Book Review: Wings for the Rising Sun: A Transnational History of Japanese Aviation by Jürgen P. Melzer

absence of unpacking whiteness and a lack of reference to differentiation (including where poor white women stood in the hierarchy) within white societies is rather a surprise. At a related level, one of the arguments running through the chapters is the suggestion of going back to or recovering “Indigenous modes of relationship”. Conceptually, this argument too, is difficult to accept without considerable historicisation and scrutiny. Once again, this is not to suggest war-finance nexus and corporate capitalism was/is the key to socio-economic salvation of humanity. But, as historians (anthropologists and sociologists) of pre-colonial societies have shown, pre-colonial does not necessarily translate as more equitable or redistributive. At best, this is a romantic view of precolonial/Indigenous societies; at worst, it is a-historic. Claiming Indigenous selfdetermination as the only path forward ignores the complex realties such as how ex-colonies like India and China played a pivotal role in watering down the climate pledge of recently held COP26. Equally problematic will be the idea that if were to pursue Indigenous self-determination then who would be considered truly “indigenous” – will it include Uighurs in China or Muslims or low caste Hindus in India? This book underlines well the historical interrelation between capital and imperialism. But lack of conceptual clarity in key discussions and jargonistic language affects the overall tenor.