Patchwork States

'This remarkable book sets the agenda for a new comparative politics focused on the territorially uneven causes and consequences of colonial state penetration and state-building within countries, and across regions such as South Asia (here, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). Naseemullah integrates three distinct stands in the study comparative politics and political economy of development - violence, electoral competition, and economic development - showing that institutional differentiation traceable to colonial rule goes far in explaining territorial variation in the outcomes that have been the focus of scholars for decades. An overarching explanatory framework makes it possible to ask a host of new questions about the contours and determinants of cross- and subnational variation in patterns of political and economic development. It is groundbreaking work that lays out a research design, hypotheses, and theoretical insights that can travel far beyond South Asia.' Catherine Boone, Professor of Comparative Politics, London School of Economics
'Patchwork States is an extremely stimulating analysis of the causal relations between various patterns of state building, harkening back to the colonial era in South Asia, and contemporary forms of violence, political competition and economic development. Naseemullah's fascinating book disaggregates the trajectories of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh at the sub-national level in a very holistic manner: a comparative tour de force.' Christophe Jaffrelot, Centre de Recherches Internationales, Sciences Po, Paris