'Greater India' and the Indian Expansionist Imagination, C. 1885-1965: The Rise and Decline of the Idea of a Lost Hindu Empire - Hardcover

by Jolita Zabarskaite (Author)

Historical thinking has a politics that shapes its ends. While at least two generations of scholars have been guided into their working lives with this axiom as central to their profession, it is somewhat of a paradox that historiography is so often nowadays seen as a matter of intellectual choices operating outside the imperatives of quotidian politics, even if the higher realms of ideological inclinations or historiographical traditions can be seen to have played a role. The politics of historical thinking, if acknowledged at all, is seen to belong to the realms of nonprofessional ways of the instrumentalisation of the past.

This series seeks to centre the politics inherent in historical thinking, professional and non-professional, promoted by states, political organisations, 'nationalities' or interest groups, and to explore the links between political (re-)education, historiography and mobilisation or (sectarian?) identity formation. We hope to bring into focus the politics inherent in historical thinking, professional, public or amateur, across the world today.

Advisory Board:

Caroline Arni, University of Basel

Amar Baadj, American University Cairo

Berber Bevernage, University of Ghent

Federico Finchelstein, New School for Social Research, New York

Kavita Philip, University of California Irvine

Ilaria Porciani, University of British Columbia

Dhruv Raina, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Jakob Tanner, University of Zürich

Author Biography

Jolita Zabarskaite, Heidelberg University.