Clubs in India are often regarded as antiquarian institutions left over from a bygone era with little to teach us about the past or present. Yet, In the Club presents a different picture of India’s clubland. This book offers a comprehensive examination of social clubs across India. It argues that clubs have been key contributors to India’s colonial associational life and civil society, and remain important nodes in public culture today.

Using government records, personal memoirs, private club records, and club histories themselves, In the club explores colonial club life with chapters arranged thematically. Legal underpinnings bind clubs within, and to each other, across regional and national borders. Many clubs occupy prime locations and maintain their historic interiors. All clubs faced financial crises as they increasingly entered the global marketplace. No club could function without servants and staff, while issues of race and class in clubs continues to be debated today. Women’s clubs occupy an important place in clubland, while many clubs continue to thrive today in their postcolonial milieus.

This book will be critical reading for scholars of history and sociology as well as social scientists interested in colonialism, associational life and civil society in India. It will also be of interest to intellectually engaged club members, aspiring members, or just those curious about the inner-workings of clubs across India and beyond.