{"product_id":"spectacle-state-how-hindutva-shapes-feeling-and-culture","title":"Spectacle State: How Hindutva Shapes Feeling and Culture","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow Hindutva shapes feeling and culture — a study of political power not as ideology but as spectacle, from one of India's leading cultural theorists.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn today's India, power does not merely govern. It marches, blares, dances and displays itself in colour, sound and action. From the beat of the drum and the glare of the loudspeaker to the rise of the bulldozer and the spread of the angry Hanuman, politics surrounds us — intense, sensorial, immediate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eSpectacle State\u003c\/em\u003e, Brahma Prakash looks past speeches and slogans, moving instead through vivid scenes of everyday life to show how emotion itself has been claimed. It is in this charged space, he argues, that violence can appear in the garb of celebration, hatred as the preservation of identity, and devotion as display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTravelling between village processions, street performances, monuments, music and festivals, the book traces how fear, pride, anger and piety are produced and circulated through the most innocuous of things. It closes on a question: what happens when power and politics batter the thin walls between culture and religion to produce a new language for a whole country?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch4\u003ePraise\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“A rare and much-needed account.”\u003c\/em\u003e — \u003cstrong\u003ePankaj Mishra\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Prakash is a virtuoso of modern Indian cultural politics.”\u003c\/em\u003e — \u003cstrong\u003eZara Chowdhary\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Lucky Ones\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\n\u003ch4\u003eAbout the author\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBrahma Prakash\u003c\/strong\u003e is a cultural theorist, essayist and public intellectual based in Delhi. He teaches theatre and performance studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, and is the author of \u003cem\u003eCultural Labour: Conceptualizing the 'Folk Performance' in India\u003c\/em\u003e (2019) and \u003cem\u003eBody on the Barricades\u003c\/em\u003e (2023), which was shortlisted for the David Bradby Award. He has been a visiting fellow at Cambridge and Heidelberg, and his writing appears in \u003cem\u003eOutlook India\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eScroll\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eAl Jazeera\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eDW News\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch4\u003ePerfect for readers of\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePankaj Mishra, Christophe Jaffrelot, Arundhati Roy's non-fiction, and readers of cultural theory and contemporary Indian politics.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins India","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52045106315480,"sku":"9789373073125","price":599.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0818\/1471\/6632\/files\/spectaclestate.jpg?v=1785187262","url":"https:\/\/www.readersparadise.co\/products\/spectacle-state-how-hindutva-shapes-feeling-and-culture","provider":"Readers Paradise","version":"1.0","type":"link"}