{"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":null,"pages":null},"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":"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":null,"pages":null},"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":"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":null,"pages":null},"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":null,"pages":null},"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":null,"pages":null},"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":null,"pages":null},"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}
{"title":"Book review: Elizabeth Chatterjee and Matthew McCartney, eds. Class and Conflict: Revisiting Pranab Bardhan’s Political Economy of India","authors":"Sudhir Kumar Suthar","doi":"10.1177/23210230211043604","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230211043604","url":null,"abstract":"Elizabeth Chatterjee and Matthew McCartney, eds. Class and Conflict: Revisiting Pranab Bardhan’s Political Economy of India. Delhi: Oxford University Press. 2019. 299 pages. ₹1,395","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44482295","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: Sanjib Baruah, In the Name of the Nation","authors":"Samir Sharma","doi":"10.1177/23210230211043078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230211043078","url":null,"abstract":"Sanjib Baruah, In the Name of the Nation (New Delhi: Navayana Publishers, 2020), 278 pp. ₹599.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48522407","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":"Dhirubhai L. Seth 1936-2021: Commemorating Intellectual Politics","authors":"Hilal Ahmed","doi":"10.1177/23210230211058536","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230211058536","url":null,"abstract":"Writing a conventional obituary for Prof Dhirubhai L. Seth (or Dhirubhai!)—the former Director and one of the founding members of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and member of advisory board of this journal—is a difficult task. Dhirubhai was a theorist of the present. He would always respond to the challenges, issues and anxieties posed by the contemporary moment. The past in Dhirubhai’s framework is always seen in relation to contemporary concerns. For him, ‘historicization of an event, or an object...or an institution of a distant past becomes credible, and makes good historical sense, only when it is done in terms of contemporary concerns and sensibilities’ (DLS, p. 25). Dhrubhai’s intellectual adherence to here and now forces us to always engage with him as our contemporary. His lively, assertive and interventionist intellectual quest cannot be treated as history. For this reason, the colourful intellectual personality of Dhirubhai cannot be commemorated in an orthodox unadventurous mode. The vastness of Dhirubhai’s work poses a challenge of a different kind. He used to describe himself as a writer of short stories to justify his faithfulness for writing long essays instead of books. These essays address a number issues such as nationalism, democracy, caste, religion, backwardness, institutional development, non-party political processes, grassroots movements, intellectualism and so on. Although there are two edited volumes based on his various writings —Satta Aur Samaj: Dhirubhai Sheth (edited by Abhay Kumar Dubey, 2009) and At Home with Democracy: A Theory of India Politics (edited by Peter R. deSouza, 2018)—it is very difficult to provide a thematic label to Dhirubhai’s intellectual universe. Any conventional tribute, especially in strict professional academic sense, is almost meaningless, if not entirely futile. To avoid such explanatory difficulties, we must engage with Dhirubhai’s notion of intellectualism: How did he conceptualize the role of intellectuals in a postcolonial society like India? Dhirubhai makes a crucial distinction between academic work and intellectual pursuit. For him, academic work refers to the formal, professional engagement with a particular subject matter. On the other hand, intellectual work is seen as a creative devotion to an idea simply to nurture a process of constructive thinking. Dhirubhai introduces an innovative dimension to this conceptual distinction. He emphasises the decisive role of language in the realm of ideas. He writes:","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41320818","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: Florian Matthey-Prakash, The Right to Education in India: The Importance of Enforceability of a Fundamental Right","authors":"R. Gopi","doi":"10.1177/23210230211043028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230211043028","url":null,"abstract":"Florian Matthey-Prakash, The Right to Education in India: The Importance of Enforceability of a Fundamental Right (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2019), 446 pp. ₹1,495.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48738010","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}