Description
Book SynopsisAnalyzes Indian receptivity to the right-wing Hindu nationalist party and its political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which claims to create a polity based on "ancient" Hindu culture. This book offers insights into Indian politics and focuses on the links between democracy and ethnic majoritarianism.
Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1999 "This may become a classic text... Hansen writes well and thoughtfully."--Journal of Peace Research "Combining broad analysis with vivid local case studies, this book gives the reader profound insights into the turbulent world of contemporary Indian politics."--Judith M. Brown, History
Table of ContentsIntroduction. Hindu Nationalism and Democracy in India 3 Hindu Nationalism and Postcolonial Trajectories of Democracy 5 Hindu Nationalism and the Imaginings of India 10 About This Book 14 1. Modernity, Nation, and Democracy in India 16 The Democratic Revolution 20 Social Antagonisms and Politics 22 Discourse and the Analysis of Politics 24 Governance and Nationalism in Colonial India 29 Colonial Governmentalities 31 India as a Cultural Nation 39 Competing Nationalist Discourses 44 Producing Citizens and Communities in Independent India 46 Conclusion 57 2. Imagining the Hindu Nation 60 Ideology and the Impossibility of Identities 60 Objectification of Communities 65 Inversion of Orientalist Epistemology 67 Semitization of Hinduism 71 From Hindu Community to "Hindu Nation" 74 Hindutva and the "Lack" in the Hindus 77 The Nation as Fullness and Purity: M. S. Golwalkar 80 In the Gandhian Garb: Deendayal Upadhyaya and "Integral Humanism" 84 Constructing the "Founding Myth" 86 Conclusion: Hindu Nationalism and Democratic Revolution 88 3. Organizing the Hindu Nation 90 Culture versus Politics 92 The Sangh Parivar 96 Sevikas in Thane City 99 Hindu Missionaries at the Frontier 104 Cohesion, Leadership, and Control in the Sangh Parivar 107 Constituencies and Strategies of the Sangh Parivar 115 The "Sangha" Citadel in Pune 116 Lower Castes for a Higher Cause 122 The Sangh Parivar in the Political Field 133 Ambiguities of Politics 126 4. Democracy, Populism, and Governance in India in the 1980s 134 Populism and the Transformation of Governance 134 Competing Populisms 140 The Rise of the Other Backward Classes as a Political Identity 141 Caste and the Impurities of Politics 145 Religious Symbols in the Political Field 148 Muslim Minoritization 150 A Hegemonial Crisis 152 5. The Saffron Wave 154 Toward a National Hinduism 154 BJP as a New Beginning 157 Communalizing the Political Field 159 Patriotic Bricks 161 Contingencies of Electoral Politics 165 Opening Other Fronts 168 Roadside Patriotism 169 Ayodhya and Organized Communalism 172 The Demolition of Babri Masjid and After 181 The Disjunction of Agitational and Electoral0 Politics 185 Hindutva and Respectability 188 Political Imaginaries in Suburbia 191 After the Wave 197 6. Communal Identities at the Heart of the Nation 200 The Normal and the Pathological 200 Violence and Communal Consciousness 203 Communal Subjects and Political Action 214 7. Hindu Nationalism, Democracy, and Globalization 218 Hindu Nationalism and Governance 219 Hindu Nationalism and Democracy 223 Hindu Nationalism and Globalization 229 Democracy and Xenophobias in India 235 Notes 239 Glossary 269 Bibliography 273 Index 289
