JUST PUBLISHED

REBELS FROM THE MUD HOUSES

Dalits and the Making of the Maoist Revolution in Bihar

George Kunnath

‘This book succeeds in competently presenting the dynamics of Dalit mobilization and demobilization in contemporary Bihar. The distinctive aspect of this book is that it makes a necessary organic connection between the category of Dalit and peasant particularly in the context of caste configuration and class relation as unfolding in Bihar.’  

Professor Gopal Guru

Centre for Political Studies, School of Social Sciences,

Jawaharlal Nehru University

265pp 215x140 mm  Hardback   12 illustrations

Published  price Rs 625

ISBN 978-81-87358-52-7

SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROLOGY, DALIT STUDIES, POLITICS

Pub date 2012

Dalits participate in the Maoist Movement in a variety of ways – as party cadres, guerrilla fighters, loyal suppliers of food and shelter, and as both active and passive members of a host of revolutionary mass organizations.

Why did the Dalits of the Magadh region of South Bihar and, in particular, the district of Jehanabad, infamously termed ‘the killing fields’ join the Maoist Movement? Were they trapped between ‘two fires’ – the

revolutionary and counter-revolutionary violence? Did all Dalit castes support the Maoists or was there any particular Dalit caste at the forefront of the struggle? What did they achieve through the Maoist Movement? What reasons do they give for their current state of demobilization? Rebels from the Mud Houses: Dalits and the

Making of the Maoist Revolution in Bihar examines Dalit mobilization and the transformation of rural power relations in the context of intense agrarian violence involving Maoist guerrillas and upper caste militias backed by state forces in Bihar in the 1980s. The book investigates why thousands of Dalits took up arms and participated in the Maoist Movement. It explores the dynamic nature of Dalit response which involved a

movement from relative quiescence to mobilization and armed resistance, and eventually, to demobilization and alternative assertions based on caste identities.

Rebels from the Mud Houses highlights the specificities of Dalit participation in the Maoist Movement and develops an anthropology of the Maoist Revolution in India.

Contents

1. Introduction: Maoist Revolution in Perspective

2. Submerged Violences: Dalits, Landlessness and Subordination in Bihar

3. From the Mud Houses of Magadh: Revolutionary Murmurings and Dalit Militancy

4. Bonded Labourer to Maoist Guerrilla: Life Story of a Dalit Revolutionary

5. Negotiating Powers: Dalits and Shifting Mobilizations

6. Production and Reproduction of Violence: State, Senas and Maoists

Conclusion: An Anthropology of Revolution

Index

George J.Kunnath is Research Fellow at Anthropology Department, Goldsmiths College, University of London. His research interests include Marxist and Maoist guerrilla movements, caste and class relations, Dalit and Adivasi identity politics, development-conflict nexus, violence and research ethics.

JUST PUBLISHED

BEHIND THE BACKLASH

Muslim Americans after 9/11

Lori Peek

“One of the most devastating effects of a widespread disaster is its ability to create shifts in the prevailing cultural climate of an entire countryside and to change the way the various peoples of the countryside relate to each other. Behind the Backlash is a compelling, perceptive, and sensitively drawn portrayal of what happened to Muslim Americans, among the most loyal of national groups, when the dark shadow known as 9/11 passed over our land. A truly important study.”

—Kai Erikson,

Professor Emeritus of Sociology and American Studies, Yale University

“While relating the stories of Muslims struggling for acceptance in America in the wake of 9/11, Behind the Backlash offers analytic insights that demonstrate many of the social dynamics at work in Muslim marginalization and traumatization, as well as in their constructive responses. What Peek describes has important implications for all Americans concerned for minority groups that suddenly become suspect.”

—Peter Gottschalk,

Professor of Religion, Wesleyan University;

coauthor of Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy

“In Behind the Backlash, Lori Peek weaves together the voices of American Muslims who tell of life lived in a post-9/11 world with the demagoguery of the media, official reports, and history. Her finished tapestry is a compelling dialogue between the human experiences of bigotry and the abstract forces that drive it. Behind the Backlash challenges each of us to reexamine the importance of tolerance in a civilized society. This book will be widely read and discussed. Bravo.”

—Steve Kroll-Smith, Editor of Sociological Inquiry;

Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

RIGHTS NOT AVAILABLE

222 pp 215x140 mm  Hardback

Published price Rs 595

ISBN  978-81-87358-67-1

SOCIOLOGY, DISASTER STUDIES,

Pub Date 2012

As America tried to absorb the shock of the 9/11 attacks, Muslim Americans were caught up in an unprecedented wave of backlash violence. Public discussion revealed that widespread misunderstanding and misrepresentation of Islam persisted, despite the striking diversity of the Muslim community. Letting the voices of 140 ordinary Muslim American men and women describe their experiences, Lori Peek's path-breaking book, Behind the Backlash, presents moving accounts of prejudice and exclusion. Muslims speak of being subjected to harassment before the attacks, and recount the discrimination they encountered afterwards. Peek also explains the struggles of young Muslim adults to solidify their community and define their identity during a time of national crisis. Behind the Backlash seeks to explain why blame and scape-goating occur after a catastrophe. Peek sets the twenty-first century experience of Muslim Americans, who were vilified and victimized, in the context of larger sociological and psychological processes.

Contents

1.       Introduction

2.       Under Attack

3.       Encountering Intolerance

4.       Backlash

5.       Repercussions

6.       Adaptations

7.       Conclusion

Notes

Index

Lori Peek is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Co-director of the Center for Disaster and Risk Analysis at Colorado State University. She has published widely on vulnerable populations in disaster and is co-editor of Displaced: Life in the Katrina Diaspora.