Indian Democracy
Origins, Trajectories, Contestations
Published on 20. March 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
176 pages
978-0-7453-3892-7 (ISBN)
Description
More than 70 years after its founding, with Narendra Modi's authoritarian Hindu nationalists in government, is the dream of Indian democracy still alive and well?
India's pluralism has always posed a formidable challenge to its democracy, with many believing that a clash of identities based on region, language, caste, religion, ethnicity and tribe would bring about its demise. With the meteoric rise to power of the Bharatiya Janata Party, its solidity is once again called into question: is Modi's Hindu majoritarianism an anti-democratic attempt to transform India into a monolithic Hindu nation from which minorities and dissidents are forcibly excluded?
With examinations of the way that class and caste power shaped the making of India's postcolonial democracy, the role of feminism, the media, and the public sphere in sustaining and challenging democracy, this book interrogates the contradictions at the heart of the Indian democratic project, examining its origins, trajectories and contestations.
India's pluralism has always posed a formidable challenge to its democracy, with many believing that a clash of identities based on region, language, caste, religion, ethnicity and tribe would bring about its demise. With the meteoric rise to power of the Bharatiya Janata Party, its solidity is once again called into question: is Modi's Hindu majoritarianism an anti-democratic attempt to transform India into a monolithic Hindu nation from which minorities and dissidents are forcibly excluded?
With examinations of the way that class and caste power shaped the making of India's postcolonial democracy, the role of feminism, the media, and the public sphere in sustaining and challenging democracy, this book interrogates the contradictions at the heart of the Indian democratic project, examining its origins, trajectories and contestations.
Reviews / Votes
'Democracy in India has been a unique experiment. This book provides a sharp understanding of the complexities of contemporary Indian democracy. With their ears to the ground, the contributors have created an incisive volume on the subject' -- Ram Puniyani, author of 'Deconstructing Terrorist Violence' 'How do we understand the threats now facing Indian democracy? This valuable book provides nuanced insights into processes that explain its current travails: the Constitution's missing revolution; identity, discrimination and marginalisation; pressures on and within the media; structured and unstructured violence - and much more' -- Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University 'If we want to know what's wrong with our present, we must know what's wrong with our past. This book offers insight into both. A three-dimensional view of India' -- Shehla Rashid, Activist 'Indian democracy is a veritable riddle with its constitution promising the moon to people but its state denying them even the basic right to voice their miseries. The present saffron regime, its vilest product, has uncovered all of its smokescreens. This book will certainly provoke readers who still see nothing wrong with the system' -- Anand Teltumbde, author of 'Republic of Caste'More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 135 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-7453-3892-7 (9780745338927)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Alf Gunvald Nilsen | Kenneth Bo Nielsen | Anand Vaidya
Indian Democracy
Origins, Trajectories, Contestations
E-Book
03/2019
1st Edition
Pluto Press
€34.49
Available for download
Persons
Alf Gunvald Nilsen is Professor of Sociology at University of Pretoria. He is the author of Dispossession and Resistance in India: The River and the Rage (Routledge, 2010), We Make Our Own History: Marxism and Social Movements in the Twilight of Neoliberalism (Pluto Press, 2014), and Adivasis and the State: Subalternity and Citizenship in India's Bhil Heartland (Cambridge University Press, 2018). Kenneth Bo Nielsen is Associate Professor in the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages at the University of Oslo. He is the author of Land Dispossession and Everyday Politics in Rural Eastern India (Anthem Press, 2018), and the co-editor of several books on Indian society and politics. Anand Vaidya is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Reed College.
Content
Introduction: Trajectories and Crossroads: Indian Democracy at 70 - Alf Gunvald Nilsen, Kenneth Bo Nielsen and Anand Vaidya
1. Democratic Origins
i. India's Constitution and the Missing Revolution - Sandpito Dasgupta
ii. The Minority Question in South Asia - Anupama Rao
iii. Violence and/in the Making of Indian Democracy - Sunil Puroshotham
iv. Comments - Ajay Skaria
2. The State and / of the Media in Modi's India - Siddharth Varadarajan
3. Writing Counter-insurgency, Conflict, and Democracy in India - Nandini Sundar and Dolly Kikon in conversation
4. Democratic Trajectories
i. Congressism, Anti-Congressism, and the "People-as-a-Whole" - Subir Sinha
ii. Merit and Caste in Contemporary India - Ajantha Subramanian
iii. Ritual Inclusivity in Turbulent Times - Kathinka Froystad
iv. Comments - Manali Desai
5. India's Democracy: Contest for the Nation's Core - Kavita Krishnan
6. Feminism and the Politics of Gender in Indian Democracy - Raka Ray and Srila Roy in conversation
Conclusion: Indian Democracy and its Prospects: 2019 and Beyond - Alf Gunvald Nilsen, Kenneth Bo Nielsen and Anand Vaidya
1. Democratic Origins
i. India's Constitution and the Missing Revolution - Sandpito Dasgupta
ii. The Minority Question in South Asia - Anupama Rao
iii. Violence and/in the Making of Indian Democracy - Sunil Puroshotham
iv. Comments - Ajay Skaria
2. The State and / of the Media in Modi's India - Siddharth Varadarajan
3. Writing Counter-insurgency, Conflict, and Democracy in India - Nandini Sundar and Dolly Kikon in conversation
4. Democratic Trajectories
i. Congressism, Anti-Congressism, and the "People-as-a-Whole" - Subir Sinha
ii. Merit and Caste in Contemporary India - Ajantha Subramanian
iii. Ritual Inclusivity in Turbulent Times - Kathinka Froystad
iv. Comments - Manali Desai
5. India's Democracy: Contest for the Nation's Core - Kavita Krishnan
6. Feminism and the Politics of Gender in Indian Democracy - Raka Ray and Srila Roy in conversation
Conclusion: Indian Democracy and its Prospects: 2019 and Beyond - Alf Gunvald Nilsen, Kenneth Bo Nielsen and Anand Vaidya