Dr. Mohan Rao, Professor, School of Social Sciences, JNU, takes on The Lottery of Birth for The Book Review. I’m drawing attention to this because it’s the first media review of TLOB. It is unfortunately behind a paywall but here is a PDF of the printed version. Excerpts below.
To understand what is structural violence and what causes it, is this remarkable book of essays … Namit Arora is an unlikely writer of a book such as this, and thus is all the more convincing … written with honesty, intelligence, sensitivity and with ease. Arora has read all the relevant literature in history, anthropology and political theory and writes for the general reader. What is significant above all, is his respect for data, skillfully analysed…
How did caste originate in India? How did colonial anthropology and laws shape it, and indeed cast it in stone? Do the Vedic scriptures both create and nurture the system, despite its immorality? Yes, indeed, finds Arora, adding to the voices of those labelled anti-national today. But how reassuring it is to find an anti-national emerging not from JNU, but from the hallowed nationalist portals of IIT! … When voices are being silenced, when debate is being stifled, we need more argumentative Indians than we have. Namit Arora’s brilliant book has contributed to this, and we must thank him for that.
Check out additional reviews of The Lottery of Birth: Outlook Magazine, 3 Quarks Daily, Nirmukta, Free Press Journal, Outlook Hindi.
Excerpts from TLOB have appeared in The Wire, Raiot, and — are you ready for it? — Swarajya!
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