{"id":40802298102,"date":"2026-09-26T09:58:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T13:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/?p=40802298102"},"modified":"2026-09-30T19:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T23:35:09","slug":"datta-publishes-second-edition-of-contemporary-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/datta-publishes-second-edition-of-contemporary-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Datta Publishes Second Edition of \u2018Contemporary India\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2026\/09\/Contemporary-India-cover-683x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Cover of the second edition of the textbook, Contemporary India: the basics, written by Rekha Datta. The coverimage contains that text, and a background image of people walking on a road. The image also contains a hyperlink to the website of the book publisher.\" class=\"wp-image-40802298104\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.6670114165241259;width:304px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2026\/09\/Contemporary-India-cover-683x1024.jpeg 683w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2026\/09\/Contemporary-India-cover-200x300.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2026\/09\/Contemporary-India-cover-1025x1536.jpeg 1025w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2026\/09\/Contemporary-India-cover-767x1150.jpeg 767w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2026\/09\/Contemporary-India-cover.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rekha Datta, Ph.D., Freed Endowed Chair in Social Sciences and professor in the Department of Political Science, has published the second edition of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/Contemporary-India-The-Basics\/Datta\/p\/book\/9781032856100\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Contemporary India: The Basics<\/a>,\u201d (Routledge, UK, 2026).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This updated and expanded edition examines the changes India has undergone in the last five years, including an analysis of the 2024 general elections, ongoing debates on secularism, and the nation\u2019s search for a modern identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The book also explores India\u2019s development and economic growth, the challenges of rural development, how international conflicts have shaped the country\u2019s relations with Canada and the United States, and the consequences of the climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Datta dedicates this edition to Monmouth University students who have traveled to the country with her since 2010, for inspiring her to \u201clook at India with a fresh, new, and nuanced perspective.\u201d She also honors the youth of India for \u201csuccessfully questioning India\u2019s democratic commitment to free speech, accountability, and the government\u2019s responsibility for securing a sustainable future for its citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rekha Datta, Ph.D., Freed Endowed Chair in Social Sciences and professor in the Department of Political Science, has published the second edition of \u201cContemporary India: The Basics,\u201d (Routledge, UK, 2026). This updated and expanded edition examines the changes India has undergone in the last five years, including an analysis of the 2024 general elections, ongoing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2249,"featured_media":40802248887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[322,444,423],"tags":[5577,3944,3378],"person":[611],"audience":[17,11,8,50,29,131,128,47],"school":[59],"program":[],"class_list":["post-40802298102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-accomplishments","category-monmouth-now","category-faculty-perspectives","tag-india","tag-political-science","tag-school-of-humanities-social-sciences","person-rdatta","audience-community-member","audience-current-student","audience-faculty","audience-graduate-student","audience-media","audience-prospective-graduate-student","audience-prospective-undergraduate-student","audience-undergraduate-student","school-political-science"],"squareimage":{"id":40802248887,"rendered":"<img width=\"683\" height=\"683\" style=\"object-position: 53.825% 44.61%\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/Rekha-Datta-Headshot_20190724_AD_09-e1746635305362.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Professor Rekha Datta\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/Rekha-Datta-Headshot_20190724_AD_09-e1746635305362.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/Rekha-Datta-Headshot_20190724_AD_09-e1746635305362-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/Rekha-Datta-Headshot_20190724_AD_09-e1746635305362-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/Rekha-Datta-Headshot_20190724_AD_09-e1746635305362-560x560.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/Rekha-Datta-Headshot_20190724_AD_09-e1746635305362-280x280.jpg 280w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/Rekha-Datta-Headshot_20190724_AD_09-e1746635305362-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/Rekha-Datta-Headshot_20190724_AD_09-e1746635305362-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/Rekha-Datta-Headshot_20190724_AD_09-e1746635305362-120x120.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/>","original":{"url":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/Rekha-Datta-Headshot_20190724_AD_09-e1746635305362.jpg","width":683,"height":683}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40802298102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2249"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40802298102"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40802298102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40802298195,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40802298102\/revisions\/40802298195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40802248887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40802298102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40802298102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40802298102"},{"taxonomy":"person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=40802298102"},{"taxonomy":"audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience?post=40802298102"},{"taxonomy":"school","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/school?post=40802298102"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=40802298102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}