Bangladesh Studies

The movement for Bangladesh was carried forward in the name of creating Sonar Bangla (Golden Bengal). Implicit in the idea of Sonar Bangla was the vision of the society economically prosperous, free of exploitation, democratically governed. tolerant of pluralism and respectful of people’s rights. Several of Bangladesh’s leading social scientists, as well as American and European scholars come together in this volume to provide a carefully balanced and comprehensive assessment of the country’s first three decades of independent existence since 1971.

Muzharul Islam is the single most dominant influence on modern architecture in Bangladesh. Fifty eight years since he started his practice the influence continues. Other than the odd article here and there and references to his projects in others, there has been no major publication of his works. Muzharul Islam gave the first public lecture on his work at BRAC University in May, 2002 at the age of 78, when he had almost stopped designing. It was soon after his lecture that a book on his work was conceived. This was not an easy task since nowhere was his work documented.

Bangladesh has made striking progress on a range of social indicators over the last 15 years, an achievement widely credited to the country's pluralist service provision regime. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have significantly expanded their services during this period and have shown that it is possible to scale up innovative antipoverty experiments into nationwide programs. The unique role of Bangladesh's NGOs is not confined to the delivery of social services and pro-poor advocacy.

Bangladesh is currently celebrating the silver jubilee of its birth as a nation-state. It is time for self- reflection. To undertake the daunting task of self-examination, the book brings together analytical dimensions and ideas of some eighteen distinguished authors of Bangladesh who are well-respected in their own fields. The issues they address cut across both domestic politics and external relations.