{"product_id":"living-class-in-urban-india-9780813583914","title":"Living Class in Urban India","description":"\u003cb\u003eHonorable mention, 2018 Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize from the South Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Many Americans still envision India as rigidly caste-bound, locked in traditions that inhibit social mobility. In reality, class mobility has long been an ideal, and today globalization is radically transforming how India's citizens perceive class. \u003ci\u003eLiving Class in Urban India\u003c\/i\u003e examines a nation in flux, bombarded with media images of middle-class consumers, while navigating the currents of late capitalism and the surges of inequality they can produce. Anthropologist Sara Dickey puts a human face on the issue of class in India, introducing four people who live in the \"second-tier\" city of Madurai: an auto-rickshaw driver, a graphic designer, a teacher of high-status English, and a domestic worker. Drawing from over thirty years of fieldwork, she considers how class is determined by both subjective perceptions and objective conditions, documenting Madurai residents' palpable day-to-day experiences of class while also tracking their long-term impacts. By analyzing the intertwined symbolic and economic importance of phenomena like wedding ceremonies, religious practices, philanthropy, and loan arrangements, Dickey's study reveals the material consequences of local class identities. Simultaneously, this gracefully written book highlights the poignant drive for dignity in the face of moralizing class stereotypes. Through extensive interviews, Dickey scrutinizes the idioms and commonplaces used by residents to justify class inequality and, occasionally, to subvert it. Along the way, \u003ci\u003eLiving Class in Urban India\u003c\/i\u003e reveals the myriad ways that class status is interpreted and performed, embedded in everything from cell phone usage to religious worship.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Sara Dickey\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Rutgers University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/14\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 282\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.84lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.59d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780813583914\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSARA DICKEY is a professor of anthropology at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. She is the author or co-editor of several books including \u003ci\u003eCinema and the Urban Poor in South India\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHome and Hegemony: Domestic Service and Identity Politics in South and Southeast Asia\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSouth Asian Cinemas: Widening the Lens\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rutgers University Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":40180661518451,"sku":"9.78E+12","price":37.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_e3de9ec3-16be-4247-8496-76cc97ba4110.jpg?v=1655471549","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/living-class-in-urban-india-9780813583914","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}