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The paper examines the popular claim that West Bengal politics is 'unique' due to an absence of caste-based assertions in the post-colonial period. By taking Namasudra literature as the primary site, the paper argues that since the late twentieth century there is numerous literature written by low caste people in West Bengal on the issue of caste. These writings have created a literate Dalit public sphere operating at the grassroots level and mainly outside the framework of governmental party politics. One of the dominant themes of Namasudra literature is the visions of anti-caste utopia. By analysing a Namasudra writer and activist Manindranath Biswas's texts Harichand Tattwamrita, the paper argues that Dalit's writings on history don't follow a linear or a mythical structure; rather, there is a political exigency for history, in which utopic past/future is often invoked through a logic of circularity and yet redemptive fulfilment of time.

ABSTRACTThis article explores the impact of consumers' regulatory goals on their relative focus on hedonic (versus utilitarian) benefits of products. Drawing from extant literature, we argue that promotion‐focused consumers will exhibit more favorable attitude towards a product when its hedonic benefits are highlighted in comparison to its utilitarian benefits. Prevention‐focused consumers on the other hand will exhibit more favorable attitude towards a product when its utilitarian benefits are highlighted in comparison to its hedonic benefits. We further argue that this effect is moderated by contextual factors, such as evaluation mode. In addition, we argue that the posited difference only holds when the hedonic and utilitarian products are evaluated individually. When the two products are evaluated jointly, both promotion and prevention‐focused individuals will exhibit more favorable attitude towards the hedonic product. Two studies were conducted to test the hypotheses and findings supported our predictions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to explore how a successful global and a local brand may compete side by side in an existing market place based on consumer‐based brand equity and consumers' status‐seeking motivation for purchasing a global versus local brand.Design/methodology/approachThe data for this research were collected through a self‐administered survey from students in a large Western Australian university.FindingsThe results show that a global brand is generally preferred in terms of all the dimensions of consumer‐based brand equity over a local brand. However, a significant interaction emerged between the type of brand and high versus low status‐seeking motivation consumers. A global brand is strongly favoured in terms of awareness, perceived quality and overall brand equity by high status seekers while a local brand seems to enjoy loyalty and overall brand equity among low status seekers. A global brand is also clearly preferred over a local brand along all dimensions of consumer‐based brand equity amongst high status‐seeking consumers. Further, a local brand is clearly preferred in terms of consumer‐based brand equity over the global brand by Australians whereas the global brand remains a clear favourite with non‐Australians.Research limitations/implicationsFindings may not generalize beyond Australian sample and the product category.Originality/valueThis empirical research explores how global and local brands may compete with each other based on their strengths. This research also addresses a theoretical gap identified by Yoo and Donthu.