Ranajit Guha (Books)

Ranajit Guha Books

May 23, 1923 – April 28, 2023

Ranajit Guha was an influential historian of South Asia and a founding figure of the Subaltern Studies group. His work critically examined the position of subordinate groups within colonial India, aiming to give voice to the marginalized. Guha famously defined the 'subaltern' as the demographic difference between the total Indian population and all those described as the elite. His foundational essay set the agenda for the Subaltern Studies collective, with his seminal work widely regarded as a classic.

Dominance without hegemony : history and power in colonial India

268 pages
10 hours of reading

3.9(74)Add rating

What is colonialism and what is a colonial state? In exploring these questions, Ranajit Guha points out that the South Asian colonial state was a historical paradox. Britain may have ruled India as a colony, but it never achieved hegemony over most of the population, collaborating with the nationalist elite but never persuading the masses. Thus the colonial state, as Guha defines it in this closely argued work, was a paradox--a dominance without hegemony. His work will be essential to an understanding of Indian history.