Freedom Inc.: Gendered Capitalism in New Indian Literature and Culture

While globalization is often credited with the eradication of -traditional' constraints tied to gender and caste, in reality the opening up of the Indian economy in the 1990s has led to a decline in freedom for many female, Dalit, and lower class Indians. This book explores the contraction of what it means to be free in post-liberalization India, examining how global capitalism has exacerbated existing inequalities based on traditional femininities and masculinities, while also creating new hierarchies. Freedom Inc. argues that post-1990s literature and culture frequently represents and reinforces the equation of free-market capitalism with individual freedom within the new -idea of India.- However, many texts often also challenge this logic by pointing to more expansive horizons of autonomy for the gendered self. Through readings of texts as diverse as Dalit women-s life-writing, pop fiction, realist novels, self-help, regional film, and Netflix TV shows, Mangharam investigates how no