FRACTURED COMMUNITIES
Written whilst navigating legal persecution and institutional exile, this extraordinary work examines the indigenous societies of Singhbhum during the colonial era. Khalid's research reveals how conventional historical narratives have obscured the diversity and complexity of these communities, imposing neat categories over lived reality. The book merges documentary evidence with sharp interpretation, offering readers an account that refuses to simplify the past. What makes this particularly striking is its dual purpose: it functions as rigorous scholarship whilst simultaneously challenging how power shapes the stories we tell about history. In our current moment, when public discourse often reaches for reductive versions of the past, this investigation feels urgently necessary. Scholars including Ramachandra Guha have praised the work's analytical sophistication, recognising it as among the finest doctoral research produced by an Indian academic. Woven throughout is a political sensibility rooted in democratic principles and genuine solidarity with those historically silenced. The result is a book that matters both inside and outside the academy.
- Author: Umar Khalid
- Publisher: Juggernaut
- Genre: Cultural Studies
- ISBN: 978-9353456368
- Pages: 400 pages