Mafia Raj: The Rule of Bosses in South Asia

Mafia is a term used to describe the diffuse spheres of crime, business, and politics operating within a shadow world known as the rule of the mafia or Mafia Raj. This book explores the personal struggles of powerful and aspiring bosses in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh as they climb the ladder of success, theorizing the art of bossing and providing nuanced ideas about crime, corruption, and the lure of the strongman across the world.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 25 December 2018
Publisher: Stanford University Press

"Mafia" has become an indigenous South Asian term. Like Italian mobsters, the South Asian "gangster politicians" are known for inflicting brutal violence while simultaneously upholding vigilante justice—inspiring fear and fantasy. But the term also refers to the diffuse spheres of crime, business, and politics operating within a shadow world that is popularly referred to as the rule of the mafia, or "Mafia Raj."

Through intimate stories of the lives of powerful and aspiring bosses in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, this book illustrates their personal struggles for sovereignty as they climb the ladder of success. Ethnographically tracing the particularities of the South Asian case, the authors theorize what they call "the art of bossing," providing nuanced ideas about crime, corruption, and the lure of the strongman across the world.

Weight: 532g
Dimension: 225 x 157 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503607316