New titles from Tulika Lineages of the Present: Political Essays AlJAZAHMAD Senior Fellow, Centre of Contemporary Studies Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, NewOelhi The book brings together a selection of nine essays and lectures, and an interview, that the author has composed over a period of roughly fifteen years. Blending theoretical concerns with historical narratives, Lineages of the Present, covers the main political concerns of our time: imperialism and nationalism; classes and ideologies; democracy, dictatorship and fascism. In a lengthy study of Maulana Azad, Professor Ahmad reflects on the political limitations of the Muslim nationalist elite during the struggle for Independence, and challenges the well-known interpretations of Azad's politics and scholarship. In three overlapping essays, the author offers a radically new reading of Antonio Gramsci, the legendary Italian Marxist who spent the last ten years of his life in a fascist prison; reflects on the form fascism takes in those semi-industrialized societies which have powerful classical traditions in their past but have failed to make a social revolution after national independence, suggesting some fresh perspectives for understanding Hindutva; and develops the idea that the struggle in contemporary India is not merely between 'communalism* and 'secularism', but between socialist construction and fascism of one kind or another. The interview that concludes the book summarizes the author's thinking on a number of themes that surface in the book over and over again. Traversing national and continental boundaries, Lineages of the Present dissect a number of our modern pathologies form the perspective of socialist democracy. CONTENTS Preface • Acknowledgements • Imperialism and Progress • Class, Nation, and State: Intermediate Classes in Peripheral Societies"* Democracy and Dictatorship in Pakistan • Azad's Careers: Roads Taken and Not Taken • In the Mirror of Urdu: Recompositions of Nation and Community, 1947-65 • Fascism and National Culture: Reading Gramsci in the Days of Hindutva • On the Ruins of Ayodhya: Communalist Offensive and Recovery of the Secular • Structure and Ideology in Italian Fascism • Reconciling Derrida: 'Spectres of Marx* and Deconstructive Politics • Culture, Nationalism, and the Role of Intellectuals: An Interview • Index Demy8vo Hardcover xviii+440 pages Rs550 Special offer-. Individual subscribers to Social Scientist are eligible for a discount ofRs 140 on the list price of the above book. To order a copy, please send a demand draft/money order for Rs 410 in the name of Tulika Print Communication Services to the address given below, along with your name & mailing address, and Social Scientist subscription number. Now in paperback! IRFAN HABIB Essays in Indian History: Towards a Marxist Perception Price: Rs 195 Special offer'. Individual subscribers to Social Scientist are eligible for a discount ofRs 45 on the list price of the above book. To order a copy, please send a demand draft/money order for Rs 150 in the name of Tulika Print Communication Services to the address given below, along withyour name & mailing address, and Social Scientist subscription number. Tulika, 35A/1 (II floor), Shahpurjat, New Delhi 110 0<;. Tel: 621 7999