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Markus Schleiter and Erik de Maaker, eds. 2020. Media, Indigeneity and Nation in South Asia. London and New York: Routledge. xvi + 281 pp. Notes, figures, references, index. £120.00 (hardback)

Introduction by Richa Chilana and Rashi Bhargava -- Laughing about and from the Periphery -- Das, Shayeri- Disparagement Humour as a Means for Social Exclusion: Examining the Day-to-Day Casteism in Indian Stand-Up Comedy -- Chakravarti, Mahashweta-The 'Serious Business of Comedy': Indian Female Stand-Up Comedians and their Political Roles -- Rele Sathe, Namrata-Creeping on You: The Politics of the Messy Woman in the comedy of Sumukhi Suresh -- Pande, Neha-What's funny to Daniel Fernandes might not be funny to Aditi Mittal -- Politics of Language and Wordplay -- Banerjett, Maumita-Jokes for all: Language, and Challenges of Contemporary Indian Stand-up Comedy -- Jyothsna, K S -L for Librocubicularist: Soul searching with key words that nobody is searching for -- Where do we draw the line-Patel, Arun- New Clowns in Town: Stand-up comics as parrhesiastes and flatters -- Singh, Pankaj-Struggles of Indian Stand-up Comedians to Find the Line -- Comedy and Contact Zones -- Ishtiaq, Shanzeh-Comedy Across the Borders/Cracking(up) Queer Comedy in Pakistan and India -- Kay, Kavyta-Representing Brown Britain – Asian voices in British Comedy -- Nair, Ashwathy-Creating Contact Zones via Stand-up Comedy: Defamiliarizing the Construct of 'India' -- Miller, Zubin - The ritual of comedy: expressions from the young Indian middle-class.

Punching Up in Stand-Up Comedy explores the new forms, voices and venues of stand-up comedy in different parts of the world and its potential role as a counterhegemonic tool for satire, commentary and expression of identity especially for the disempowered or marginalised. The title brings together essays and perspectives on stand-up and satire from different cultural and political contexts across the world which raise pertinent issues regarding its role in contemporary times, especially with the increased presence of OTT platforms and internet penetration that allows for easy access to this art form. It examines the theoretical understanding of the different aspects of the humour, aesthetics and politics of stand-up comedy, as well as the exploration of race, gender, politics and conflicts, urban culture and LGBTQ+ identities in countries such as Indonesia, Finland, France, Iran, Italy, Morocco, India and the USA. It also asks the question whether, along with contesting and destabilising existing discursive frameworks and identities, a stand-up comic can open up a space for envisaging a new social, cultural and political order? This book will appeal to people interested in performance studies, media, popular culture, digital culture, sociology, digital sociology and anthropology, and English literature. Chapter 9 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons (CC-BY) 4.0 license. Funded by the University of Helsinki.

Negotiating the Visibility of 'Habitus' of 'the Nagas' and their Photographers -- 'We were the Others': Visuality in Colonial Writings -- Conversation Pieces: How Digital Technologies might Reinvigorate and Reveal the Social Lives of Objects -- Mai-baaps and Minis: Spatiality, Visuality and Materiality in Assam's Tea Gardens -- Mapping Power and Domination: Studying State Making in Arunachal Pradesh through Old Official Photographs -- Hau Laa and Hymn: Musicking dynamics of the Hau-Tangkhuls -- Sartorial Matters: A Brief History of Attire in Mizoram -- Representing Tea, Creating Consumers: Tea Advertising in Late Colonial India -- Food is not just 'food': Analyzing Gender in the Assamese Foodscape -- Tilted Views and C Sailo: A Study of Satire in Contemporary Indie Comics -- Reimagining the Pastoral: Metaphors and Meanings of the Everyday in Assam and India's Northeast -- Weaving Identity and Resistance: Politics of Contemporary Textile Practices of the Tangkhuls.

"This book is a collection of autobiographical narratives by leading social scientists working across South Asia. It explores the linkages between their personal experiences and academic pursuits, and analyses how personal, political and professional choices shape knowledge production and effect social transformation. The narratives revisit long standing debates on objectivity, subjectivity, self and other, and attempt to collapse the binaries that have informed the social sciences till now. Highlighting the state of research and pedagogy in the social sciences in the region, the book questions the conventional understanding of the task of the social scientist, and in doing so, blurs the distinction between theory, research, pedagogy and activism. A unique and compelling contribution, this volume will be indispensable to students and researchers of sociology, anthropology, history, creative writing, education, politics, biography studies, and South Asian studies. It will also be of interest to general readers"--