Finalist for the 2013 Melville J. Herskovits Award, African Studies Association "Hansen's analysis of the 'mutual nonrecognition' between citizens of India and African origin and his critical interrogation of the concept of diaspora are especially powerful... The book will be an asset to scholars and students seeking to understand urban South Africa, transnationalism, and religious transformation."
Choice "Hansen's book is definitely ... Read morea very important one... [S]tudents of segregation, ethnic conflict, urban space, identity, religion, migration, music and cinema will all find something of interest here. More generally, Melancholia of Freedom offers a fascinating insight into the fate of minority groups, and the boundary work they engage in... Hansen's account allows us to better understand the processes through which minorities maintain identity and sociability in difficult contexts."
Juliette Galonnier, booksandideas.net "As depressing as this conclusion is, the author makes a compelling case for his interpretation. He brilliantly weaves the present into the past, and explains convincingly the foundation of anxieties that prevail in Chatsworth."
Surendra Bhana, Journal of Natal and Zulu History Show Less