SARG 2022

The South Asia Summer Reading Group (SARG) is an informal organization of individuals with an interest in the politics of South Asia. Over the course of this summer, we will be reading new books on South Asian politics. Each week, one member of the group will review a book, with the review to be posted on the Center for Contemporary India website.

We encourage you to read along with us, and to post your comments on the books on Twitter with SARG Twitter handle (@readsouthasia ) and with the hashtag #SARG22.

We have twelve books and the reviews/discussions will run from the week of June 26 through September 11. The schedule is posted below. Reviews will be posted directly underneath the respective book’s title. Clicking on the book title will direct you to Amazon or another resource where you can find the book.

We look forward to another summer of great reading on the politics of South Asia!

Sarg2021 books long

  1. Ijlal Naqvi​ | ​Access to Power: Electricity and the Infrastructural State in Pakistan
    REVIEWER: Rajesh Veeraraghavan
    DISCUSSANT: Chetana Sabnis
    REVIEW PUBLISHED: June 26​, 2022​
    ONLINE DISCUSSION: ​June 2​9​, 2022​

  2. Debasish Roy Chowdhury and John Keane​ | To Kill A Democracy: India's Passage to Despotism
    REVIEWER: Adam Ziegfeld 
    DISCUSSANT:  ​Feyaad Allie​    
    REVIEW PUBLISHED: ​July 3, 2022 
    ONLINE DISCUSSION: July ​6, 2022​​

  3. Scott Carney and Jason Miklian​ | The Vortex: A True Story of History's Deadliest Storm, an Unspeakable War, and Liberation
    REVIEWER: Emmanuel Teitelbaum 
    DISCUSSANT: Akshay Dixit​  ​ 
    REVIEW PUBLISHED: ​July 10, 2022
    ONLINE DISCUSSION: ​July 1​3, 2022​

  4. Shenila Khoja-Moolji​ | Sovereign Attachments: Masculinity, Muslimness, and Affective Politics in Pakistan
    REVIEWER: Sohaib Khan
    DISCUSSANT: Fahd Humayun​  ​ 
    REVIEW PUBLISHED: ​July 17, 2022​ 
    ONLINE DISCUSSION: ​July 20, 2022​

  5. Adnan Naseemullah​ | Patchwork States: The Historical Roots of Subnational Conflict and Competition in South Asia
    REVIEWER: Rumela Sen
    DISCUSSANT: Apurva Bamezai​  ​ 
    REVIEW PUBLISHED: ​July 24, 2022​​
    ONLINE DISCUSSION: ​July 2​7, 2022​

  6. Vinay Sitapati​ | India Before Modi: How the BJP Came to Power
    REVIEWER: Emmerich Davies
    DISCUSSANT: Ritika Goel​  ​ 
    REVIEW PUBLISHED: ​July 31, 2022​
    ONLINE DISCUSSION: ​August ​3, 2022​

  7. Kalaiyarasan A. & M. Vijayabaskar​ | The Dravidian Model: Interpreting the Political Economy of Tamil Nadu
    REVIEWER: Poulomi Chakrabarti
    DISCUSSANT: Deepika Padmanabhan​  ​ 
    REVIEW PUBLISHED: ​​August 7, 2022​
    ONLINE DISCUSSION: ​​August ​10, 2022​

  8. Paul Staniland​ | Ordering Violence: Explaining Armed Group-State Relations from Conflict to Cooperation
    REVIEWER: Shivaji Mukherjee
    DISCUSSANT: Aidan Milliff​  ​
    REVIEW PUBLISHED: ​​August 14, 2022​
    ONLINE DISCUSSION: ​​August 1​7, 2022​

  9. Adeel Hussain​ | Revenge, Politics and Blasphemy in Pakistan
    REVIEWER: Alexander Lee
    DISCUSSANT: Yasser Kureshi​  ​ 
    REVIEW PUBLISHED: ​​August 21, 2022​
    ONLINE DISCUSSION: ​​August 2​4, 2022​

  10. Karthick Ram Manoharan​ | Periyar: A Study in Political Atheism
    REVIEWER: Brahma Prakash
    DISCUSSANT: Vignesh Karthik KR​  ​ 
    REVIEW PUBLISHED: ​​August 28, 2022​
    ONLINE DISCUSSION: ​​August ​31, 2022​

  11. Rajesh Veeraraghavan​ | Patching Development: Information Politics & Social Change in India
    REVIEWER: Rachel Brule     
    DISCUSSANT: Syeda ShahBano Ijaz​  ​ 
    REVIEW PUBLISHED: ​​September 4, 2022​
    ONLINE DISCUSSION: ​​September ​7, 2022​

  12. Shivaji Mukherjee​ | Colonial Institutions and Civil War: Indirect Rule and Maoist insurgency in India
    REVIEWER: Yelena Biberman
    DISCUSSANT: Sarah Thompson 
    REVIEW PUBLISHED: ​​September 11, 2022   
    ONLINE DISCUSSION: ​​September 1​4, 2022