Paradoxes of the Popular: Crowd Politics in Bangladesh

265 Pages·2019·4.418 MB·English

by  Nusrat Sabina Chowdhury

PARADOXES OF THE POPU LAR
SOUTH ASIA IN MOTION
EDITOR
Thomas Blom Hansen
EDITORIAL BOARD
Sanjib Baruah
Anne Blackburn
Satish Deshpande
Faisal Devji
Christophe Jaffrelot
Naveeda Khan
Stacey Leigh Pigg
Mrinalini Sinha
Ravi Vasudevan
NUSRAT SABINA CHOWDHURY
PA RA D OX ES
O F T H E P O P UL A R
Crowd Politics in Bangladesh
STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2019 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Ju nior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of
Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca on acid- free, archival- quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Chowdhury, Nusrat Sabina, author.
Title: Paradoxes of the popular : crowd politics in Bangladesh /
Nusrat Sabina Chowdhury.
Description: Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2019. |
Series: South Asia in motion | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018057612 (print) | LCCN 2018059912 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781503608863 (cloth ; alk. paper) | ISBN 9781503609471 (pbk. ; alk.
paper) | ISBN 9781503609488 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Protest movements—Bangladesh. | Crowds—Political aspects—
Bangladesh. | Political culture—Bangladesh. | Bangladesh—Politics and
government.
Classification: LCC HN690.6.A8 (ebook) | LCC HN690.6.A8 C4685 2019 (print) |
DDC 303.6095492—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018057612
Cover design: Rob Ehle
Cover photo: Tongi Railway Station, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Md. Akhlas Uddin |
Getty Images.
Typeset by Westchester Publishing Ser vices in 10.75/15 Adobe Caslon
For my crowd
in Dhaka, Phulbari, and Chicago
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CONTENTS
Notes on Translation and Transliteration ix
Acknowl edgments xi
Introduction 1
1 Picture- Thinking 31
2 Seeing Like a Crowd 63
3 Accidental Politics 95
4 Crowds and Collaborators 127
5 The Body of the Crowd 161
Conclusion 199
Notes 209
Works Cited 219
Index 237
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NOTES ON TRANSLATION AND TRANSLITERATION
Throughout the book, I have followed the standard spelling for Bangla
words as they are written in Bangladesh. I have avoided the International
Phonetic Alphabet for the ease in reading for both Bengali and non- Bengali
readers.
All translations from Bangla, u nless other wise noted, are mine.