Outbreaks: An Indian Pandemic Reader

Outbreaks: An Indian Pandemic Reader is an interdisciplinary work on the profound and lasting impact of the past and present epidemics/pandemics on Indian society and features perspectives from history, sociology, anthropology, film and literature besides others. The essays fall under two categories: one, those dealing with historical past or the pre-COVID time and the other addressing the first wave of COVID-19 crisis of 2020-21 which continues to surge globally even this year. The volume opens with some of the major epidemics in colonial past to illustrate the complex interplay of coercion and cooperation, class and race, religious belief, responses to variolation and vaccination in colonial India and finally addresses the present COVID-19 crisis offering insights into the social, cultural, political and economic changes which occurred in India after the present outbreak. The contributions of leading scholars, social historians, cultural activists, litterateurs, artists and documentary filmmakers would make the volume useful for those interested in the humanities and social sciences.