The University Press Limited (UPL)

This book is an outcome of a study on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and their contextual determinants in Bangladesh, with a focus on the Bangladeshi pharmaceutical industry. The author argues that businesses in Bangladesh need to collaborate with the government to close the existing gap of distrust and lack of confidence.

This book consists of thirty diverse papers by leading scholars covering such varied themes as history, politics and governance, economy and development, and society and culture. Historical topics include the British colonial regime, the Bengali Muslim middle class, the origin of the Sonar Bangla concept, and the role of the superpowers during 1971. The papers on politics and governance examine the relationship between the state and religion, party politics and parliamentary behaviour, violence and the state, and the identity politics of indigenous peoples.

This is the third volume of Crosstalk published by the University Press Limited. The two other collections of this popular column were published in 2004 and 2008. Crosstalk has been appreciated by readers for its lucid language and thought-provoking bold commentaries on matters close to their hearts. Each of the essays contains interesting facts, critical information and convincing insights that weave together compelling arguments on contemporary issues.

This ethnography seeks to understand the connections between livelihoods, risk, capital and migration by using a framework which considers not only economic implications but more importantly, the social and cultural underpinnings of the phenomena under study. Drawing on the lived experiences, ideas, beliefs and attitude of men and women from two migration-intensive villages in Comilla, Bangladesh, the study attempts to explore the causal links between lack of security in people’s lives and livelihoods and overseas labour migration.