Marxist Theory and Nationalist Politics: The Case of Colonial India

"The strength of the book lies in the lucid account of the turmoil in the Indian communist movement in the early years and the Comintern's total insensitivity to the Indian conditions." --Indian Review of Books "The book addresses tantalisingly the crucial question of the relative strengths of nationalism and communism.... The author writes well and clearly. He has brought out the nuances and the theoretical acrobatics practised by Indian leftists in the Twenties and Thirties with great care and understanding, situating all these in the mainstream controversies of Marxist thought." --The Hindu "Thoroughly researched. . . . The entire book may be taken as a questionnaire not only on India's colonial past but also on her present and future." --The Telegraph "This book is very readable." --Business Standard What impact did the Western ideologies of nationalism and Marxism have on colonial India? This is the central question explored in this absorbing volume. The author traces the inroads the two ideologies made in colonial India, how Marxism merged with nationalism, and how Marxism actually became a form of nationalism in India. Essentially a history of Marxist theory, the distinguishing features of this book are the questions it asks of its material and its methodological approach. At the heart of this approach is the proposition that theories are always answers to questions. In this framework, the author traces the process by which national and nationalist concerns were framed as questions within a Marxist theoretical tradition and shows how they came to be "answered." In addition to scholars and students engaged in South Asian studies, this insightful book will be of considerable interest to students of Marxism, history, and nationalism in general, as well as those interested in the history of ideas, political theory, and political thought.Sanjay Seth is the author of 'Marxist Theory and Nationalist Politics: The Case of Colonial India', published 1995 under ISBN 9780803992078 and ISBN 0803992076.