Theft of an Idol Text and Context in the Representation of Collective Violence / Paul R. Brass.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brass, Paul R., 1936- Author.

Series:

Princeton studies in culture/power/history.

Princeton studies in culture/power/history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Violence--Political aspects.

Violence.

Riots.

Politics and government.

Ethnicity.

Ethnic relations.

Ethnicity--India--Case studies.

Riots--India--Case studies.

Violence--Political aspects--India--Case studies.

Violence--India--Case studies.

India.

India--Politics and government--Case studies.

India--Ethnic relations--Case studies.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 298 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Princeton (New Jersey) : Princeton University Press, op. 1997.

Summary:

As collective violence erupts in many regions throughout the world, we often hear media reports that link the outbreaks to age-old ethnic or religious hostilities, thereby freeing the state, its agents, and its political elites from responsibility. Paul Brass encourages us to look more closely at the issues of violence, ethnicity, and the state by focusing on specific instances of violence in their local contexts and questioning the prevailing interpretations of them. Through five case studies of both rural and urban public violence, including police-public confrontations and Hindu-Muslim riots, Brass shows how, out of many possible interpretations applicable to these incidents, government and the media select those that support existing relations of power in state and society. Adopting different modes - narrator, detective, and social scientist - Brass treats incidents of collective violence arising initially out of common occurrences such as a drunken brawl, the rape of a girl, and the theft of an idol, and demonstrates how some incidents remain localized while others are fit into broader frameworks of meaning, thereby becoming useful for upholders of dominant ideologies. Incessant talk about violence and its implications in these circumstances contributes to its persistence rather than its reduction. Such treatment serves in fact to mask the causes of violence, displace the victims from the center of attention, and divert society's gaze from those responsible for its endemic character. Brass explains how this process ultimately implicates everyone in the perpetuation of systems of violence.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

List of Figures and Tables

Preface

List of Abbreviations

CHAPTER 1 Text and Context

CHAPTER 2 Background

CHAPTER 3 Theft of an Idol

CHAPTER 4 Rape at Daphnala

CHAPTER 5 Horror Stories

CHAPTER 6 Horror Stories Untold

CHAPTER 7 Kala Bachcha: Portrait of a BJP Hero

CHAPTER 8 Conclusion

Index

PRINCETON STUDIES IN CULTURE/POWER/HISTORY

About the Author

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691026510

0691026513

OCLC:

1273307231