Description: This volume of new interdisciplinary essays is aimed at providing some insights into the emerging field of masculinities and the challenges that it poses to the Indian male. Masculinities research has evolved considerably over the past three decades and demonstrates that men are not an homogenous group but are instead diverse--many masculinities. Masculinity can no longer be studied from just a North American or European perspective but rather from that of every part of the world. Canvassing a broad array of aspects such as the construction of identity and the negotiation of power and sexuality, these essays aim to show how masculinities are experienced, performed and embodied within India.
Brief description: The late K. Moti Gokulsing was a retired reader and senior visiting research fellow, University of East London. He was the founder and co-editor of the journal, South Asian Popular Culture and lived in London.
Review Quotes: "a very useful contribution to the existing literature on masculinities in India, but also, a very enjoyable read. The richly conversational and yet theoretically rigorous style of writing represented will no doubt make the book appealing both to undergraduates beginning to explore an interest in these topics, and to scholars researching this area"-The Royal Society for Asian Affairs; "Here is an outstanding collection which examines the nature of Indian masculinity from a rich variety of perspectives, historical, sociological, psychological. This book will become an important tool in understanding the tensions in modern Indian society and ways of resolving them"-Lord Meghnad Desai, Professor Emeritus, London School of Economics; "This collection edited by Rohit K. Dasgupta and K. Moti Gokulsing is one of the most ambitious and comprehensive stock taking of South Asian masculinity undertaken in recent times. With an attractive blend of contributions from some well known names and a number of young scholars, the book spans ethnography, history, literary criticism and culture studies to look at Indian masculinity as a contested domain, which allows the play of some of the core fantasies of society and, at the same time becomes the site of experiments with the esoteric or the arcane."-Ashis Nandy, Honorary Research Fellow, CSDS; "This ground breaking collection provides new frames of reference for understanding South Asian masculinities in the context of colonialism, post-colonialism and contemporary consumer culture."-Richard Allen, New York University.