Acknowledgments
This book project emerged from my graduate-school days in Hawaii,
grew with my activist work in Minnesota, and matured with my freelance
journalistic and teaching assignments in India and around the world.
Inevitably, it has gained much from many of my teachers, friends, fellow
activists, students, and readers. Since it is simply impossible to acknowl-
edge the contributions of each one of them individually, I will recognize
the most crucial ones. I am deeply grateful to my teachers Jim Dator, Johan
Galtung, Jim Harpstrite, Manfred Henningsen, Robert C. Johansen, Ben
Kerkvliet, Sankaran Krishna, Gil Loescher, George Lopez, Glenn Paige,
Ebenezar Paulraj, Michael Shapiro, Carolyn Stephenson, and Phyllis Turn-
bull, who have been so generous to me with their time, energy, insights,
experiences, and resources. Special thanks are due to Professor Harry
Friedman, who took great interest in my research and writing without
limiting my intellectual freedom, advised me without imposing his opin-
ions on me, and made himself available anytime for any kind of help,
which ranged from bureaucratic paperwork to brilliant conversations
about South Asian politics. I acknowledge his kindness by dedicating this
book to his memory.
Some of my wonderful friends offered critical helps at some crucial junc-
tures of this project: Sadayappan Chidambaram, Dietrich Fischer, Monica
Ghosh, Andi Giri, Shabnam Hashmi, Joseph Patten, N. Ram, Joe Schwartz-
berg, Murugesan Vijayanand, Lynette Wageman, and Peter Yeronimuse.
The following institutions in the United States have been instrumental in
the research, writing, and manuscript preparation of this book project: the