About the Book

This book takes its readers on a voyage of discovery. Here is modern Bangladesh: the life of its villages, its farms and fields, its city slums and elites, its waterways, its cultural heritage and the diversity of Bengali tradition all threatened by the emergence of a less tolerant version of Islam.

Day labourers and rickshaw drivers, maidservants and prostitutes, child labourers and garment workers, landlords and politicians, criminals and students, all engage us in their lives. We range through the watery landscapes of Barisal to the plains of North Bengal and the hills of Chittagong. We visit the strongholds of fundamentalism. And we also meet women fighting for education, as well as idealists and freedom fighters.

The author shows how political struggle has now turned into a desperate battle for the spirit of Bengal, which has become a battleground between the liberal humanism of a rooted Bengali culture and the disciplined austerities of Islam. The tension between the contending forces gives this book a powerful resonance that goes far beyond the specifics of Bangladesh to wherever there is conflict between traditional cultures and the forces of globalism.

About the Author

Jeremy Seabrook

Contents

Contents
Acknowledgements
1. Arrival
2. South
3. South West
4. Dhaka
5. North West
6. South East
7. Two Festivals
8. In Conclusion

Commendations

"Jeremy Seabrook‘s book is a beautifully written account of the complex struggles over livelihood, identity and politics in Bangladesh. Through interviews with people across the country he vividly captures their hopes, fears, sorrows and spirit and brings alive the story of Bangladesh -- the dream of the liberation war, the post-liberation cycle of frustrations and renewals, the emergence of a wealthy new elite, a leadership devoid of ideology, and the continuing battle between fundamentalist and secular forces over the interpretation of religion and culture. The nuanced description of individual dilemmas and perspectives in Bangladesh in the larger context of globalization makes this study a timely and valuable contribution to the current debates on globalization and development." - Rounaq Jahan, Professor, Columbia University, New York

"An impressively coherent volume" - Latin American Research Review

"The author eminently and lucidly projects secular culture … the book’s readability is an asset" - Journal of Third World Studies