In presenting the award, Professor Adam Reich, chair of the Distinguished Book Award jury and chair of Columbia University Press’s Faculty Publication Committee, commented, “Chatterjee’s genealogy of populist politics, in India and around the world, is at once a significant intervention into political theory and a trenchant diagnosis of our contemporary condition. Chatterjee brings critical theory to life, using it not only to deconstruct the modern nation-state but also to excavate the more hopeful possibilities embedded in the present. We are thrilled to recognize Chatterjee’s contribution with Columbia University Press’s 2021 Distinguished Book Award.”