This important volume of original essays interrogates contemporary debates, popular as well as academic, on the place of communities and cultural identities in India's polity. In particular the contributors: - analyse some of the emerging concerns in the social and political life of contemporary India - deal with issues that are central to recent debates among social and political theorists, that is, community, identity, nation and civil society - present fresh perspectives on these issues which are of interest to most developing societies

Preface PART ONE: COMMUNITY AND IDENTITIES: CONCEPTUAL QUESTIONS Introduction - Surinder S Jodkha The Concept of Community in Indian Social Sciences - Carol Upadhya An Anthropological Perspective In the Tracks of Community and Identity - Sasheej Hegde Deepening the Interrogation The Eclipse or the Renaissance of 'Community'? The Career of the Concept - Ravinder Kaur PART TWO: CASTE, CLASS AND THE POLITICS OF COMMUNITY IDENTITIES Is Caste Appeal Casteism? Oppressed Castes in Politics - Javeed Alam The Ambiguity of Categories - D Parthasarthy Community and Identity in the Kapunadu Movement Narratives in the Re-Constitution of Communities - A R Vasavi Community, Identity and Politics - Sujata Patel The Baliapal Movement PART THREE: GLOBALIZATION AND THE SPATIAL REARTICULATION OF COMMUNITIES `Can You Talk Indian?' Shifting Notions of Community and Identity in the Indian Diaspora - Aparna Rayaprol The Spatiality of Community - Satish Deshpande Evaluating the Impact of Globalization on Regional Identities PART FOUR: MINORITIES, WOMEN AND COMMUNITIES Fluid Boundaries - Rowena Robinson Indian Christian Communities Community, Women Citizens and a Women's Politics - Anupama Roy Index