New Books in South Asian Studies

Partition—the rapid, uncoordinated, and bloody split between India and Pakistan after the Second World War—remains the central event of South Asian history. But 1947 wasn’t the only partition, according to historian and filmmaker Sam Dalrymple. Sam, in his book  [https://bookshop.org/a/12343/9781324123781]Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia [https://bookshop.org/a/12343/9781324123781] (William Collins, 2025), notes that “British India” once spanned all the way from the Arabian Peninsula to the border with Thailand, covering South Arabia, South Asia and Burma. Yet between 1937 and 1971, the region split into various different national entities, creating the countries and borders we see today. Sam is a historian, filmmaker, and cofounder of Project Dastaan, a peacebuilding initiative that reconnects refugees displaced by the 1947 partition of India. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books [https://asianreviewofbooks.com/], including its review of Shattered Lands [https://asianreviewofbooks.com/shattered-lands-five-partitions-and-the-making-of-modern-asia-by-sam-dalrymple/]. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia [https://twitter.com/BookReviewsAsia]. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon [https://twitter.com/nickrigordon?lang=en]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies [https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies]

In Containing Decolonization: British Imperialism and the Politics of Race in Late Colonial Burma [https://bookshop.org/a/12343/9781526187949] (Manchester University Press, 2025), historian Matthew Bowser examines British imperialism in late colonial Burma (from roughly 1929 to 1948) to study how imperialists attempted to protect their strategic and economic interests after decolonization: they did so by supporting ethnonationalism. This process resembles the Cold War tactic of “containment,” and the book makes a crucial contribution to the study of modern imperialism by demonstrating the continuity between “containment’s” late- and “neo”-colonial manifestations. For Burma/Myanmar, it also explores the origin of the present-day military junta’s racial regime: it emphasizes the protection of the ethnoreligious majority from ethnic minority insurgency. The Rohingya people are currently suffering a genocide because of this racial regime. As the country endures civil war against the junta, this book highlights how ethnonationalists in the late colonial period first promoted this racial regime to seize power and prevent revolution, a process supported by British imperialists for their own ends. Matthew Bowser is Assistant Professor of Asian History at Alabama A&M University. Brad H. Wright is a historian of Latin America specializing in postrevolutionary Mexico. PhD in Public History. Asst. Prof. of Latin American History at Alabama A&M University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies [https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies]

This conversation examines the newly published translation of the Varāha Upaniṣad, a lesser-known but deeply transformative scripture from the Kṛṣṇa‑Yajurveda, composed between the 13th and 16th centuries CE and spanning 249 verses.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies [https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies]

David McNally's Slavery and Capitalism: A New Marxist History [https://bookshop.org/a/12343/9780520415973] (U California Press, 2025)presents the first systematic Marxist account of the capitalist character of Atlantic slavery. McNally argues that enslaved labour within the plantation system constituted capitalist commodity production, and crucially, reframes the resistance of enslaved people as profound labour struggles. He posits a "social conception of freedom", contrasting it with the liberal individualist view, asserting that for enslaved people, freedom was communal and collective, as no individual could break the structures of slavery alone. The book revives a "forgotten critical Marxist tradition" that consistently upheld the capitalist nature of New World slavery, drawing on three crucial thinkers: * C.L.R. James, who argued that the collective labour of enslaved sugar cane workers on Haitian plantations was "closer to a modern proletariat than any group of workers in the world at the time". * W.E.B. Du Bois, who described the overthrow of slavery in the U.S. Civil War as a "general strike of the slaves," recognizing their withdrawal of labour as commodity producers. * Sylvia Wynter, who referred to this "new world enslaved class" as the "plantation proletariat," seeing them as "the most thoroughly modern social class". At the heart of McNally's analysis is the concept of the "chattel proletariat," which he describes as the "pivot point" of his analysis. This concept challenges the idea that the proletariat must mean "free workers". He demonstrates that enslaved people were economically bonded to capital, much like "free" labourers are bonded by economic necessity, with both forms of labour exploited for surplus value. Contrary to common belief, enslaved workers on Atlantic plantations "regularly used the strike weapon," engaging in collective acts like mass strikes (e.g., Toussaint Louverture's call, Bussa's rebellion, the 1831 Jamaica strikes, and Du Bois's "general strike"). These actions lead McNally to assert they were "among the foremost innovators in mass strikes" and should be recognized as part of the proletariat, necessitating a rewriting of modern labour history. McNally incorporates the insights of Marxist feminists and social reproduction theorists, emphasizing the "life-making" aspect of the chattel proletariat. He highlights that enslaved Black women not only produced commodities but also performed the essential, gendered labour of reproducing human existence. He also stresses the "necessity of theory" in historical analysis, arguing that empirical approaches alone cannot grasp "collective social processes" without a broader theoretical framework of commodity and social relationships. This book represents a significant confrontation with racial capitalism, weaving together McNally's long-standing interests in political economy and anti-racist commitments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies [https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies]

This is a powerful new account of a chapter in history that is crucial to understand, yet often overlooked. For 150 years, from the reign of Louis XIV to the downfall of Napoleon, France was an aggressive imperial power in South Asia, driven by the pursuit of greatness and riches. Through their East India company and state, the French established a far-reaching empire in India, only to see their dominant position undermined by conflict with Indian rulers, competition from other European nations, and a series of fatal strategic errors. Exploding the myth of a benign French presence on the subcontinent, Robert Ivermee's extensive research reveals how France's Indian empire relied on war-making, conquest, opportunistic alliances, regime change and slavery to pursue its ambitions. He considers influential French figures' reactions to the collapse of the imperial project, not least their deployment of new ideas, like freedom and the rights of man, to justify fresh ventures of domination--even as colonial authorities failed to acknowledge the equality of French India's diverse indigenous peoples, both before and after the French Revolution. From great power rivalry to informal empire and entrenched inequalities, Glorious Failure: The Forgotten History of French Imperialism in India [https://bookshop.org/a/12343/9780197837818] (Oxford UP, 2025) tackles topics that remain vital and urgent in today's world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies [https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies]