The Everyday State and Society in Modern India focuses on how the large, amorphous and impersonal Indian state affects the everyday lives of ordinary citizens. The book argues that state and society merge in the day-to-day lives of most Indians, and the boundary between them is blurred and negotiable according to social context and position. The contributors adopt the position, contrary to that of many others, that most Indians are able to comprehend and use the institutions of the state. All the eight essays in this book are original contributions and are based on empirical research. This is also the first book to present such a range of anthropological and sociological material on the Indian state, covering Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in the north, Maharashtra in the west, West Bengal in the east, and Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the south. The central theme of the book, the everyday dimension of the state and society's relation to it in modern India, is explored in the first essay, an important contribution on the subject. The essays dwell on a variety of issues, such as riot management, the Emergency, corruption, irrigation, rural activism and education and cut across academic disciplines. Written lucidly, on themes which preoccupy most people, these essays lend clarity and cogency to the confusion of everyday life, contributing to a better understanding of the Indian social and political environment. The book will be of great interest to the specialist, but special care has been taken to make it accessible to the non-specialist reader as well. Students of politics, sociology, anthropology and history will find these essays of immense value.
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