Marxist Thought in South Asia: (40 Political Power and Social Theory)

Marxism is not just a Euro-American preoccupation. It has had vibrant articulations around the world, particularly in Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean, and amongst Black diasporas. But South Asia has been relatively neglected in efforts to register the revolutionary theoretical traditions of the Global South. Reinvigorating the study of Marxism within the South Asian context, this volume of Political Power and Social Theory highlights lesser-known thinkers to unsettle the propensity within the Marxist cannon to disproportionately fixate on white male theorists. Forging an anti-imperialist Marxism through dialectical and historical approaches, chapters demonstrate how the South Asian facet of this revolutionary tradition can contribute to and even reenergize global Marxist theory.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1. Marxist Theory Unbound: Global Perspectives From South Asia; Kristin Plys, Priyansh, and Kanishka Goonewardena Chapter 2. The Anti-Imperialist Marxisms of SBD de Silva and GVS de Silva; Kanishka Goonewardena Chapter 3. Alavi Contra Alavi: Towards a Conjunctural Awareness; Ayyaz Mallick Chapter 4. Mapping the Politics of Postcolonial Critique in Pakistan Through the Writings of Aziz-ul-Haq (1958-72); Muhammad Azeem Chapter 5. Murder as Praxis? Theorising Marxist Feminism in Pakistan Through Akhtar Baloch’s Prison Narratives; Umaima Miraj Chapter 6. Mohammad Azharuddin as a Theorist of Shock: The Life of an Indian Muslim Cricket Captain in the Time of Hindu Nationalism; Priyansh Chapter 7. Crisis and Revolt in Sri Lanka: Theorizing a Horizon of Possibilities Amidst the Unravelling of the Global Order; Devaka Gunawardena and Ahilan Kadirgamar Chapter 8. Anti-Colonial Marxism in French and Portuguese India Compared: Varadarajulu Subbiah and Aquino de Bragança’s Theories of Colonial Independence; Kristin Plys Chapter 9. Interview With Professor Himani Bannerji; Himani Bannerji, Kanishka Goonewardena, Kristin Plys, and Priyansh Chapter 10. Poems of Resistance; Salman Haider

About the Author :
Kristin Plys is Associate Professor in the Sociology and History departments at the University of Toronto, Canada, and the 2023-24 J. Clawson Mills Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She specializes in Marxist theory in the Global South and left histories of Pakistan and India in the 1970s. Priyansh is a PhD Candidate in Physical Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Canada. His research broadly looks at the relationship of sport and politics, with a special focus on the Indian state’s interventions in sport policy. Kanishka Goonewardena is Professor of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto, Canada. His research is located at the intersection of critical theory, urban studies and political economy, with emphasis on theories of space, ideology and imperialism.