Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Nation-State and the People-Nation -- The Limits of Liberal Government -- The Political Management of Capital Accumulation -- Who Is an Indian Citizen? -- Justice: Procedural and Substantive -- A Federation of Peoples -- Rights of Minorities -- Capital and the Regional Distribution of Power -- Class, Caste, and Gender Justice.

"In ordinary usage, "state" and "nation" are often fused or employed interchangeably. This is not surprising, since in most countries of the modern world the state claims to represent the nation. As is well known, with the end of colonial empires in the decades after the Second World War, the nation emerged universally as the most legitimate receptacle of popular sovereignty. With states loudly proclaiming their identity with their respective nations, the popular idiom too has adopted the conflation. Academics, on the other hand, who are more aware of the different histories of the two concepts, prefer to distinguish between the nation and the nation-state. Since most academic discourse is carried out in India in the English language, this does not present any difficulty. But it is often not easy to make the same distinction in many Indian languages. This book argues that not only is the conflation of state and nation problematic, but even the distinction between nation and nation-state overlooks several key conceptual problems. This is not a matter of philosophical niceties. The conceptual confusions often lead to perverse political consequences. Crucially, what is missing in both ordinary and academic usages of the terms "state" and "nation" is an explicit recognition of the relation of those two terms with a third one, namely the people. It is the contention of this book that by inserting that third term and considering separately the nation-state and the people-nation, we will discover many deep and hidden aspects of Indian politics today and, in the process, obtain a better perspective on the desired future for the country"-- Provided by publisher.

English