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I was privileged to be invited to deliver the Smuts Lectures at the University of Cambridge in 2018 and want to thank Professors Ash Amin, Sruti Kapila, and Saul Debow for this invitation and the intellectual stimulation they provided during my visit. Professor Amin graciously steered discussions during the public lectures and seminars, creating an environment of intellectual excitement and vibrant exchange of ideas. I want to thank particularly James Laidlaw, Marilyn Strathern, Caroline Humphrey, Joel Robbins, Heonik Kwon, Perveez Mody, and David Mosse for their critical attention to the details that allow concepts to emerge within the ethnography.

Over the years, I have learnt much from discussions with Clara Han, Nayanika Mookherjee, Bhrigupati Singh, Sruti Chaganti, Pooja Satyogi, Aditi Saraf, Megha Sehdev, Kunal Joshi, Vaibhav Saria, Anna Wherry, Pratiksha Baxi, Didier Fassin, and Naveeda Khan on matters relating to law, policing, and surveillance. During the period of intense isolation and repeated illnesses of the COVID year that I lived through, I was privileged to count on Andrew Brandel, Michael Puett, Lotte Segal, and Nayan Das to be with me to form a protective circle that sustained thought through words and gestures of care. With what words can I thank my friends Deepak Mehta, Rita Brara, Pratiksha Baxi, and Roma Chatterji? Roma allowed me access to a trunkful of court documents she had collected but was not planning to work with; and Deepak, Pratiksha, and Rita shared insights on events for which I could not be present in Delhi. My family members, from the oldest to the youngest, have astonishing abilities to be supportive and critical at the same time – so, thank you guys for not giving up on me. I also want to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff of Ellison 10 at Mass General Hospital for their outstanding teamwork, expertise, and care; and my gratitude goes to Drs. Das, Iyasere, and Simmone for guiding me toward recovery.

I gratefully acknowledge the kindness of Professor John Thompson, Neil de Cort and Julia Davies at Polity Press, and Professor Amin once again, in steering the book toward completion. Thanks to Ian Tuttle for excellent copy-editing. I wish David Held had been there for continuing our conversations along with Eva-Maria Nag, and Nayanika Mookherjee at Durham. I so miss not being able to share this work with David.

I want to thank the two anonymous reviewers whose comments were incredibly helpful in making revisions to the book at a time when I was not able to see my way through the difficulties this material presented. I am more grateful than I can say to the residents of the neighborhoods in Delhi where I have worked for sharing their lives with me and my colleagues at the Institute for Socio-Economic Research on Development and Democracy (ISERDD).

This book is dedicated to Abdul Wahid Shaikh, whose courage, integrity, and intellectual provocations to make thought count make it a privilege to be able to claim him as a friend.

Veena Das

Baltimore, July 2021