Samadarshini Bookshelf
Browse this introductory and growing list of books that we would like to share that showcases Samadarshini values. Have any other books to add to this list? Reach out to us to add books to this growing list!
Hinduism Basics
Hinduism by K. M. Sen
The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger
On Hinduism by Wendy Doniger
An Introduction to Hinduism by Gavin Flood
The Bhagavad Gita translated by Laurie Patton
Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling by Carole Satyamurti
The Upanishads translated by Patrick Olivelle
Do you Know Your Hinduism? Notes for Modern Day Hindus by Rajmohan Gandhi
Liberation Theology and Ethics
A Hindu Theology of Liberation by Anantanand Rambachan
The Advaita Worldview by Anantanand Rambachan
A Theology of Liberation by Gustavo Gutierrez
A Black Theology of Liberation by James H. Cone
Anti-caste Foundations
Annihilation of Caste by B. R. Ambedkar
Riddles in Hinduism by B. R. Ambedkar
Who Were the Shudras by B. R. Ambedkar
The Untouchables by B. R. Ambedkar
The Buddha and his Dhamma by B. R. Ambedkar
Seeking Begampura by Gail Omvedt
Dalits and the Democratic Revolution by Gail Omvedt
Ambedkar towards an Enlightened India by Gail Omvedt
Caste Matters by Suraj Yengde
Caste Pride by Manoj Mitta
Republic of Caste by Anand Teltumbde
The Persistence of Caste: The Khairlanji Murders & India’s Hidden Apartheid by Anand Teltumbde
Dalits: Past, Present and Future by Anand Teltumbde
Adivasi Perspectives
The Adivasi Will Not Dance by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar
The Adivasi Question edited by Indra Munshi
A Rogue and Peasant Slave by Shashank Kela
The Unquiet Woods: Ecological Change and Peasant Resistance in the Himalayas by Ramachandra Guha
Dalit-Bahujan Voices
How I Became a Writer by Manoranjan Byapari
The Trauma of Caste by Thenmozhi Soundarajan
Coming Out as Dalit by Yashica Dutt
Ants Among Elephants by Sujatha Gidla
Interrogating My Chandal Life by Manoranjan Byapari
The Cell and the Soul by Anand Teltumbde
Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada by Shahu Patole
Gender and Feminism
The History of Doing by Radha Kumar
Women Writing in India edited by Susie Tharu and K. Lalita
Seeing Like a Feminist by Nivedita Menon
Gendering Caste through a Feminist Lens by Uma Chakravarti
Rewriting History: The Life and Times of Pandita Ramabai by Uma Chakravarti
Women in the Hindu World by Mandrakanta Bose
Understanding Hindutva
Our Hindu Rashtra by Aakar Patel
Fascinating Hindutva: Saffron Politics and Dalit Mobilisation by Badri Narayan
Majoritarian State edited by Angana P. Chatterji, Thomas Blom Hansen & Christophe Jaffrelot
The Brotherhood in Saffron Walter Andersen & Shridhar Damle
Khaki Shorts, Saffron Flags by Tapan Basu et al.
Modi’s India by Christophe Jaffrelot
Hindu Nationalism: A Reader edited by Christophe Jaffrelot
Colonialism and Religion
Castes of Mind by Nicholas P. Dirks
Was Hinduism Invented by Brian K. Pennington
Orientalism by Edward W. Said
The Construction of Religious Boundaries by Harjot Oberoi
Colonialism and Its of Knowledge by Bernard S. Cohen
Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World by Partha Chatterjee
Hindu Nationalism: A Reader by Partha Chatterjee
Provincializing Europe by Dipesh Chakrabarty
The Invention of Tradition by Eric Horbsbawm and Terence Ranger
Formations of the Secular by Talaj Asad
Genealogies of Religion by Talal Asad
LGBTQ+
Same-Sex Love in India edited by Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai
Queering India: Same Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture by Ruth Vanita
The Pregnant King by Devdutt Pattanaik
Shikhandi and other Tales They Don’t Tell You by Devdutt Pattanaik
Queering Constellations by Raja Gopal Bhattar
Fiction
Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand
The God of the Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
Ten Incarnations of Rebellion by Vaishnavi Patel
Gora by Rabindranath Tagore
Asura: Tale of the Vanquished by Anand Neelakantan
The Liberation of Sita by Volga
Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel