Political Economy of Colonial and Post-Colonial India analyses critical aspects of the political economy of the colonial and the post-colonial period and focuses on the debates on the transition from one to the other. The volume discusses the Great Divergence, where Britain s shooting forward was predicated upon the devastation of the colonial economy, and instruments used for achieving the subjugation of the Indian economy, such as British monetary policy and particularly the Reserve Bank of India. A major contribution of the book is to study the politics of the two basic contending classes the capitalist class and the working class as represented by the Left. It is this that determined which class perspective exercised ideological hegemony or influence over the national movement and, consequently, over the post-colonial Indian state. An examination of the Indian national movement s idea of India , implemented by the post-colonial Indian state led by Jawaharlal Nehru forms a core theme of the book. It also discusses Indira Gandhi shaping the Indian economy, taking the Nehruvian path to its logical conclusion and then initiating the shift to economic reform. Finally, it discusses at length the growing challenge of perhaps the longest lasting legacy of colonialism religious communalism which threatens India s integrity today. Contents: Preface. Introduction. Part I. The Colonial Situation: 1. The Return of the Colonial Perspective in Indian Economic History: The Last Phase of Colonialism in India. 2. The Great Divergence: How Colonial India Made Modern Britain. 3. The Colonial Experience of India and Indonesia: Some Comparisons. 4. Controversy over Formation of Reserve Bank of India, 1927 35. 5. Colonial Agriculture: A Case Study of the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam. The Capitalist Class: 6. Imperialism, Nationalism and the Nation State: Economic and Political Position of the Indian Capitalist Class. 7. Planning and the Public Sector: Perspectives of the Capitalists and the Nehruvian Left. The Working Class: 8. The Dilemmas of Communism in India: The Workers and Peasants Parties. 9. The Indian Working Class and the National Movement. The Communal Question: 10. Colonialism and Communalism: A Legacy Haunting India Today. 11. RSS and School Education: The Use of State Power. 12. An Introduction to The Writings of Bipan Chandra: The Making of Modern India: From Marx to Gandhi. Part II. Post-Colonial Political Economy: 13. Challenges to the Social Sciences in the Twenty-first Century: Perspectives from the Global South. 14. Jawaharlal Nehru: Implementing the Idea of India. 15. Jawaharlal Nehru s Economic Vision for India. 16. Indira Gandhi: Shaping the Indian Economy from Increased Dirigisme to Economic Reform. Select Bibliography. Index.