Orient Blackswan Private Limited

12/12/2025

Friends and colleagues in Delhi, please join us this evening at 6.30 pm at the IIC for the launch of Gyanendra Pandey's Men at Home.

Join us for an insightful discussion on Men at Home: Imagining Liberation in Colonial and Postcolonial India by Gyanendra Pandey at the India International Centre.

Day and Date: Friday, 12 December
Time: 6:00 pm
Venue: India International Centre, New Delhi

In this compelling work, Professor Pandey explores how men navigate marriage, intimacy, and conjugality, and reflects on the interplay of gender, caste, and class within everyday family life.

We are honoured to have an esteemed panel featuring Mallarika Sinha Roy, Ashok Vajpeyi, Mridula Garg, and Projit B. Mukharji. They will be in conversation with the author.

We warmly invite you to be part of this important discussion!

10/12/2025

Today, we remember C. Rajagopalachari, fondly called Rajaji by his associates, on his birth anniversary. He was India’s last and only Indian Governor-General, an influential leader of the freedom struggle and a towering statesman and lawyer.

In our acclaimed series ‘Selected Writings of C. Rajagopalachari’, published in collaboration with the PMML (), in the Preface to Vol. IX, editor Ravi K. Mishra notes, “India’s transition to a sovereign, democratic Republic within a federal framework after Independence and Partition was anything but smooth. After the departure of Lord Mountbatten, Rajaji assumed the office of the Governor-General and played a crucial role in leading India through his wisdom and farsightedness ... statesmanship and diplomacy...”

Let us remember Rajaji’s contribution to the building of this nation and let his writings inform our political engagement. Scan the code at the end of the video to grab your copies today!

09/12/2025

The methodology used in qualitative social science research has garnered critical interest, more so now that there is an active intent to decentralise Euro-American methods and approaches in the developing world. Today, we go back to our title ‘Revisiting Qualitative Methods in Social Science Research’, which asks: Have the horizons of knowledge creation expanded? What are the new texts that have emerged, and how many find place in classrooms? A variety of qualitative methods of research are highlighted, which include gathering data from folk songs and conducting focus group discussions with village women, unobtrusive research, mobile methods and contingent behaviour. Examples cited are not only from India, but also from other countries like Malaysia and Botswana.

Edited by Bonita Aleaz, former Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Calcutta () and Partha Pratim Basu, Professor, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University (), this volume features a variety of insights from pre-eminent scholars Surajit C. Mukhopadhyay, Sobhanlal Datta Gupta, Joseph N. Goh, Arnab Das, Suman Nath, Suman Hazra, Sushmita Gonsalves, Kaberi Chakrabarti, Srilata Sircar, Debi Chatterjee, Sudarshana Sen, Shibashis Chatterjee and Sidsel Saugestad.

Get your copies today at https://orientblackswan.com/details?obsin=2931

Or on Amazon: https://amzn.in/d/asTggv4

Relevant Profiles:

Partha Pratim Basu: https://www.facebook.com/partha.pratim.basu.2025 ; Surajit C.
Mukhopadhyay: https://www.facebook.com/surajitcm ; Joseph N. Goh: https://www.facebook.com/joseph.n.goh ; Sushmita Gonsalves: https://www.facebook.com/sushmita.gonsalves ; Kaberi Chakrabarti: https://www.facebook.com/kaberi.chakrabarti ; Debi Chatterjee: https://www.facebook.com/debi.chatterjee.7 ; Sidsel Saugestad: https://www.facebook.com/sidsel.saugestad

05/12/2025

Today, ‘Sectarian Violence in India’, which brings together a critical selection of social science research on communal and sectarian violence in India from the late 1960s until about 2015 from the ‘Economic and Political Weekly’ (Economic and Political Weekly)—the single largest source of studies on this subject.

Edited by Sanjay Palshikar, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad (University of Hyderabad) and Satish Deshpande, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Delhi (University of Delhi), this volume features four segments. The first, ‘General Surveys of Sectarian Violence’, comprises important essays by eminent scholars Asghar Ali Engineer, Imtiaz Ahmad, Gopal Krishna, Surya Prakash Upadhyay and Rowena Robinson. Section two analyses ‘Theoretical and Conceptual Issues’, from the lenses of Ashutosh Varshney, Steven I. Wilkinson, Paul R. Brass, Ward Berenschot, Pritam Singh, Arvind Rajagopal, Sasheej Hegde, Dharma Kumar and Gyanendra Pandey.

The third section features complex arguments on ‘Communal Politics’ by Ratna Dutta, Moin Shakir, Romesh Thapar, A. R. Desai, Rajni Kothari, Tanika Sarkar, Bhavna Mehta, Trupti Shah, Balraj Puri, Jan Breman, Badri Narayan and Rajeshwari. Finally, section four provides ‘Accounts and Analyses of Specific Riots’ by Ghanshyam Shah, Pradip Datta, Biswamoy Pati, Sumit Sarkar, Sambuddha Sen, Uma Chakravarti, Prem Chowdhury, Zoya Hasan, Kumkum Sangari, Shail Mayaram, Sudhir Chandra, Amrita Basu, Roger Jeffery, Patricia M. Jeffery and Iqbal Ansari.

Get your copies today at https://orientblackswan.com/details?obsin=3093

Or on Amazon: https://amzn.in/d/5AtkFYy

Relevant Profiles:

Ward Berenschot: https://www.facebook.com/ward.berenschot/ ;
Pritam Singh: https://www.facebook.com/pritam.singh.549436 ; Tanika Sarkar: https://www.facebook.com/tanika.sarkar.7 ; Ghanshyam Shah: https://www.facebook.com/ghanshyam.shah2 ; Shail Mayaram: https://www.facebook.com/shailmayaram

04/12/2025

03/12/2025

‘Identity, Conflict, and Counter-Narratives’, edited by Yagati Chinna Rao, Professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Rajsekhar Basu, Professor of History at the University of Calcutta (University of Calcutta), explores the diverse facets of the history and cultural experiences of Dalit communities in India and studies how this multiplicity aids our understanding of what it means to be Dalit.

In a recent review published in ‘Studies in People’s History’, historian Charu Gupta remarks, “… [This volume] contributes meaningfully to a growing body of scholarship that has shifted the historiographical axis of caste, positioning Dalit voices not as peripheral but pivotal to the writing of Indian history.” She also notes, “This volume is a chorus. Ten essays, each distinct, yet harmonised by a shared commitment to foreground, not flatten; to reveal, not romanticise.”

Scan the codes to grab your copies at our website or on Amazon!

Relevant Profiles:

Rajshekhar Basu: https://www.facebook.com/rajsekhar.basu.5

02/12/2025

Join us for an insightful discussion on Men at Home: Imagining Liberation in Colonial and Postcolonial India by Gyanendra Pandey at the India International Centre.

Day and Date: Friday, 12 December
Time: 6:00 pm
Venue: India International Centre, New Delhi

In this compelling work, Professor Pandey explores how men navigate marriage, intimacy, and conjugality, and reflects on the interplay of gender, caste, and class within everyday family life.

We are honoured to have an esteemed panel featuring Mallarika Sinha Roy, Ashok Vajpeyi, Mridula Garg, and Projit B. Mukharji. They will be in conversation with the author.

We warmly invite you to be part of this important discussion!

01/12/2025

‘Environmental Politics at the Local’ is an expansive examination of the political economics of decentralising natural resource governance, edited by Satyajit Singh, Professor, University of California Santa Barbara, USA (UC Santa Barbara) and Ajit Menon, Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100081762611431).

In a review published in ‘Social Change’ 55(3): 510–513, Prajna Paramita Mishra of the School of Economics, University of Hyderabad (School of Economics, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad) remarks, “The most commendable aspect of this book lies in its comprehensive chapters, which provide an excellent contextual foundation for the study. This ensures that readers are not alienated from the subject matter, be it the geographical context and community practices in Himachal Pradesh, the historical context of common land in Punjab, the land system in the Khasi Hills, the evolution of the role of local communities in the governance of Bangalore’s lakes, and the wetlands of Kolkata, to name a few. Weaving together pan-Indian studies, this volume effectively illustrates the power dynamics inherent in various levels of natural resource governance.”

Scan to grab your copies today!

Satyajit Singh: https://www.facebook.com/satyajits1
Ajit Menon: https://www.facebook.com/ajit.menon.142

28/11/2025

The arrival of playback technology in the 1940s had far-reaching consequences for Bombay cinema, leading to a wider dispersal of films, film songs and film stars. Our new release, ‘The Female Playback in Bombay Cinema’, invites readers and listeners to engage with their own media-driven memories, and focuses on the role of the female voice in making the corporeal female body available in the public domain.

Combining a formal analysis of film songs with ethnographic research and a close reading of print archives, the book follows the rise of playback stars like Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle as they intersect with a diverse range of technologies, and listening bodies—on-screen stars, music critics, fans, version artists, and amateur singers.

This book is authored by Shikha Jhingan, Associate Professor of Cinema Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi)

Get your copies today at https://orientblackswan.com/details?obsin=4155

Or on Amazon: https://amzn.in/d/cNxXAxE



Relevant Profiles:

Shikha Jhingan: https://www.facebook.com/shikha.jhingan

26/11/2025

Freedom of speech and expression enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) is the lifeblood of India’s democracy. Yet, across decades, those in power have sought to limit and control it. In her new book ‘Framing the Media’, Pamela Philipose, award-winning journalist and ombudsperson at The Wire (TheWire.in), examines how successive governments have shaped, challenged and constrained this constitutional right and what citizens can do to protect it.

Please join us at Vidyaranya High School, Hyderabad this Friday, 28 November 2025 at 6:30 PM IST for an evening of enriching conversation with Pamela Philipose.

Manthan

Pamela Philipose: https://www.facebook.com/pamela.philipose

25/11/2025

The Lokpal was one among the innumerable solutions proposed to combat corruption and maladministration in India, and has a long and complex history. Today, we revisit a two-volume series by Rajeev Dhavan, Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court and human rights activist, which follows the journey of the Lokpal, through its conception, its relevance in the context of existing anti-corruption structures to the Anna movement losing momentum in 2012, resulting in the passing of a severely truncated Lokpal Bill.

‘The Lokpal Idea, 1963–2010’ critically examines debates, documents and ideas to show how the idea of Lokpal was moulded and remoulded to suit politicians and civil servants, and asks: Are remedial institutions like the Lokpal the real answer?

‘Anna and the Lokpal Bill, 2010–2018’ provides detailed analyses of the civil rights agitation of 2010–2011 and the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government that followed, and asks: What is civil society? What is its relationship with political society? Why were those in power so afraid of the ‘crowd’?

Scan the codes to grab your copies now!