative Politics and International Relations.
List of contents
1. Introduction
Paul R. Brass Part 1: Colonialism, Nationalism, and Independence in South Asia: India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka 1. India and Pakistan
Ian Talbot 2. Sri Lanka's Independence: Shadows Over a Colonial Graft
Nira Wickramasinghe Part 2: Political Change, Political Parties, and the Issue of Unitary vs. Federal Forms of Government 3. Political Change, Political Structure and the Indian State Since Independence
John Harriss 4. Parties and Politics in India
Virginia Van Dyke 5. Pakistan's Politics and Its Economy
Shahid Javed Burki 6. Party Overinstitutionalization, Contestation and Democratic Degradation in Bangladesh
Harry Blair 7. Politics and Governance in Post-Independence Sri Lanka
Neil DeVotta 8. Trajectories of Democracy and Restructuring of the State in Nepal
Krishna Hachhethu and David N. Gellner Federalism and Centre-State Relations 9. The Old and the New Federalism in Independent India
Lloyd I. Rudolph and Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Part 3: The Judiciary 10. India's Judiciary: Imperium in Imperio?
Shylashri Shankar 11. Balancing Act: Prudence, Impunity and Pakistan's Jurisprudence
Paula R. Newberg 12. Confronting Constitutional Curtailments: Attempts to Rebuild Independence of the Judiciary in Bangladesh
Sara Hossein and Tanjib-ul Alam 13. Executive Sovereignty: The Judiciary in Sri Lanka
Shylashri Shankar Part 4: Pluralism and National Integration: Language Issues 14. Politics of Language in India
E. Annamalai 15. Language Problems and Politics in Pakistan
Tariq Rahman Part 5: Crises of National Unity 16. Crises of National Unity in India: Punjab, Kashmir and the Northeast
Gurharpal Singh 17. Communal and Caste Politics and Conflicts in India
Steven I. Wilkinson 18. Ethnic and Islamic Militancy in Pakistan
Mohammad Waseem 19. Ethnic Conflict and the Civil War in Sri Lanka
Jayadeva Uyangoda Part 6: Political Economy India 20. The Political Economy of Development in India Since Independence
Stuart Corbridge 21. The Political Economy of Agrarian Change in India
Jan Breman Sri Lanka 22. Economic Development and Socio-Political Change in Sri Lanka since Independence
W. D. Lakshman Part 7: Comparative Chapters 23. The Militaries of South Asia
Stephen P. Cohen 24. Corruption and the Criminalization of Politics in South Asia
Stanley A. Kochanek 25. Radical and Violent Political Movements
Sumanta Banerjee 26. The International Politics of South Asia
Vernon Hewitt. Bibliography
About the author
Paul R. Brass is Professor (Emeritus) of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. His most recent books are Forms of Collective Violence: Riots, Pogroms, and Genocide in Modern India (2006) and The Production of Hindu-Muslim Violence in Contemporary India (2003).
