Eleanor Marx, (1/e)

Eleanor Marx, (1/e): A Life by Rachel Holmes from Bloomsbury India.

Unrestrained by convention, lion-hearted and free, Eleanor Marx (1855-98) was an exceptional woman. Hers was the first English translation of Flaubert's Mme Bovary. She pioneered the theatre of Henrik Ibsen. She was the first woman to lead the British dock workers' and gas workers' trades unions. For years she worked tirelessly for her father, Karl Marx, as personal secretary and researcher. Later she edited many of his key political works, and laid the foundations for his biography. But foremost among her achievements was her pioneering feminism. For her, sexual equality was a necessary precondition for a just society.

Drawing strength from her family and their wide circle, including Friedrich Engels and Wilhelm Liebknecht, Eleanor Marx set out into the world to make a difference – her favourite motto: 'Go ahead!' With her closest friends - among them, Olive Schreiner, Havelock Ellis, George Bernard Shaw, Will Thorne and William Morris - she was at the epicentre of British socialism. She was also the only Marx to claim her Jewishness. But her life contained a deep sadness: she loved a faithless and dishonest man, the academic, actor and would-be playwright Edward Aveling.

Yet despite the unhappiness he brought her, Eleanor Marx never wavered in her political life, ceaselessly campaigning and organising until her untimely end, which – with its letters, legacies, secrets and hidden paternity – reads in part like a novel by Wilkie Collins, and in part like the modern tragedy it was. Rachel Holmes has gone back to original sources to tell the story of the woman who did more than any other to transform British politics in the nineteenth century, who was unafraid to live her contradictions.

In our Biography section, Rs. 699, in hardback, 528 pages, ISBN :9780747583844

Mulberry Sericulture in New Areas

Mulberry Sericulture in New Areas: Empowering Tribal Women by Sanjay Kumar Panda from Concept Publishing.

Because of its unique features like luster, tensile strength, capacity to absorb dye, silk is popularly known as the “Queen of Textiles”. Sericulture industry has special significance in poverty alleviation as it is labour intensive, less strenuous, requires less capital, low gestation and has good market. Promotion of sericulture covering both on-farm and off-farm activities generates sizable employment opportunity in the rural areas and is of particular relevance to the women, small and marginal farmers.

Mulberry sericulture, which contributes bulk of the silk produced in the country, is centered on five traditional states. Tripura, one of the non-traditional and new states in Mulberry sericulture, has seen significant success in promotion of mulberry sericulture on a sustainable basis. This has been possible as a result of mobilization of people, involvement of the local community/PRI bodies, provision of technical assistance and infrastructure along with required forward and backward linkages on a holistic basis.

The book has aptly dealt with various aspects of promotion of mulberry sericulture, which has led to the production of quality bivoltine silk yarn on the one hand and empowering the tribal women on the other. It seeks to provide firsthand information on various technical as well administrative aspects, which need specific attention for introduction of mulberry sericulture in a new area. It can serve as a practical guide for the people's representatives, policy formulators, administrators and field staff and officers in using mulberry sericulture for poverty alleviation and empowerment of women.


In our Agricultural Sciences section, Rs. 600, in hardback, xxii+176 pages, ISBN :9789351250296

Education or Ecology

Education, State and Market: Anatomy of Neoliberal Impact by Ravi Kumar from Aakar Books.

The volume looks at the nature of impact of neoliberal capitalism on education in India. It narrates the historical trajectory of shift from welfarism to neoliberalism; looks at how higher education as well as school level education has been impacted by neoliberalism. 

There are field-based narratives to document this impact while some chapters locate the language question as well as how disciplines like economics and legal studies are transformed within this context. It ends with discussing the possibilities to resist this onslaught of capital.

In our Education section, Rs. 595, in hardback, 309 pages, ISBN :9789350022818


When Godavari Comes: People's History of a River - Journeys in the Zone of the Dispossessed by R. Umamaheshwari from Aakar Books.

The book cruises through the length and breadth of Godavari (as much as possible), between years 2006 and 2013, into the villages to be submerged by the Indira Sagar Polavaram National multi-purpose Project of Andhra Pradesh-Telangana. Through an engaged first-person journal of journeys in these villages, the author records people's voices (and faces) and reflects on the issues, such as, historical past of Godavari region and its bearing on the present, idea of a river, forest and land and the male construct of a dam.

When Godavari comes, there is a churning that brings in new life, crops, on fields, marshes and wetlands and at the same time she also leaves some people stranded, manoeuvering their life's boat through, even as they are rendered at the mercy of the state. Yet, the destruction from a Godavari's coming is not permanent, nor an apocalypse, as a massive 'modern' displacement from 'development' is.

In journeying on Godavari, travelling with its flow, you meet these people- adivasi/tribal, dalits (and the other marginalised)- and hear their stories, their philosophies of life and of being reduced to a sunyam (zero). Indeed, a whole history is in the process of being written from above in this geographical-cultural-social space. This is the first book of this nature based almost entirely on people's voices from the submergence zone.

In our Ecology and Environment section, Rs. 1295, in hardback, 486 pages, ISBN :9789350023082

Concept Latest

Poverty And Development Planning In India by K. L. Datta from Concept Publishing.

This book covers a wide range of issues related to poverty and inequality in the context of development planning in India. It presents an account of the planning and development strategy at the backdrop of the measures to effect poverty reduction. It describes India's planning process and analyses the mathematical models of growth and investment, which are at the back of Plan formulation, and provides an account of the measures of poverty reduction. The centrality of this analysis is the transition from growth measures pursued until the 1970s, to a mix of growth and redistribution since the 1980s, and then to inclusive growth.

This book covers four core areas. First, the treatise on mathematical models to chart out a growth path, the manner and method of using poverty as a parameter in the consistency type growth models and the analytical details of the changes in the planning strategy during the period of economic reforms contained here give seminal insights into the role of planning in poverty reduction. Second, it comments on the methodology of the measurement of poverty, comprehensively summarising the debates surrounding it. Third, the identification of poor and accrual to their income through 'direct attack on poverty' has been chronicled with a critique's eye.

Here, a clinical examination of the specific strategies and their outcomes, with a quantitative analysis of the general growth process and the income redistributive anti-poverty programmes is also done. Fourth, it undertakes a disaggregated quantification of poverty – at the regional level, in rural and urban areas, and by social and occupation groups. These reflect the stratified nature of Indian society, and are integral to the formulation of meaningful plan for poverty reduction. The issues addressed here are essential to understand poverty and inequality in India's rapidly growing economy. Many of them are contentious and have been dealt with academic rigour so as to enable a fair assessment.

In our Development Studies section, Rs. 2500, in hardback, 510 pages, ISBN :9789351250005

Rediscovering Gandhi, Vol- VI: Gandhi and Jesus: The End of Fundamentalism by Wolfgang Sternstein And R.P. Misra  from Concept Publishing.

Gandhi and Jesus are brothers in spirit in spite of the great distance in space, time and cultural sphere that separates them. This is the thesis of this book. A completely new view of Jesus’ life and teaching derives from Gandhi’s religious thinking. It coincides to a vast extent with the findings of the Life-of-Jesus Research (which was unknown to Gandhi), but it also goes beyond it in crucial points.

To the various things they have in common belongs their rejection of any kind of fundamentalism and its underlying basis, the absolute truth claim of the Abrahamic religions.

In our Gandhi Studies section, Rs. 850, in hardback, xvi+256 pages, ISBN :9788180699856 


Federating Elected Women Representatives Of Local Bodies In India by G. Palanithurai from Concept Publishing.

Federating Elected Women Representatives in Rural Local Bodies is a current subject in the domain of new local governance paradigm. It was initiated first in South India with the support of the Ford Foundation. Subsequently many donor agencies evinced keen interest in federating the Elected Women Representatives in different parts of the country. As a result many civil society organizations have involved in forming federations among the Elected Women Representatives in their respective areas.

The federations have produced results of varying intensity. Having seen the larger implications, the Government of India has adopted this as a major exercise and supported those initiatives. Yet sufficient academic attention was not given on this subject. Worthwhile publications have not been brought out barring a few and they are also not exhaustive. A few documents are available but they are based on the experience of the project activities in the given state, hence this attempt.

This book is a compilation of the experiences of the institutions and individuals involved in federating the Elected Women Representatives in different states in India. Along with above articles a report prepared by SDC based on the experience shared in a workshop distilling the major achievements and weakness in those project activities in federating the women leaders is attached which gives an overall picture about the trend in federating the Elected Women Representatives in rural local governance in India.

In our Women Studies section, Rs. 600, in hardback, xvi+181 pages, ISBN :9789351250692

Right to Information

Right to Information: An Act for Best Citizenry by E. M. S. Natchappan from Concept Publishing.

Knowledge is power. Knowledge is enriched by information. A person, legal entity, a society, a corporate body, MNC and any country wants to use the information for their benefits. The amount of information, analysis, research and development enhances the individual’s life, society and the country. Much more importance for information of governance is the soul of democracy. The information and the right to access to it is the foundation of civilization.

This book is the exposure of the secret of importance on access to information which was transparent in the early part of civilization but shrinked into the hands of individuals during colonial rule. This made the individual into a slavery system loosing the entire freedom of information from which liberation happened after long struggle in various parts of the world.

India could achieve this Right to Information after practicing democracy for about 58 years. This book gives another opportunity to go through the Parliamentary procedure and to enjoy the way the law making is practiced to resolve lot of barriers being created in the system and Anna Hazare to Arvind Kejriwal and world renowned activists have played the role in this transparent law making system.

In our Law section, Rs. 950, in hardback, xii+418 pages, ISBN :9789351250890

India's National Security

India's National Security: Annual Review 2013 by Satish Kumar from Routledge India.

The thirteenth volume in the series Indias National Security Annual Review examines Indias security environment in the context of the changing global balance of power. It analyzes the manner in which India has structured its relations with major powers so that they serve as dependable anchors of its national security and discusses the imminent challenges faced by the country.

In addition, it makes an in-depth assessment of Indias relations with China and Pakistan, the attempts of China to establish a strategic foothold in all countries in Indias neighborhood, the extent of Islamist radicalization in South Asia and the role of Pakistan. The volume also includes a strategic profile of newly emerging countries in international affairs along with a chronology of the major events of the preceding year.

The book will be indispensable for policymakers and governmental organizations, those in defence and strategic sectors and students of defence studies, foreign policy, International relations and political science.

In our Strategic Affairs section, Rs. 1095, in hardback, 480 pages, ISBN :9781138796386

Essays on Indias Political Economy

Essays on Indias Political Economy by Prakash Sarangi from Knowledge World Publishers.

This monograph is an attempt to understand the symbiotic relationship between politics and economy in India since independence. A few essays are presented to delineate this relationship in simple, non-technical language. But a discerning reader could easily decipher a specific interpretation throughout the text: the process of economic transformation is viewed as a function of the decision makers’ changing calculus of political pay-offs.

Indian Political Economy is divided into three phases: (1) Nationalist Political Economy (1947-68); (2) Populist Political Economy (1969-1990) and (3) Competitive Political Economy (1991- ). The grand coalition in the first phase enabled the state to play an interventionist role and to estimate payoffs for the entire country; the minimum-winning coalition in the polarised politics of the second phase played a redistributive game and carefully calculated payoffs of its own supporters only and the uncertainty resulting from a fragmented politics in the third phase did not allow any party to be assured of a winning coalition and, therefore, made it difficult for any political party to predict political payoffs. Economic reforms of the 1990s were the result of this political uncertainty.

The radical changes in economic policy transformed contemporary politics. A running theme in these essays is that while political actors face uncertainty in a competitive political economy, the citizens, as consumers of public policies, are further empowered to question, accept or reject any policy initiative. Citizens and groups are able to assert their rights and, if necessary, throw out the non-performers. Rights dominate over welfare in this new policy regime.

In our Politics section, Rs. 480, in hardback, 104 pages, ISBN :9789383649280

India-US Partnership

India-US Partnership: Asian Challenges and Beyond by P.P. Shukla from Wisdom Tree.

India and the United States of America aim to form a strategic partnership of trust, cooperation and collaboration, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Indo-US relationship has had its share of ups and downs, but both admit to the necessity of greater understanding. The book covers economic and political aspects of the changes taking place in Asia, and provides a perspective different from the standard narrative, that of the inexorable rise of China to the top.

The authors examine the strengths and the weaknesses not only of China, but also of the other major countries and offer a more balanced picture. The book, a culmination of the joint study between the Vivekananda International Foundation of India and the Heritage Foundation of the US, has contributions by experts like Kanwal Sibal, Lisa Curtis, Walter Lohman, Ajit Doval and Jeff Smith.

A must-read for subject-experts as well as policy makers, it also looks at some of the important issues, including that of Afghanistan and Iran, which will determine how the situation in Asia-Pacific evolves, and the relevance of better Indo-US ties to address the challenges ahead.


In our Governance section, Rs. 795, in hardback, x+194 pages, ISBN :9788183283335

Political Order and Political Decay

Political Order and Political Decay by Francis Fukuyama from Hachette India.

The Origins of Political Order , Francis Fukuyama took us from the dawn of mankind to the French and American Revolutions. Here, he picks up the thread again in the second instalment of his definitive account of mankind's emergence as a political animal. This is the story of how state, law and democracy developed after these cataclysmic events, how the modern landscape - with its uneasy tension between dictatorships and liberal democracies - evolved and how in the United States and in other developed democracies, unmistakable signs of decay have emerged.

If we want to understand the political systems that dominate and order our lives, we must first address their origins - in our own recent past as well as in the earliest systems of human government. Fukuyama argues that the key to successful government can be reduced to three key elements: a strong state, the rule of law, and institutons of democratic accountability. This magisterial account is required reading for anyone wishing to know more about mankind's greatest achievements.

In our Political section, Rs. 699, in paperback, 672 pages, ISBN :9781781255001

Governance Unbound

Governance Unbound: Public Services, Players and Rules of the Game by R. N. Gupta from Aakar Books.

Have you ever wondered why? More than 50% of labour in the organized sector is shadow labour. 50% of food subsidy for the poor is misdirected or misappropriated. The rate of conviction in criminal cases is abysmally low. Under-trial prisoners accused of petty crimes rot in jail for long periods, even much beyond the jail term for the offence. Cadaver organs are rarely available for transplantation.

Registration plates on motor vehicles carry so many digits and numerals that nobody can remember them. Find the explanation for these and many other perverse outcomes of otherwise well intentioned public policies and programmes in India, ranging from need based services, such as caste certificates, to public goods - education, control of crime and corruption.

The problem seems to lie not in the policy design, implementing structures or incompetent officials - the usual scapegoats - but the unimaginative rules of the game which appear to ignore the incentives and behaviour of the human actors involved and are mainly concerned with filing forms and filing returns. Governments would do well, it is argued, to design appropriate rules and institutions which are compatible with the incentives of players not as econs, angels or demons, but as humans.

In our Governance section, Rs. 795, in hardback, 338 pages, ISBN :9789350023167

Final Test

Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar by Dilip D'Souza from Random House India.

Dilip D’Souza closely observes those two-and-a-half days of the last test match played by Tendulkar, at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai in November, 2013. The book captures the tumult of sentiments the match had spawned, the love and worship that was showered by the cricket lovers at the stadium, the choking emotion, and the match against the West Indies. This title discusses cricket from the olden days to the new, as Sachin takes to the pitch one last time.

The deafening noise in the Wankhede turns into stark silence as the Little Master begins his walk back to the pavilion, marking the end of a glorious era. The author poignantly describes how there will be no more swearing and switching off televisions when he got out; no resonating chants of “Sa-chi-i-i-n, Sa-chin!” on the fields anymore. Final Test is a must-read for all fans of Sachin and of the game itself.


In our General section, Rs. 299, in paperback, 254 pages, ISBN :9788184006360

Becoming Minority

Becoming Minority: How Discourses and Policies Produce Minorities in Europe and India by Sudarsan Padmanabhan And Jyotirmaya Tripathy from Sage India.

This book will make you revisit the ‘minority question' as it has been understood, conventionally. This book subjects to scrutiny some of the well-established social science concepts such as minority, ethnicity, inclusion, exclusion, and self-determination, among others. The purpose of the enquiry is neither to debunk these concepts nor to highlight their relevance/irrelevance, but merely to guard against their unselective usage by scholars.

The work is an endeavor to address some of the questions that animate current scholarship on minority and minoritization. In doing so, the book draws upon European and Indian experiences of cultural diversities as these regions are two of the most culturally diverse regions in the world and engage with diversity from within a democratic framework.

In our Sociology section, Rs. 995, in hardback, 376 pages, ISBN :9789351500353

Popular Problems and Puzzles in Mathematics

Popular Problems and Puzzles in Mathematics by  Asok Kumar Mallik  from Cambridge University Press (India).

Innovative thinking backed by logical reasoning is the key to the puzzles in Popular Problems and Puzzles in Mathematics. Collected over several years by the author, more than 150 elegant, intriguing numerical challenges are presented here. The answers are easy to explain, but one would devilishly find it hard without this book.

One’s ability to construct a mathematical proof will be rigorously tested in these problems – even in the case of a mathematics teacher. For true maths lovers, there is even a section on historically prominent problems. Designed for high-school students and teachers with an interest in mathematical problem solving, this stimulating collection provides a new twist to familiar topics that introduce unfamiliar topics.

Key features
1. Suitable for high-school students and maths buffs
2. More than 150 problems covering different areas of elementary mathematics
3. Brainstorming problems graded as easy, moderate and difficult
4. Complete solutions included
5. Appendices showing various applications in the end


In our Mathematics section, Rs. 225, in paperback, 170 pages, ISBN :9789382993865

The New Cold War, (2/e)

The New Cold War, (2/e): Putin's Threat to Russia and the West by Edward Lucas from Bloomsbury India.

While most of the world was lauding the stability and economic growth that Vladimir Putin's ex-KGB regime had brought to Russia, Edward Lucas was ringing alarm bells. First published in 2008 and since revised, The New Cold War remains the most insightful and informative account of Russia today.

It depicts the regime's crushing of independent institutions and silencing of critics, taking Russia far away from the European mainstream. It highlights the Kremlin's use of the energy weapon in Europe, the bullying of countries in the former Soviet empire, such as Estonia, Georgia and Ukraine – and the way that Russian money weakens the West's will to resist.

Now updated with an incisive analysis of Russia's seizure of Crimea and its destabilisation of Ukraine, The New Cold War unpicks the roots of the Kremlin's ideology and exposes the West's naive belief that Putin's sinister and authoritarian regime might ever be a friend or partner.


In our Politics section, Rs. 399, in paperback, 384 pages, ISBN :9781408859285

Neoliberal State and Its Challenges/ Multiculturalism

Neoliberal State and Its Challenges, (1/e) by Bhupen Sarmah And Joydeep Baruah from  Aakar Books.

Perhaps, the most fundamental and the overarching challenge to neoliberal state relates to establishing its legitimacy and perpetuating its hegemony. While neoliberal state with its inherent and distinctive class-bias produces extreme inequality almost in all fronts, still it attempts at pretending to be benevolent and pro-poor. Moreover, pretentious benevolence of neoliberal state often turns out to be self-limiting due to its unbridled obsession with growth, which characteristically accompanies dispossession of vast majority of people outweighing all its benevolent gestures. These innate contradictions naturally generate myriad frictions and tensions challenging its legitimacy and hegemony.

The collection of papers in this volume offers insights to come of the pressing issues of contemporary neoliberal statehood and statecraft, both theoretical and practical. The book presents views about the state in the context of post-colonial era, its crises in governance including various manifestations of 'internal colonialism' and subsequent contestations, its crises in maintaining the legitimacy and concomitant process of militarization, relations and frictions amongst the state, market and 'civil society' and attendant class configurations.

In our History section, Rs. 595, in paperback, 302 pages, ISBN :9789350023013

Multiculturalism in India and Europe by Rajendra K. Jain from Aakar Books.

Growing cultural diversity as a result of globalization, technological changes and migration poses major challenges of management and accommodation in most multicultural societies. This volume presents a broad overview of the actors and factors that have played an important role in the success and/ or failure of multiculturalism in contemporary India and Europe.

The study critically evaluates the multiculturalist discourse in Britain, France, Germany and India. It provides a comparative analysis of the historical roots of plurality in both Europe and India and discusses the challenge posed by multiculturalism to existing forms of secularism.

The book examines the implications and challenges of Indian migration to the European continent, the role of culture in the external relations of the European Union with special reference to India and seeks to answer the question whether Multiculturalism can promote gender equality. The book will be of interest to all those engaged in the fields of political science, international relations, sociology and philosophy.

In our Sociology section, Rs. 595, in paperback, xvi+ 214 pages, ISBN :9789350022795