The Nation Form: Essays on Indian Nationalism

This selection of writings by Ranabir Samaddar addresses two issues in view of the nation form―its relation with democracy and the problem of governing the nation. This book not only comprises essays that stand on their own merit, but in their totality, it presents a historical summary of the nation's experience through decades―before and after Independence. There is no transcendental ideal of the nation, and to the extent that such an ideal is present, it only serves to hide the reality of the nation form. This book, thus, is not about nationalism, but about the nation from a theoretical perspective.