On Bangladesh: A Reading List from 2020

DEVELOPMENT RE-EXAMINED: THE CONSTRUCTION AND CONSEQUENCES OF NEOLIBERAL BANGLADESH

University Press Limited

Anu Muhammad

Non-fiction

How has neoliberalism been shaping Bangladesh's state policy? What are the implications of a neoliberal model of development for the state? Anu Muhammad attempts to answer these questions through the lenses of global institutions, energy, industrial growth, environment, and workers' rights. Divided into six parts, the book not only explores the neoliberal nature of the modern Bangladeshi state, but also lays out a blueprint for an alternative way to "visualize a feasible and humane future".

SHURJO-OSHURJOLOK

Shuchipotro

Edited by Faizul Latif Chowdhury

Poetry

At least 2,000 of Jibananda Das's poems have been published over the years, but many have faded into oblivion since his demise. Shurjo-Oshurjolok collects 117 of such lost gems.

BANGLADESH AT 50: DEVELOPMENT AND CHALLENGES

Orient Black Swan

Sreeradha Datta and S Narayan

Non-fiction

Bangladesh is one of the Asian countries making great strides in terms of economic development. But how did it reach this stage from its blood-tinged independence in 1971? Bangladesh at 50 offers a multitude of perspectives on how Bangladesh earned its name as a growing economy and the possible challenges that might beset the country's social, economic, and political structures. It also provides a glimpse into the dizzying intersection among NGOs, corporations, militancy, environment, and gender.

ONCE MORE INTO THE PAST: Essays personal, public, and literary

Daily Star Books

Fakrul Alam

Non-fiction

Beginning with a childhood spent falling in love with Tagore in the simpler days of secular Old Dhaka and a richly stocked British Council library, Fakrul Alam moves on to strife-ridden days of the liberation war, dissent on the Dhaka University campus, and his experience of working with, and writing about literary greats, from Jibanananda Das, Marx, and Shakespeare to Kaiser Haq, Razia Khan Amin, and more.