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Abstract
In Gramsci and South Asia, Arun Kumar Patnaik undertakes an ambitious methodological and sociological project: the decolonization of Antonio Gramsci’s theoretical framework to analyze the specific historical and cultural contours of post-colonial India. By navigating between what he terms “empty concepts” (universal boundaries) and “filled concepts” (historical specificities), Patnaik attempts to bridge the gap between Western Marxist theory and the South Asian social imaginary. While the book offers a sophisticated defense of “dialogic” secularism, it is difficult to reconcile the pursuit of an assimilationist route with the need to be attentive to the radical specificity of subaltern claims and deep-seated structural asymmetries of power.
References
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