Communalism and Globalization in South Asia and Its Diaspora

Taking as its premise the belief that communalism is not a resurgence of tradition but is instead an inherently modern phenomenon, as well as a product of the fundamental agencies and ideas of modernity, and that globalization is neither a unique nor unprecedented process, this book addresses the question of whether globalization has amplified or muted processes of communalism. It does so through exploring the concurrent histories of communalism and globalization in four South Asian contexts - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - as well as in various diasporic locations, from the nineteenth century to the present.

Including contributions by some of the most notable scholars working on communalism in South Asia and its diaspora as well as by some challenging new voices, the book encompasses both different disciplinary and theoretical perspectives. It looks at a range of methodologies in an effort to stimulate new debates on the relationship between communalism and globalization, and is a useful contribution to studies on South Asia and Asian History.

Deana Heath is an Indian Council for Cultural Relations Research Fellow at

Delhi University. Her research focuses on placing South Asia in broader

comparative, transnational and global contexts. She is the author of Purifying

Empire: obscenity and the politics of moral regulations in Britain, India and

Australia (Cambridge University Press, 2010).