The essays brought together in this volume revisit the city of Mumbai and the many facets of its political life from the 1880s to the 2000s. It traces the metamorphosis of Mumbai from a colonial port city under foreign rule into a metropolis and the prime commercial centre in independent India.
Mumbais urban transition and its dramatic and continuing change in physical shape and urban morphology form the backdrop for these essays.
The essays deal with varying themes from colonial political cultures to the highly nationalist and exclusivist Hindu politics. They highlight the urban
political and socio-cultural developments of Mumbai. The topics range from power in Mumbai's mohallas, urban politics, crowd action, audiences and events, the control of prabhat pheris (patriotic songs by young people), celebrations of independence, and Congress and Right wing politics and the
Bombay riots of 1993.
The volume explores the structure of power within various localities of the city; how physical force and power structures patterned social hierarchies. As the title indicates, the essays discuss struggles within the city for power, self-expression, and identity
formation.
As a whole the essays are concerned with three themes: space, locality and identity, as they track through some of the key events of Mumbais past. It is about the people of Mumbai and how they have viewed and expressed themselves within the city and in an extended sense made the city
a distinctive identity. The essays are written in different contexts but share a common concern with the city itself as a phenomenon.
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Jim Masselos Honorary Reader in History, School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, The University of Sydney.
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