Citizenship and its Discontents: An Indian History - Jayal, Niraja Gopal (Ranikhet Parmanent Black, 2013)
This is the first ever history of the idea of citizenship in India. Unlike the mature democracies of the west, India began as a true republic of equals with a complex architecture of citizenship rights that was sensitive to the many hierarchies of Indian society. In this provocative biography of the defining aspiration of modern India, Niraja Jayal shows how the progressive civic ideals embodied in the constitution have been challenged by exclusions based on social and economic inequality, and sometimes also, paradoxically, undermined by its own policies of inclusion.
Keywords: Humanities and Social Science