What Happened to the Bhadralok?

by Parimal Ghosh

What Happened to the Bhadralok suggests that the arrival of new consumers of culture, drawn from the rural middle class, and the unorganized working-class and small business people from the city further accentuated the process. Whether this has led to a proper democratization of our society, is however a different question. It argues that the bhadralok of the 1950s and 1960s had inherited a left-liberal view of politics and culture, the fruition of which was the leftist upsurge in West Bengal in the end-1960s. Its decisive defeat of the left in recent years appears to have turned the bhadralok inward and made them more pragmatic. The dream of a comprehensive transformation of society, through constitutional means or otherwise, seems to have given way to a more down-to-earth approach in both, their politics, and their everyday life. This change is evident not only in their cultural behaviour, whether it is their theatre, or passion for football, but also in the way they live their lives in their neighbourhood or para, even their choice of detective stories.

212 pages, Hardcover

Published October 10, 2016