Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital by Vivek Chibber (New Delhi: Navayana Publishing), 2013; pp 306, Rs 450 (paperback).
This is not a book that adds to the admiring literature on postcolonial theory. On the contrary, it is a severe critique of such theorisation and of three thinkers, all Indian and all originating from the earlier stable of subaltern history writing – Ranajit Guha, Dipesh Chakrabarty and Partha Chatterjee. But what do we mean by postcoloniality or postcolonial theory? Why these three thinkers?
Postcoloniality
Comments
EPW looks forward to your comments. Please note that comments are moderated as per our comments policy. They may take some time to appear. A comment, if suitable, may be selected for publication in the Letters pages of EPW.