"Craig Jeffrey's lucid and insightful ethnography of young men of Meerut both challenges and helps refine our understanding of power and privilege in India by shifting the focus away from the metropolitan centers usually studied. He successfully demonstrates how the label 'Indian middle class' could only ever refer to a growing but fractured social formation. A timely and significant book." ... Read more
Dipesh Chakrabarty, Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor of History and South Asian Studies "In this gracefully written book, Craig Jeffrey draws on fine ethnography to explore the little understood world of Indian youth, for long largely neglected by scholars, illuminating what it means to be a young man with aspirations and limited opportunities in today's India. A tour de force."
John Harriss, Professor and Director of International Studies
Simon Fraser University
"Craig Jeffrey engages the classic questions on the relation between time, modernity, and discipline yet turns conventional wisdom on its head in this inspiring, witty, and deeply thoughtful book. Combining meticulous field research with a theoretical analysis of the highest order, he opens new pathways for understanding the intersection of neoliberal economy, democratic politics, and the sociality of masculinity in India. The book is a must read for those interested in contemporary India and in critical political theory."
Veena Das, Krieger-Eisenhower Professor Show Less