Political Ideas in Modern India: Thematic Explorations

Abstract

Compiled by two veteran political theorists, V.R. Mehta and Thomas Pantham, Political Ideas in Modern India is one of the doorstoppers volumes in the series on ëHistory of Science, Philosophy, and Culture in Indian Civilizationí being published under the general editorship of the senior philosopher D.P. Chattopadhyay. The objective of the mammoth series, launched in 1990 and sponsored by the Government of India is to probe ìthe interconnection between science, philosophy, and culture as they developed in the long history of Indian civilizationî by tapping primary source materials in classical and modern Indian languages (http://csc-india.in/history.html). In the editorial introduction, Pantham and Mehta claim that the the book seeks to illuminate ìthe main ideas and ideals, whose contextual meanings and configurations made up the political world envisioned by the political and intellectual leaders of colonial and postcolonial Indiaî (p. xxvii). To this end, they have assembled two dozen essays contributed by a team of scholars spanning three generations and from the following disciplines: political science, international relations, law, history, philosophy, and literary studies.