Violent conjuntures in democratic India / Amrita Basu, Amherst College.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Basu, Amrita, 1953- author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in contentious politics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social conflict.

Social movements--Political aspects.

Social movements.

Nationalism--Social aspects.

Nationalism.

Democracy--Social aspects.

Democracy.

Hindus.

Politics and government.

Minorities--Violence against.

Minorities.

Political violence.

India--Politics and government--1977-.

India.

India--Social conditions--1947-.

Social conditions.

Political violence--India.

Minorities--Violence against--India.

Bharatiya Janata Party.

Hindus--India--Politics and government.

Democracy--Social aspects--India.

Nationalism--Social aspects--India.

Social movements--Political aspects--India.

Social conflict--India.

Hindus--Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xxviii, 334 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Summary:

"This book is a pioneering study of when and why Hindu nationalists have engaged in discrimination and violence against minorities in contemporary India. Amrita Basu asks why the incidence and severity of violence differs significantly across Indian states, within states, and through time. Contrary to many predictions, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has neither consistently engaged in anti-minority violence nor been compelled by the centrifugal pressures of democracy to become a centrist party. Rather, the national BJP has alternated between moderation and militancy. Hindu nationalist violence has been conjunctural, determined by relations among its own party, social movement organization, and state governments, and on the character of opposition states, parties and movements. This study accords particular importance to the role of social movements in precipitating anti-minority violence. It calls for a broader understanding of social movements and a greater appreciation of their relationship to political parties"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction

Part I. The Pillars of Hindu Nationalism

1. The state : dialectics of states, parties, and movements

2. Party politics : disrupting party-movement boundaries

3. Movements politics : globalized markets and sacred spaces

Part II. Extensive Violence

4. When local violence is not merely local : a tale of two towns

5. Gujarat : the perfect storm

Part III. Episodic Violence

6. Uttar Pradesh : movements and counter movements

7. Himachal Pradesh : the party rules

8. Rajasthan : two phases of party-movement relations

9. Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-320) and index.

ISBN:

9781107461321

1107461324

9781107089631

1107089638

OCLC:

896806823