Sudhir Chella Rajan teaches political theory and environmental policy at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. The author of The Enigma of Automobility: Democratic Politics and Pollution Control, he was previously Senior Fellow at the Tellus Institute.
Offers important clues for comparative analysis, as it addresses
the legacy of colonialism while examining the different corruption
‘syndromes’ that characterize developing and developed countries.
The description of petty corruption in the former countries is
fascinating, as are the observations around the institutionalized
privileges in developed ones.
*British Journal of Criminology*
A much-needed breath of fresh air…Breaks with the established and
repetitive modes of writing about corruption…Rajan’s book is indeed
very ambitious, and a joy to read…Can be recommended to all who
seek a more critical perspective on systemic corruption and elite
power over the long durée.
*Journal of Extreme Anthropology*
This provocative, deeply informed, and beautifully written book
brings the sweep of history and transdisciplinary wisdom to bear on
corruption, one of the perennial puzzles of human sociality.
*Arjun Appadurai, author of Fear of Small Numbers*
A brilliant and wide-ranging reconsideration of the phenomenon of
corruption. Rajan does not see corruption merely as individual
pathology, but imaginatively links it to the material and
intellectual operation of power in societies. He then applies this
framework to provide a unique window on the long-term organisation
of corruption in India. The book is a wonderful provocation that
breaks new ground.
*Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Ashoka University*
Rajan’s engrossing account of systemic corruption—the grand malady
of our times—is audacious in its theoretical and empirical reach.
This provocative study moves fluently across disciplines and over
millennia to show how injustice is concealed in plain view: coded
into common sense, artifacts, rituals, and ruling ideas.
*Amita Baviskar, Institute of Economic Growth, India*
Is corruption equal to the use of public office for private gain,
as is commonly argued? Or is it also anchored in the cultural
practices of a society? Here is the first systematic argument about
how corruption and culture are related. The claim is not that some
cultures are incorrigibly corrupt, but that elites use cultural
practices, a publicly shared societal resource, for private
benefit. A riveting argument!
*Ashutosh Varshney, author of Battles Half Won: India’s
Improbable Democracy*
An innovative contribution to studying longue durée histories of
the region through the very specific but also expansive phenomenon
of corruption.
*Journal of Asian Studies*
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