The Psychic Lives of Statues (Hardcover)

Rahul Rao

ISBN 10: 0745350763 / ISBN 13: 9780745350769

Editore: Pluto Press, London, 2025

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Hardcover. From Cape Town to Bristol and Richmond, statues have become sites of resistance and contestation of our imperial past and postcolonial present. The Psychic Lives of Statues by Rahul Rao offers an insightful exploration of these global controversies, demonstrating that beneath their surface lie deeper struggles over race, caste, and the politics of decolonisation. Rao takes readers on a journey through South Africa, England, the US, Ghana, India, Australia, and Scotland, revealing how statue controversies have dramatically rearranged the canon of anticolonial political thought. By examining these debates through a personal and literary lens, Rao addresses the multifaceted issues of justice, cultural memory, and belonging. The Psychic Lives of Statues examines both the toppling of colonial statues and the raising of postcolonial ones, demonstrating that the statue form as a medium of representation and a bid for immortality is by no means obsolete. Engaging with artists, scholars, and activists, Rao provides fresh perspectives on how societies grapple with and reinterpret the past and present through iconography. An exploration of global statue controversies and cultural memory Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Codice articolo 9780745350769

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: The Psychic Lives of Statues (Hardcover)
• Editore: Pluto Press, London
• Data di pubblicazione: 2025
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0745350763
• ISBN 13: 9780745350769
• Rilegatura: Hardcover
• Condizione: new

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

‘An unimpeachable, erudite jewel of a book on the politics of memorialisation. This beautifully written reckoning with history shines a clear light on how far and how tenaciously the shadows of colonialism reach into our lives in the present moment. A necessary and vital piece of work’ Neel Mukherjee, Booker Prize shortlisted author of The Lives of Others

‘Compulsively readable. Rather than a superficial skirmish in the culture wars, the struggle over statues is about how we live with and relate to one another, and the fight over equality and dignity in the present’ Laleh Khalili, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter

‘A powerfully grounded and eminently thoughtful contribution to debates around race, caste, class and historical memory. At once considered and stimulating, Rao’s account of how we grapple with the imperial past and present will stay standing even as statues rise and fall over the coming decades’ Priyamvada Gopal, Professor of Postcolonial Studies, University of Cambridge

Statues around the world have become lightning rods for public debates over the meaning of our imperial past and postcolonial present. The Psychic Lives of Statues is an insightful exploration of these global controversies, demonstrating that beneath their surface lie deeper struggles over race, caste and the politics of decolonisation.

Rahul Rao takes readers on an international journey, revealing how these controversies have dramatically rearranged anticolonial political thought through the multifaceted lenses of justice, cultural memory and belonging.

The Psychic Lives of Statues explores both the toppling of colonial statues and the erection of postcolonial ones, illuminating how statues remain powerful and compelling forms of memorialisation. Engaging with artists, scholars and activists, Rao offers a fresh and exciting perspective on how we understand our past and present through iconography.

Rahul Rao is a Reader in International Political Thought in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, and Professorial Research Associate at SOAS University of London. He is the author of two other books – Third World Protest: Between Home and the World (2010) and Out of Time: The Queer Politics of Postcoloniality (2020). He is a member of the Radical Philosophy editorial collective.

Informazioni sull?autore

Rahul Rao is a Reader in International Political Thought in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, and Professorial Research Associate at SOAS University of London. He is the author of two books – Third World Protest: Between Home and the World (2010) and Out of Time: The Queer Politics of Postcoloniality (2020), both published by Oxford University Press. He is a member of the Radical Philosophy editorial collective.