Nikhil Thakur

Race, Biopower, and the Negative Dialectic: Notes on the Indo-american Diaspora Nikhil Thakur

This book presents a synthesis of ideas from CriticalTheory, Postcolonialism, and Poststructuralism. Through the application of negative dialectics, issues in Indo-American cultural assimilation(primarily post-1965 immigration to the UnitedStates) are explored. Hybridity, and the multiplemanifestations of selves and subjectivity, areanalyzed through the lens of Foucault''s notion ofbiopower and Nietzsche''s critiques of Christianity. Issues of ''bad faith'' and ''false consciousness'' arelinked to race, class, gender, sexuality, nation, andreligion. Ultimately, philosophical concepts areamplified by site-specific ethnographic researchconducted amongst Indian and Indo-American men andwomen. The book is, simultaneously, a critique and anaffirmation of ideas such as ''Model Minority'' and''The American Dream.''