Contents
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction xvii
PART 1
Section 1: Political Philosophy
1. Philosophy and Politics in Hegel 3
2. Functionalism in Contemporary Political Science:
Its Ideological Essence 11
3. A Critique of Behaviouralism in Contemporary
Political Science 20
4. The Issue of Democracy and the “Clash of
Civilizations” Thesis Today: Some Reflections 37
5. The Debate on Humanism and its Consequences
for Culture, Philosophy and Politics in the 20th
Century 44
6. Political Science in India: Some Reflections on
the state of the Discipline 52
7. Understanding the Idea of Justice: Contending
Frames of Inquiry 58
8. The Problem of Identity in the context of
Postmodernism: Some Critical Reflections 66
9. The West contra East or the West and the East?
Reengaging a contentious Issue 77
10. Democracy, Difference, and the Politics of Reason 92
11. Rabindranath Tagore’s Understanding of the
West and its Contemporary Relevance 108
12. Terrorism and the Modernity-Identity Debate:
Some Critical Reflections 120
13. Political Theory in India: Some Reflections on
the Current Scenario 134
14. Against Eurocentrism, contra Nativism: In
Defence of a New Perspective for the Indian
Academics 154
15. From Ideological Contest to Civilizational Clash?
Reexamining the World Today 177
16. The Postcolonial Challenge: Some Critical Notes 187
17. Indigenous Knowledge and the Challenge of
Modernity: Conflict or Conflation? 200
Section 2: Indian Politics
18. Dialectics and Indian Constitution 209
19. Rajni Kothari and the “Centre-Periphery” Model:
A Critique 221
20. US Neocolonialism and Its Policy of
Destabilization of India in Recent Times: An
Appraisal 241
21. Democracy, Revolution and The Question of
State Power in Developing Countries 264
22. Marxism, Ideology and State Power in India 277
23. The Left in India and The Question of Political
Power: Some Unresolved theoretical Questions 289
24. The Left in India and the Relevance of Gramsci 298
25. Indian People’s Struggle against Exploitation: The
Emerging Perspectives in the New Century 308
26. India: The Growing Crisis 320
27. The Ideological Challenge of Globalization
before the Indian Left and its Relevance for
the Third World 327
28. The Crisis of Stability and Political Vision in West
Bengal: Notes in Troubled Times 342
29. The Left’s Exit: Notes for Consideration of All
Concerned 348
30. Reading Lenin in Candlelight: The West Bengal
Assembly Polls, 2011 and the Retreat of the Left 355
31. Organization sans Ideology? Some Thoughts for
the Left 370
32. CPI and the Pakistan Question: Reviewing a
Contested Issue 382
33. India’s Democracy: Towards an Unknown Future? 396
34. Ajit Roy’s Gramscian Vision of Politics and its
Relevance in Today’s India 407
35. How the Communist Party of India emerged as
the Largest Opposition to Congress in 1951-52 414
36. Diagnosing Indian Marxism: A Mistaken
Understanding of History 421
37. P.C. Joshi and the History of Indian Communism 435
38. The Present Political Scenario: Emerging
Economic and Cultural Challenges 443
PART 2
Section 3: Marxism
39. From Ideology to the Science of Politics: An
Inquiry into the Marxist Foundation of Politics 455
40. Marxism and the Idea of Intellectual Commitment 477
41. Stalin, India and Some Problems of NationalLiberation Movement 495
42. Marxism, Epistemology and Political Analysis:
Some Notes towards an Inquiry 530
43. Soviet Socialism and the Question of
Democracy in Recent Times 539
44. Perestroika and Destalinization: Its Implications
for Revolutionary Strategy 557
45. Socialism and the Issue of Multi-Party Democracy 566
46. The Possibilities of Marxism Reconsidered 577
47. The Crisis of Socialism: Some Notes towards a
Philosophical Inquiry 588
48. M. N. Roy’s Critique of the Comintern:
An Exercise in Bukharinism? 595
49. The Third International and Anti-Imperialist
Struggle in India: A View from the Comintern
Archives 630
50. Rosa Luxemburg on the Revolution of 1917 and
the Russian Marxists’ Assessment of the Destiny
of October Revolution: Towards a Convergence? 682
51. The Nemesis of Socialism? Some Reflections on
the Collapse of the Soviet Union 697
52. Some Notes on Rethinking Marxism for the
future of Socialism in India 709
53. Marx’s Critique of Hegel in the Paris Manuscripts
and its Philosophical Significance 716
54. M.N. Roy’s Critique of Comintern and its
Significance Today 731
55. Evolution of Rosa Luxemburg’s concept of
Revolutionary Democracy in the light of her
Gesammelte Briefe 750
56. Foreword to the Telugu edition of Moshe Lewin,
Lenin’s Last Struggle 763
57. Marx, Democracy and the Legacy of Nontraditional Marxism: from Rosa Luxemburg to
Louis Althusser 767
58. The Relevance of Rosa Luxemburg for Building
an Alternative Revolutionary Left Party in Today’s
World 794
59. Lenin’s understanding of the November
Revolution: Exploring New Perspectives 811
60. The Russian Revolution, The Third International
and the Colonial Question 835
61. Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg and the November
Revolution: The Fear they Shared 860
62. Evaluation of Rosa Luxemburg: An Examination
of the Changing Perspectives of International
Scholarship 872
63. Lenin 150: Revisiting Lenin’s Understanding of
Democracy in Post-revolutionary Russia 889
64. In Remembrance: Ajit Roy — A Forgotten
Communist Activist and Intellectual (A Birth
Centenary Tribute) 905
65. Foreword to the Telugu edition of Roger Garaudy,
Karl Marx: The Evolution of His Thought 912
66. Western Marxism and Soviet Marxism:
Conflict or Cooperation? 920