Vocalizing Silence

Political Protests in Orissa, 1930-42

This book is a detailed study of the different facets of the Indian national movement in Orissa during the phase between the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Quit India Movement. It documents the role of different social groups during that period along with the social reach of these movements. It gives considerable weightage to the study of peasants and tribals and their relationship with the nationalist politics.

Vocalizing Silence: Political Protests in Orissa, 1930–42 taps a large chunk of unexplored archival and non-archival sources, within a distinct historiographic framework. The book looks into the details of both the mass movement and non–mass movement phases of the struggle in Orissa, and discusses the strategies that build a mass anti-imperialist struggle. It also discusses the role of the Left forces within the Congress-led movements and the ideological shifts that took place, keeping the hegemonic nature of the Indian freedom struggle in perspective.

This book can serve both as a textbook and as supplementary reading material for students and researchers of history, especially Orissa’s history, sociology and political science, besides being immensely useful to professionals like NGO activists, social scientists and media activists engaged in the understanding of colonial socio-political structure.