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  3. Sober State
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  • Publisher:
    Cambridge University Press
    Publication date:
    09 January 2026
    28 February 2026
    ISBN:
    9781009683142
    9781009683166
    9781009683159
    DOI:
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009683142
    Dimensions:
    (228 x 152 mm)
    Weight & Pages:
    0.53kg, 220 Pages
    Dimensions:
    (228 x 152 mm)
    Weight & Pages:
    0.25kg, 220 Pages
    • Subjects:
    Area Studies, South Asian Government, Politics and Policy, Asian Studies, Political Economy, Political Sociology, Politics and International Relations, Sociology
    Series:
    Metamorphoses of the Political: Multidisciplinary Approaches
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    Subjects:
    Area Studies, South Asian Government, Politics and Policy, Asian Studies, Political Economy, Political Sociology, Politics and International Relations, Sociology
    Series:
    Metamorphoses of the Political: Multidisciplinary Approaches
    Information

    Book description

    'What happens when a democratic state—still in the process of formation—commits to banning a substance, especially one as controversial as alcohol? This book traces the origins and evolution of alcohol prohibition in India, drawing on extensive archival research and rich vernacular sources to explain its surprising resilience over time. Since its inception, prohibition has served both as an ideal and a tool of state power—a dual role that has worked to shape its shifting trajectories. Each phase of enforcement has served to reaffirm prohibition's founding logic, thereby further embedding it in the machinery of governance—even as it has constrained its future implementation. Foregrounding intersections with caste and gender, the book illuminates how diverse social responses have made prohibition a deeply contested—sobering—yet enduring project. While prohibition may be a thing of the past in the West, history helps to keep it alive in India.'

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