The Bookpointindia

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India has always been a land of contrasts and marvels. Today it contrives to be a functioning democracy in the midst of a society that remains inherently hierarchical. In order to grasp this paradox in all its dimensions, Jean Alphonse Bernard resolved to revisit the realities of India now in the company of Alexis de Tocqueville ( 1805-59). Tocqueville in India explores the enduring dialogue between the State and Society. Following neither Fukuyama nor Huntingdon, this book should attract the attention of those concerned by Indian issues as well as every reader interested in political philosophy or world affairs.

Jean Alphonse Bernard’s career in the French Treasury Department took him to New York, Copenhagen, Moscow, New Delhi (1960-64) and Kuwait. He returned to India after retirement and has since devoted many years to a study of politics in the subcontinent and political philosophy in general. The author of a number of books and articles in India in French, he wrote Tocqueville in India in English in order to present it directly to the broadest possible audience.

List of Illustrations; List of Tables; Preface; Introduction
PART ONE
1.Tocqueville in India;
2. Society v. State;
3. Society as Caste, Caste as Society;
4.The Unassuming Revolution;
5.The State as an Autonomous Actor

PART TWO THE FOUR CORNERS OF INDIA
6. Tocqueville Travels to Bihar;
7.Turmoil In A Forward State;
8.Tamil Nadu- A Nation in the Making;
9. Kerala, A Society That is “Civil”
10. A Mid-Journey Session

PART THREE POLITICS, POWER AND POLITY
11. Yet They Vote;
12. Is India a Nation?
13. The Empire of Democracy;
14. Democracy and Discrimination;
15. Religions and Secularism
16. The Highest Good

FRENCH WRITINGS ON INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

"Tocqueville was, of course, a famous world traveler. Though, like Marx, he never visited India, also like Marx this did not deter him from writing about it with remarkable insight. Jean Alphonse Bernard has, of course, visited India and imagined what Tocqueville would have perceived had he done so. He has, in this innovative way, cast a fresh light on both the fantasies about and the realities of contemporary Indian political life." Paul Brass

Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Relations, University of Washington, Seattle