Divided we stand : diversity and national identity in India / Srirupa Roy.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Microformat

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Roy, Srirupa.

Contributor:

Lustick, Ian, 1949- advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Penn dissertations--Political science.

Political science--Penn dissertations.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--Political science.

Political science--Penn dissertations.

Physical Description:

ix, 344 pages ; 29 cm

Production:

1999.

Summary:

This dissertation examines the attempts of the Indian state to produce and institutionalize definitions of national identity in the post-independence period. Through an examination of several selected sites or arenas of nationalist activity, I show that cultural diversity and civic identity are the main themes of official nationalism. Both these themes or emphases enable the state to build and legitimize its authority. The state's definition of India in terms of its natural and inalienable cultural diversity allows it to present itself as the sole unifying agent---the institutional presence that is needed by the otherwise chaotic nation to achieve order and stability. Further, the emphasis on cultural diversity is selective, with only certain kinds of sub-national groups considered to be legitimate members of the diverse Indian nation. In sum, the emphasis on diversity is a strategy that allows the state to define and orchestrate practices of identity-formation at the sub-national level. The second theme of civic identity is also one which foregrounds the authority of the modern state over its national subjects. These definitions of national identity serve as effective legitimizing formulas because they have been presumptively established in the public sphere. However, the state's quest for legitimacy proceeds at the expense of the freedom and security of individual subjects.

At a theoretical level, I bring the state-institution back in to discussions of the nation, and argue that the modern ideology of nationalism does not just invent or imagine particular 'horizontally' constituted communities of individuals. It also imagines an identity for the state-institution that will represent the nation, and attempts to establish a 'vertical' link of legitimate authority between state and nation. Nationalism is, above all, a formula for explaining and legitimizing the existence of the modern state-institution, and the relation between the national community and the state is the central and guiding concern in all expressions of national identity.

Notes:

Supervisor: Ian S. Lustick.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Political Science) -- University of Pennsylvania, 1999.

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

University Microfilms order no.: 99-53588.

OCLC:

187484034