Publications
CURRENT PUBLICATIONS
BACK TO BASICS: A J.C. KUMARAPPA READER
Edited by Pranjali Bandhu with an Introduction by T.G. Jacob
Studera Press, New Delhi, 2021 (second revised and expanded edition)
978-81-947252-7-5; pb; pp. 610; Rs. 995
This volume puts together selected writings by the Gandhian economist J.C. Kumarappa in the contemporary context of aggressive neoliberal economics being executed by global corporations with national governments in the role of able facilitators. The selection covers themes like Kumarappa’s economic thought, his politics of anti-imperialism and world peace, his views on religion—particularly on Christianity—his ideas about education, science, agriculture, the village economy and the land question, cottage and large-scale industries, and on the socialist models presented by the then Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. Self-reliance and sustainability are vital themes, in short an economy of permanence.
ENCOUNTERING THE ADIVASI QUESTION – SOUTH INDIAN NARRATIVES by P. Bandhu and T.G. Jacob
Studera Press, New Delhi, 2019
978-93-85883-92-7; HB and as e-book; pp. 356; Rs 1795
The main problem facing most Adivasi groups in the country is displacement and loss of their own original habitats and livelihood through ‘development’ projects like dams, tourism and wildlife sanctuaries. By generally categorising them as girijan (mountain dwellers), vanavasis (forest dwellers), or tribal (with its connotations of primitive and backward), or even the popular jangli (wild), in official parlance and in the mass media, they are robbed of their identity, dignity and rights as among the first peoples of this subcontinent, who earlier enjoyed economic and political freedom and autonomy in the form of self-rule. All over India the process of uprooting indigenous people from their rich culture is on – the disruption of a way of life, fundamental to which is the belief that it is not the earth which belongs to man, but man who belongs to the earth.
NATIONAL QUESTION IN INDIA: CPI DOCUMENTS 1942-1947. Edited and with an Introduction by T.G. Jacob.
Studera Press, Delhi, 2017 (second revised edition)
978-93-85883-36-1; HB; pp. 250; Rs. 1495
The Communist parties today have adopted a somewhat different perspective on the national question in the subcontinent from earlier days of the fateful pre-1947 period. After an initial neglect of this crucial question, in the wake of the Pakistan demand by the Muslim League the CPI began to uphold the right of self-determination of various nationalities including their right to secede within the framework of a united India. Post-independence the Communist parties have become staunch upholders of “national integration.” While analyzing these positional changes the Introduction by T.G. Jacob throws light on contemporary aspects of the national question, which is in the forefront of political dynamics.
WAR AND NATIONAL LIBERATION: CPI DOCUMENTS 1939-1945. Edited and with an Introduction by P. Bandhu and T.G. Jacob.
Studera Press, Delhi, 2017 (second revised edition)
978-93-85883-35-4; pp. 312; HB; Rs 1795
The documents in this volume voice the CPI side of the story of their stance on the Second World War and the Quit India movement in the background of the rising demand for national self-determination in the subcontinent. The CPI has had to face the charge of being traitors and Soviet agents during World War II. But rightist rhetoric and fake nationalism apart, the CPI leadership had a full-fledged theory and practice for its unconditional support to the imperialist war efforts. The Introduction throws light on the International Communist Movement’s role in influencing the change in line of the Communist Parties from “imperialist war” to “people’s war” and its disastrous consequences in many countries including India.
These two volumes of Communist Party of India documents fill a crucial gap in the controversial pre-independence period of the history of the undivided Communist Party and movement in the subcontinent.
LEFT TO RIGHT: DECLINE OF COMMUNISM IN INDIA by T.G. Jacob
Empower India Press, New Delhi, 2012. (Translated into Malayalam by P.T. Thomas and Noble Paikada under the title Idathu Ninnu Valathottu and published by Thejas Books, Kozhikode, 2015)
Pb; pp. 278; Rs 400
With academic rigour and objectivity this book addresses the acute crises and dilemmas of the Indian Left since its origins to the present. The internecine ideological battles and hair-splitting debates that characterized communism in India are put under the scanner with empathy. The divergent streams within it are looked at in terms of the broad character of their conflicts as well as their commonalities concerning basic theoretical postulates. It is a critique with a difference, both content and method wise. With meticulous care the author aims to counteract some of the tired interpretations being bandied about by the skin-deep Marxist historiographers for the failure of communism to take root in the country.
REFLECTIONS ON THE CASTE QUESTION: THE DALIT SITUATION IN SOUTH INDIA by T.G. Jacob and P. Bandhu.
Odyssey, Ootacamund, 2009 (third revised edition)
978-81-900615-4-4; pp. 296; Rs. 545
This volume studies the caste factor in the four South Indian States of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The emphasis is on rural areas where the conflict is more visible, recognising that migration, urbanisation and ghettoisation are linked to the bleak rural situation and the pattern of industrialisation. The various social and political movements and their stance on the Dalit question are presented together with the self-organisation attempts of the Dalit masses. The impact of globalization on the condition of Dalits is explored. The conclusion of the authors is that the Dalit masses (as the Adivasi masses) need to forge out independent paths that at the same time hold out prospects of unity with all other social forces which realize that development based on not just an anti-feudal, but also an anti-imperialist paradigm, alone can bring deliverance from perdition.
EASTERN MARXISM AND OTHER ESSAYS by S.N. Nagarajan
Edited by T.G. Jacob and P. Bandhu
Odyssey, Ootacamund, 2008.
978-81-900615-3-7; pp. 220; Rs. 445
This is a collection of essays, written in the 1980s and 1990s by veteran communist S.N. Nagarajan. In these, S.N. connects European Marxist theory with progressive and democratic trends within Indian socio-religious philosophy, specifically the social philosophy of Tamil Vaishnavism. On this basis he formulates a critique of Marxist theory and points out lacunae, which are directly responsible for the debacles faced in the construction of socialism in the West as well as the East. By incorporating traditional ‘Eastern’ wisdom including some of the ideas of Gandhi and Mao into Marxist theory he thinks we have a weapon, an ideological tool, which would help mankind forge a path towards an egalitarian social order that is non-exploitative vis-à-vis nature as well. Hence the term ‘Eastern Marxism.’
THE TIBETAN SAGA FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION by Pranjali Bandhu
Odyssey, Ootacamund, 2007
81-900615-2-6; pp. 263; Rs. 495
This book delineates the historical evolution of Tibet as a nation and its relationship to the Chinese nation. The Chinese approach, particularly of the Chinese Communist Party, to the question of Tibet is taken up for detailed analysis. The social, economic, cultural and political matrices of current Chinese control and exploitation are explored to drive home the point of Tibet’s colonial status. Tibetans’ struggle for survival and self-determination, particularly of the community-in-exile, is taken up for analysis. The path leading to the national liberation of Tibet has still to be worked out is the conclusion.
EARLIER PUBLICATIONS
Here we have included publications that came out with the collaboration of or were authored by those of us who later became associated with South Asia Study Centre.
TAMIL NATION IN SRI LANKA by Ron Ridenour (with Pranjali Bandhu as editor and co-author of Chapter 2). With a Foreword by T.G. Jacob
New Century Book House, Chennai, 2011
978-81-234-2011-0
Pb; pp. 180; Rs 180
This collection of articles expanded into book form took shape upon the end of the brutal civil war in Sri Lanka, May 2009. It was born in protest to the horrendous crimes against humanity and genocide conducted by many Sinhalese-led governments. It is also born in outrage at the appalling stance in favour of Sri Lankan governments’ conduct against Tamils taken by normally humanitarian and solidarity governments of Cuba and others in the progressive ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America) coalition. Beside this critique there are chapters describing Sinhalese and Tamil history before, during and after European colonisation, and the role of Tamils in the Diaspora.
SOUNDS OF VENEZUELA by Ron Ridenour
Preface by Dr. Abhay Shukla and Afterword by Pratyush Chandra
New Century Book House, Chennai, 2011
978-81-234-2010-3
Pb; pp. 80; Rs 80
Also available in Tamil translation
An impressionistic portrait of the Bolivarian revolution as it unfolded in this lush country, vibrating with change directed at bringing participatory democracy to all its people as well as full stomachs and hearts pounding with solidarity. This short book includes sketches of the revolution for women and new farmers, a firsthand look at health care and how the revolution encourages debate unique in the history of revolutions aimed at socializing society. We hear the author climb a mountain and swim in an ocean filled with delicious tasting fish.
WAYANAD: MISERY IN AN EMERALD BOWL – Essays on the Ongoing Crisis in the Cash Crop Economy – Kerala by T.G. Jacob
Vikas Adhyayan Kendra, Mumbai, 2006
Pb; pp. 142; Rs. 150
[Reworked Malayalam edition published under the title: Wayanad - Oru Haritha Dhesathinte Dhuritham. Wayanad Books, Kalpeta, 2008. Translators: K. Jayasankar and V.V. Udayakumar].
This work deals with the genesis of the ongoing crisis engulfing the cash crop economy of Wayanad. The gross inequalities in the market structure, its historical evolution, ecological and environmental devastation brought about by deforestation and overuse of chemicals in agriculture, dispossession of the Adivasis are all various aspects of this overall crisis. The book also looks at possible ways out of the crisis.
DANCING TO GLOBAL CAPITAL: MEDIA IN INDIA by Pranjali Bandhu
Vikas Adhyayan Kendra, Mumbai, 2001
Pb; pp. 145; Rs 150
Translated into Hindi by Vijay Prakash and published by Samvad, Meerut in 2006
Globalisation is running roughshod over the Indian economy, mortgaging it to the imperialist robbers and usurers. The media and communication system is being used to further this neo-colonial shackling. The book presents some aspects of how the spheres of information technology, internet, telecommunications, television, cinema, the newspaper and publishing industries are being affected in their economic structures and content by the globalisation process. The end result is before us: the spread of Brahminical, fascistic, communal, sexist, imitative, and consumerist mentalities, which are obstructing the development of democratic political set-ups and self-reliant and equitable national economies.
ALCOHOL AND KERALAM by T.G. Jacob
Unpublished English language manuscript, 2000.
Tranlated into Malayalam by A.P. Kunhamu and published by Haritham Books, Kozhikode, under the title Madyakeralam in 2002.
Alcohol is a highly visible aspect of life throughout the State of Kerala. Alcohol-related mental and physical problems, suicides included, are well-known aspects of Malayalee society. The poorer sections bear the brunt of the tragedy with workers throwing away even more than 70% of their daily income on poisonous brew. This booklet locates the alcohol business in the overall economy of the State, goes into the colonial impact on this sector, analyses the structure of the alcohol ‘industry’ [including toddy, arrack, illicit arrack and what is called Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL)], and gives a general introduction to its effects on the health of the people and society.
TALES OF TOURISM FROM KOVALAM by T.G. Jacob
Odyssey, Thiruvananthapuram, 1998
81-900615-1-8; pb; pp. 160; Rs. 180
Translated into Malayalam by A.P. Kunhamu and published by Thejas Books, Kozhikode.
The book unfolds a disturbing critique of the development/dependency model based on international tourism, taking the coastal tourist enclave of Kovalam in Keralam as an illustration. This study conclusively establishes the neo-colonial features of this model, and delineates its impact on the people of the area, who, after many years of the tourism largesse, find themselves economically and culturally in limbo.
MADRIGAL TO DIRGE – THE CASE OF KOVALAM by T.G. Jacob
EQUATIONS, Bengaluru, 1994
Pb; pp. 38; Rs 40
This monograph presents a critical voice in the midst of Kerala’s tourism wave.
CINEMA IN FOCUS: BLACK AND WHITE OF CINEMA IN INDIA. (Includes Writings by Buñuel, Rocha, Solanas, Gettino, Espinosa, Sanjinés by Pranjali Bandhu.
Odyssey, New Delhi, 1992
Pb; pp. 175; Rs. 150
Cinema, whether on the large or small screen, is a powerful medium with a double-edged function. It is a medium, like others, that can provoke the viewers in a socially conscious manner, or it can be a medium that deadens them and perpetuates cultural colonialism. Part I exposes the by and large sorry state of affairs of cinema in India, while Part II focuses on the liberationist perspective of cinema with the help of the writings of prominent filmmakers.
CHAOS IN NATION FORMATION: CASE OF PUNJAB by T.G. Jacob
Odyssey, New Delhi, 1990.
Pb; pp. 220; Rs 250
The book attempts to locate the national question in India in the context of increasing strength of neo-colonial relations of production and political centralisation. Economically, the distortions and inequality in the market structure with their resultant impact on accumulation by different classes, and the contradictions involved, operate as a powerful objective base for the emergence of national struggles in multinational India. Politically, these struggles are gaining armed confrontationist positions promising a protracted character to them.
RED SKY OVER ANDES – Committee in Support of the Peruvian Revolution, Delhi, 1986
Pb; pp. 34
“We are anti-imperialists because we are socialists, because we are revolutionaries, because we oppose capitalism with socialism, two antagonistic systems one of which is destined to succeed the other, because in the struggle against foreign imperialisms we are fulfilling our duty of solidarity with the revolutionary masses of the world.” – Jose Carlos Mariategui.
INDIA: DEVELOPMENT AND DEPRIVATION – Neo-colonial Transformation of the Economy in a Historical Perspective by T.G. Jacob.
Massline Press, New Delhi, 1985
Pb; pp. 220; Rs 250
[Translated into Malayalam by K.N. Ramachandran and published under the title, Vikaasavum Muratippum, Kottayam, 1986.]
India, called by the British imperialists “the jewel on the British crown”, has developed into jewels on the crown of all the imperialists. The era of predatory plunder has passed, but only giving way to a highly sophisticated and far more vicious method of plunder: neo-colonialism. And this new, complicated vice- grip that holds the country and its peoples in subjugation is triggering off its own internal dynamics. This book is an attempt to grasp this transformation.
KERALAM, PUTHENCOLONIAL PATHAYILULLA ORU PINNOKKA SAMPATHVYAVASTHA by T.G. Jacob. Kottayam, 1983. (“Kerala, A Backward Economy on the Neocolonial Track,” unpublished English original)
This book, like the above title, was polemical in nature challenging the validity of the semi-feudalism, semi-colonialism thesis of the CPI (M-L) political programme.