Subject Area: Asian Studies
This course can also be studied in the following specialisations: History

India has risen to substantial international importance in recent years. If earlier people thought of India as a nation plunged in poverty and constrained by a rigid caste system they are now quick to point out its IT credentials and the consumer potential of the new middle classes. What happened? How can we explain this dramatic reversal? And how accurate are these images? This course introduces students to key debates in the recent history, anthropology and sociology of India, with a specific focus on contemporary developments. Topics are the social consequences of market liberalisation, urban renewal and rural transformation, violence and nonviolence, consumption and fashion as arenas for identity negotiations, the cultural impulses of the IT industry and call centers and the importance of the Indian Diaspora for the re-imagination of the nation.