India is rich in its oral tradition. Its antiquity defies historical inquiry. Indian folklore offers diversity in the forms of expression while retaining the unity of theme, i.e. Dharma., The forms may be changing periodically to suit the times. The purpose of these popular art forms has been the same in a way as the classical arts. They provide education through entertainment. Andhra Desa, comprising roughly the present state of Andhra Pradesh, is very significant in its folk tradition in variety of forms. Numerous producing and service castes so far maintained their own sub castes of bards to retain their collective memory of the community and family histories besides propagating the Puranic knowledge and stories from great epics. The dependent sub-castes who have been so far preserving these arts and ancient knowledge are speedily disappearing due to lack of patronage and changing life-style. In this context, this book, the result of a painstaking research involving lot of field work may serve as a tribute to those unselfish barefoot narrators and preservers of history of bygone ages.

"A masterful study. . . . It does for ecological history what the writings of Marx and Engels did for the study of class relations and social production."—Michael Adas, Rutgers University

The issues coveredin this volume include: masses, classes and the state; social origins of specific social movements; militant unionism; tribal solidarity movements; depressed classes; the women's movement and the state; and environmental and religious movements.

Offers a look at the causes and effects of poverty and inequality, as well as the possible solutions. This title features research, human stories, statistics, and compelling arguments. It discusses about the world we live in and how we can make it a better place.

Throughout the 10 years of this research we have shown the strength and promise of local traditional food systems to improve health and well-being.

This book explores how colonial policies converted itinerant groups on the one hand into a source of cheap labour and on the other into a category known as criminal tribes . It also examines missionary activity especially the Salvation Army, in the Madras Presidency in the nineteenth century.

Deze bundel gaat over de vorming van identiteit door het samenspel van etniciteit, nationalisme en de effecten van globalisering. De essays in Crossroad Civilisations: Ethnicity, Nationalism and Globalism in Asia maken de gelaagdheid en de complexiteit hiervan duidelijk.