Competing Nationalisms in South Asia

Book excerpt: The essays in this volume bring together a rich and scholarly collection of thought and new work linked by a commitment to the preservation and promotion of secularism and democracy in South Asia. The contributors to this volume come from different disciplines and ideological persuasions political scientists, sociologists, historians, literary critics, and the area specialist. Part I deals with nationalist thought and practice; Part II contains essays that comment and reflect on visions of India as a nation; the concluding part concerns the continuing struggles within India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka over the definition of the nation.