'An unimpeachable erudite jewel of a book on the politics of memorialisation. This beautifully
written reckoning with history shines a clear light on how far and how tenaciously the shadows
of colonialism reach into our lives in the present moment. A necessary and vital piece of work'
Neel Mukherjee Booker Prize shortlisted author of The Lives of Others 'Compulsively
readable. Rather than a superficial skirmish in the culture wars the struggle over statues is
about how we live with and relate to one another and the fight over equality and dignity in
the present' Laleh Khalili Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies University of Exeter 'A
powerfully grounded and eminently thoughtful contribution to debates around race caste class
and historical memory. At once considered and stimulating Rao's account of how we grapple with
the imperial past and present will stay standing even as statues rise and fall over the coming
decades' Priyamvada Gopal Professor of Postcolonial Studies University of Cambridge
Statues around the world have become lightning rods for public debates over the meaning of our
imperial past and postcolonial present. The Psychic Lives of Statues is an insightful
exploration of these global controversies demonstrating that beneath their surface lie deeper
struggles over race caste and the politics of decolonisation. Rahul Rao takes readers on an
international journey revealing how these controversies have dramatically rearranged
anticolonial political thought through the multifaceted lenses of justice cultural memory and
belonging. The Psychic Lives of Statues explores both the toppling of colonial statues and
the erection of postcolonial ones illuminating how statues remain powerful and compelling
forms of memorialisation. Engaging with artists scholars and activists Rao offers a fresh and
exciting perspective on how we understand our past and present through iconography. Rahul
Rao is a Reader in International Political Thought in the School of International Relations at
the University of St Andrews and Professorial Research Associate at SOAS University of London.
He is the author of two other books - Third World Protest: Between Home and the World (2010)
and Out of Time: The Queer Politics of Postcoloniality (2020). He is a member of the Radical
Philosophy editorial collective.
