The Political Outsider
Indian Democracy and the Lineages of Populism
Published on 5. March 2024
374 pages
978-1-5036-3799-3 (ISBN)
Available for download
Description
Defying the dire predictions that attended its birth as an independent nation-state in 1947, the Indian republic is more than seventy-five years old. And yet, it is a place where criticisms of actually existing democracy are intense and strident. In recent years, the trope of victimized people suffering at the hands of a predatory elite and political dysfunction has reaped rewards. The populist language of redemptive outsiders pledging to combat a corrupt system has been harnessed in successful electoral campaigns, like the majoritarian regime of Narendra Modi.
Tracking the shift from postcolonial nation-building to democracy-rebuilding, Srirupa Roy shows how the political outsider came to be a valorized figure of late-twentieth century Indian democracy, tasked with the urgent mission of curing a broken democratic system-what Roy terms "curative democracy." Drawing attention to an ambivalent political field that folds together authoritarian and democratic forms and ideas, Roy argues that the long 1970s were a crucial turning point in Indian politics, when democracy was suspended by the declaration of a national emergency and then subsequently restored. By tracing the crooked line that connects the ideals of curative democracy and the political outsider to the populist antipolitics and strongman authoritarian rule in present times, this book revisits democracy from India, and asks what the Indian experience tells us about the trajectory of global democratic politics.
Tracking the shift from postcolonial nation-building to democracy-rebuilding, Srirupa Roy shows how the political outsider came to be a valorized figure of late-twentieth century Indian democracy, tasked with the urgent mission of curing a broken democratic system-what Roy terms "curative democracy." Drawing attention to an ambivalent political field that folds together authoritarian and democratic forms and ideas, Roy argues that the long 1970s were a crucial turning point in Indian politics, when democracy was suspended by the declaration of a national emergency and then subsequently restored. By tracing the crooked line that connects the ideals of curative democracy and the political outsider to the populist antipolitics and strongman authoritarian rule in present times, this book revisits democracy from India, and asks what the Indian experience tells us about the trajectory of global democratic politics.
Reviews / Votes
"In this bold, creative, and beautifully written book, Roy challenges the notion that populism represents an aberration of democracy and traces its lineage to authoritarian strains in what she terms curative democracy in India since the 1970s. The Political Outsider is a brilliant addition to the literature on populism in India and in many other parts of the world."-Amrita Basu, Amherst College "This excellent book presents an interesting and original interpretation of the rise of populism through the historical course of Indian democracy. It is written with clarity and verve and adds significantly to our understanding of Indian democracy as well as the theoretical discussion of the rise of populism."
-Sudipta Kaviraj, Columbia University "[Roy] illustrates the argument with in-depth portraits of selected events and institutions. Indian populism emerges in her analysis as typical rather than exceptional, a type of political movement found globally that seeks a return to an imagined healthy past when social conflicts were overridden by the unity of an imagined people."-Andrew J. Nathan, Foreign Affairs "[The Political Outsider] brims with original insights and empirical richness. On the whole, it makes a sustained and persuasive argument about the relevance of the concepts of curative democracy and outsider status in understanding populism in India and elsewhere as a style of politics embedded in a broader set of forces and forms."-Gyan Prakash, American Historical Review
More details
Series
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Palo Alto
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Illustrations
1 table
ISBN-13
978-1-5036-3799-3 (9781503637993)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
03/2024
Stanford University Press
€35.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Book
03/2024
Stanford University Press
€141.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Srirupa Roy is Professor and Chair of State and Democracy at the Centre for Modern Indian Studies at the University of Goettingen.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Curative Democracy and The Political Outsider
Part I: Elements
1. New Politics
2. Transformational Media
Part II: Lineages
3. The Long Emergency
4. Outsider Agency
Conclusion: Crooked Lines
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Introduction: Curative Democracy and The Political Outsider
Part I: Elements
1. New Politics
2. Transformational Media
Part II: Lineages
3. The Long Emergency
4. Outsider Agency
Conclusion: Crooked Lines
Notes
Bibliography
Index
