{"title":"Sound Subjects and Hearing Cultures: Towards an Acoustic Ethnography","authors":"Ratheesh Kumar","doi":"10.1177/23210230221082831","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230221082831","url":null,"abstract":"Sensory techniques enable the process of classification, which in turn facilitates the perceptive capacity to make sense of the world. The human competence to work with the senses in a complex and often unregistered manner prompts us to explore the world of the senses with reference to their functional modalities in the ways of knowing. Apparently, such an exploration cannot rest on the question of epistemology in its conventional frame. It rather involves the idea of the political in the making of a sensory hierarchy. The history of the sensory hierarchy is stridently audible through the early records of western modernity (Howes, 2003; Howes & Classen, 2014; Seremetakis, 1994; Stoller, 1989, 1997). Placing the hierarchy of the senses as a central concern, this article explores the promises of a sound ethnography that seeks to underline the ways of hearing as a methodological possibility, not as an alternate, but as an add-on to the hitherto ‘dominant’ visual sensibilities and practices. Is hearing an unexplored technique in the study of culture? Can hearing be a method in a more imaginative way in ethnographic research? How do we make sense of the relation between the listening ear and its ‘superior other’ the ‘observing eye’ in ethnographic contexts? While raising such methodological concerns is crucial to the shifting grounds of ethnography, the article engages with the recent debates in the emergent fields of sound studies, anthropology of the senses and digital ethnography.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"10 1","pages":"138 - 144"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42887852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reinventing the Republic: Faith and Citizenship in India","authors":"N. G. Jayal","doi":"10.1177/23210230221082799","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230221082799","url":null,"abstract":"In India, a new legal regime and political ecosystem has been enacted for India’s Muslim minority that effectively undermines the constitutional commitment to secularism. This article examines the legal, political, social, moral, and international implications of an assemblage of law and policy—namely, the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, as well as two other initiatives, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register—that cumulatively animates an ambitious project to reinvent the nature of the Indian republic, from a pluralist, multi-ethnic and multi-religious civic community to a political community marked by ethno-religious majoritarianism.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"10 1","pages":"14 - 30"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49435335","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Politics of Knowledge in Development: The Case of Sugar as an Artificial Sweetener","authors":"A. Singh","doi":"10.1177/23210230221082798","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230221082798","url":null,"abstract":"The article aims to explicate the binary created between the two sweeteners, that is, gur (jaggery) and sugar. The focal point of this article is to understand with the analytical framework of politics of knowledge how a ‘traditional’ sweetener, that is, gur, is replaced from our diet by a ‘modern’ sweetener, that is, sugar. This framework replaces the term ‘traditional’ knowledge with ‘already existing knowledge system’ (AEKS, as spelt out by Banerjee [2021, Studies in Indian Politics, vol. 9, pp. 78–90]) and its transformation is examined in five different spaces: epistemology, political economy, historical context, state policy and collective action. In the first section, the epistemic hegemony of sugar is deconstructed through analytical understanding of technological processing; in the second, the changing political economy of sweeteners is explored. The third analyses post-colonial sugar policy showing the continuum from the colonial; and the fourth explores the politics of collective action to challenge and delegitimize the hegemony of sugar.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"10 1","pages":"107 - 117"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46870332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Jinee Lokaneeta, The Truth Machines: Policing, Violence, and Scientific Interrogation in India","authors":"V. Mudgal","doi":"10.1177/23210230221082826","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230221082826","url":null,"abstract":"Jinee Lokaneeta, The Truth Machines: Policing, Violence, and Scientific Interrogation in India (Hyderabad: Oriental BlackSwan, 2020), 264 pp. ₹795.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"10 1","pages":"150 - 151"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41532382","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"New India, Hindutva Constitutionalism, and Muslim Political Attitudes","authors":"Hilal Ahmed","doi":"10.1177/23210230221082833","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230221082833","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores Muslim political attitudes in contemporary India. It contextualizes the political responses of Muslim communities in the backdrop of two crucial legal-constitutional changes introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government: the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. These changes, I suggest, stem from the official doctrine of New India and its operative mechanism, Hindutva constitutionalism. Analysing the nature of Muslim participation in the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests and Muslim electoral responses in two subsequent elections (Delhi Assembly Election, 2020 and the Bihar Assembly Election, 2020), I argue that political engagement of Muslims could be interpreted as an ever-evolving discourse, which not merely responds to Hindutva politics but also asserts its relative autonomy.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"10 1","pages":"62 - 78"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44840127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Christophe Jaffrelot. Modi’s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Indian Democracy","authors":"Tanvir Aeijaz","doi":"10.1177/23210230221083399","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230221083399","url":null,"abstract":"Christophe Jaffrelot. Modi’s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Indian Democracy. Westland Publications. 2021. 639 pages. ₹899.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"10 1","pages":"146 - 148"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46003173","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Role of Press in the Politics of Knowledge in Development: Challenges of Creating ‘Alternatives’ in Media","authors":"Tripta Sharma","doi":"10.1177/23210230221082830","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230221082830","url":null,"abstract":"Media is an integral part of any society. In modern societies where it has grown so much, it becomes very important to pay attention to the role of media in constructing the social. This article discusses how the role of press in establishing the hegemony of the modern-industrial west works through the politics of news, establishing the hierarchies in the politics of knowledge in general and therefore also in the project of development. It argues that in post-colonial societies, the latter includes a process of marginalization of already existing knowledge systems, for long and more commonly referred to as ‘traditional knowledges’. Exploring initiatives in creating counters to mainstream media, the article also invites a problematization of the category of ‘alternative media’ as a true alternative presenting peoples’ perspectives on development.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"10 1","pages":"118 - 131"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44864805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Paul Wallace (Ed.), India’s 2019 Elections: The Hindutva Wave and Indian Nationalism","authors":"Ishta Vohra","doi":"10.1177/23210230211043026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230211043026","url":null,"abstract":"Paul Wallace (Ed.), India’s 2019 Elections: The Hindutva Wave and Indian Nationalism (New Delhi: SAGE Publications, 2020), 428 pp. ₹1,395 (Hardback). ISBN: 978-93-5388-244-0.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"9 1","pages":"294 - 297"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44741710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Devesh Kapur and Madhav Khosla (Eds.), Regulation in India: Design, Capacity, Performance","authors":"John Echeverri-Gent","doi":"10.1177/23210230211043075","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230211043075","url":null,"abstract":"Devesh Kapur and Madhav Khosla (Eds.), Regulation in India: Design, Capacity, Performance (New Delhi: Bloomsbury, 2019), 407 pp. ₹739. ISBN 978-93-88630-66-5.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"9 1","pages":"291 - 292"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43334386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Shirin M. Rai and Carole Spary. Performing Representation: Women Members in the Indian Parliament","authors":"BijayaLaxmi Nanda","doi":"10.1177/23210230211043185","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230211043185","url":null,"abstract":"Shirin M. Rai and Carole Spary. Performing Representation: Women Members in the Indian Parliament. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 2019. 398 pages. ₹995.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"9 1","pages":"297 - 299"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46465011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}