The World in a Grain of Sand makes an argument for literature from the Global South against the grain of cultural studies, especially postcolonial theory. It critiques the valorisation of the local in cultural theories, typically accompanied by a rejection of universal categories since the latter are viewed as Eurocentric projections. This privileging of the local, however, usually results in an exoticisation of the South. In contrast, Majumdar offer that we can reject Eurocentrism while embracing a non-parochial form of universalism.