Rethinking Contemporary Indian Realities with European Marxist Philosophers

This book explores anew the works of Lukacs, Gramsci, Benjamin, Adorno, Althusser and Hall, with examples drawn from the local and national contexts in India. The exploration is rooted in the process of rethinking both their concepts and the contexts of the contemporary Indian socio-cultural and political realities. This highly distinctive book conducts a novel exchange between Western philosophy (in the form of the Frankfurt School and other schools) and Indian philosophy, mediated throughout by the concrete realities of Indian culture. Gopalan’s often wry and trenchant insights bring delight and illumination to the reader. – Kenneth Surin, Duke University, USA A deep reading of Western Marxism, in conversation with historic texts from India. This juxtaposition constantly reminds us about the importance of place and context in which Gopalan Ravindran conducted his reading. A laudable contribution to theory and method. – Vibodh Parthasarathi, CCMG, Jamia Millia Islamia, India This book aims to apply the concepts of European Marxist philosophers to unravel the ideological underpinnings of contemporary India’s social and political realities. The works of Georg Lukacs, Antonio Gramsci, Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, Louis Althusser and Stuart Hall are explored anew with examples drawn from the local and national contexts in India. This book will be a unique addition to the rich corpus of works on the contributions of the aforementioned philosophers, as it engages with their concepts for the first time from Indian perspective, making it an interesting read for students, faculty members and research scholars in philosophy, political science, cultural studies, sociology, media studies, Asian studies, critical theory and Marxism across the world.