Jnu
The Making Of A University
Rakesh Batabyal
- Jawaharlal
- Nehru
- University,
- or
- JNU
- as
- it
- is
- popularly
- known,
- is
- perhaps
- India's
- grandest
- of
- nationalist
- institutions.
- It
- embodies
- the
- spirit
- of
- an
- earlier
- nationalist
- quest
- for
- autonomous
- and
- excellent
- intellectual
- life.
- In
- the
- choice
- of
- the
- issues
- and
- the
- confidence
- with
- which
- the
- disciplinary
- boundaries
- were
- questioned,
- JNU
- tried
- to
- constitute
- itself
- as
- an
- ethical
- alter
- ego
- of
- the
- nation.JNU:
- The
- Making
- of
- a
- University
- is
- an
- examination
- of
- how
- an
- institution
- comes
- to
- life
- -
- from
- its
- conception
- in
- 1964,
- to
- 1989
- when
- it
- entered
- a
- phase
- of
- major
- transition.
- It
- brings
- to
- life
- the
- intricate
- web
- of
- relationships
- between
- the
- founding
- principles
- of
- the
- university,
- contemporary
- politics,
- social
- transformations
- and
- the
- historical
- trajectories
- of
- Indian
- intellectual
- and
- institutional
- lives.
- The
- book
- is
- a
- chronicle
- of
- how
- the
- community
- of
- scholars
- and
- students
- navigated
- contested
- domains
- of
- emerging
- disciplines
- and
- organized
- politics,
- and
- how
- they
- tried
- to
- infuse
- life
- and
- movement
- into
- them
- in
- a
- completely
- new
- and
- uninhabited
- physical
- and
- intellectual
- space.
- Packed
- with
- details
- -
- based
- on
- parliamentary
- proceedings,
- newspaper
- accounts,
- interviews,
- pamphlets
- and
- a
- host
- of
- other
- primary
- sources
- -
- and
- replete
- with
- anecdotes
- and
- a
- rare
- intimate
- knowledge,
- this
- is
- not
- just
- the
- story
- of
- a
- university;
- it
- is
- also
- an
- intellectual
- history
- of India.
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