ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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Ranajit Guha (1923–2023)

The historiographical interventions of Ranajit Guha proved to be immensely consequential towards heralding a radical change in the study of modern Indian history. Guha’s foundational contributions towards the project of Subaltern Studies conceived of new methods and ways of reading conventional sources of historiography, recovering the voices of the oppressed and the marginalised within it.

Changing Hearts and Minds through Non-violent Protest?

Gandhian Non-violent Struggle and Untouchability in South India: The 1924-25 Vykom Satyagraha and the Mechanisms of Change by Mary Elizabeth King; New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2015; pp xxi, 344, Rs 995.

Tribute to Kanu Bhavsar - Activist, Researcher, Therapist

Kanu Bhavsar, one of the leaders of the Navnirman movement against the corrupt Congress regime in Gujarat in the 1970s, passed away in Delhi on 3 February 2015. Although Bhavsar did not publish a book, set up an institution or make a political name for himself, he touched the lives of many.

Remembering Pandian

M S S Pandian, who passed away in New Delhi after a cardiac arrest on 10 November 2014, at the age of 57, was among the younger members who joined the editorial collective of the Subaltern Studies in 1990.

New Light on Gandhi's Early Life

Gandhi Before India by Ramachandra Guha (London and New Delhi: Allen Lane), 2013; pp xiv + 673, Rs 899.

Gandhi's Adaptable Non-Violence

In his comment (“Gandhi’s Flexible Non-Violence”, EPW, 3 August 2013) on my article (“Towards a History of Non-Violent Resistance”, EPW,8 June 2013), Sumanta Banerjee states that he wants to put the record straight on Gandhian non-violence, and refers to a statement that Gandhi made in an intervi

Towards a History of Non-violent Resistance

Following on from Gandhi, peace activists have created a large body of work on the strategy of non-violent protest that brings out both its strengths and advantages over and above violent insurrection. This literature has not, however, constructed a convincing history of the non-violent method. Most have depicted it as a timeless phenomenon, found in all historical societies in one form or another. Rather, it is, as this essay suggests, a method rooted in modernity, arising out of a particular strategic reaction to the coercive and legal apparatuses of the modern state.

Practices of Healing in Tribal Gujarat

Healthcare for the tribal population of Gujarat is highly inadequate, with people being systematically exploited by both legitimate doctors and quacks. Alternative forms of treatment continue to flourish, whether by traditional healers or by Christian faith healers. Three modes of healing - the biomedical, the traditional and Christian faith healing - are examined in this paper. Each can be seen to cater for particular needs, and so long as present socio-economic conditions remain as they are in the tribal regions, and the public healthcare system exists as it does, it seems unlikely that there will be any significant change.

'Healing, Medical Power and the Poor: Contests in Tribal India'

A recent workshop in Surat on access to healing and medical intervention for tribal people brought together academics, grassroots workers and activists and revealed deteriorating traditional systems and inadequate and/or exploitative state and private interventions for these communities. Rather than exoticising and romanticising tribal communities, it is their pauperisation that needs to be addressed and remedied.

Passing Blame on Godhra Muslims

A history of 'anti-national' activity is being woven for Godhra putting together a series of incidents from the past. A clear examination of one such incident of 1928 reveals that as in February 2002, then too the hostility was rooted in pernicious but local political traditions, requiring only a spark to prompt a sudden and tragic escalation of violence.

Adivasis, on Their Own Terms

Adivasis, on Their Own Terms Hybrid Histories: Forests, Frontiers and Wildness in Western India by Ajay Skaria; Oxford University Press, New Delhi, pp XXIV+324, Rs 595.

Of Forests and Its Plunderers

David Hardiman Nature and the Orient: The Environmental History of South and South-east Asia, by Richard H Grove, Vinita Damodaran and Satpal Sangwan (eds); Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1998; pp 1056.

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