Mafia Raj: The Rule of Bosses in South Asia
By Lucia Michelutti, Ashraf Hoque, Nicolas Martin and
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About this ebook
“Mafia” has become an indigenous South Asian term. Like Italian mobsters, the South Asian “gangster politicians” are known for inflicting brutal violence while simultaneously upholding vigilante justice—inspiring fear and fantasy. But the term also refers to the diffuse spheres of crime, business, and politics operating within a shadow world that is popularly referred to as the rule of the mafia, or “Mafia Raj.”
Through intimate stories of the lives of powerful and aspiring bosses in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, this book illustrates their personal struggles for sovereignty as they climb the ladder of success. Ethnographically tracing the particularities of the South Asian case, the authors theorize what they call “the art of bossing,” providing nuanced ideas about crime, corruption, and the lure of the strongman across the world.
“Through meticulous and uniquely collaborative ethnography, Mafia Raj opens readers’ eyes to the murky world of bosses in South Asia. With unforgettable portraits of the gangsters, politicians, hustlers, and extortionists dotting the region, this is the rare scholarly account that upends our commonly accepted notions of democracy, formality, and legitimacy.” —Milan Vaishnav, author of When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics
“Why does the figure of ‘the boss,’ in its various guises, loom so large in South Asia? In answering this question, the authors of this engagingly written book make a path-breaking contribution to the study of South Asian politics.” —John Harriss, author of India: Continuity and Change in the Twenty-First Century
Lucia Michelutti
Lucia Michelutti is Professor of Anthropology at UCL. Her major research interest is the study of popular politics, religion, law and order, and violence across South Asia (North India) and Latin America (Venezuela). She is the author of The Vernacularisation of Democracy (2008) and co-authored of Mafia Raj (2018), and has published scholarly articles on caste/race, leadership, muscular politics and crime, and political experimentations. She is the convener of the MSc in Politics, Violence and Crime.
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