Democracy and Social Cleavage in India

This book explores the emergence of identity politics and violence at the forefront of political life in an Indian state. Through a close reading of everyday politics in West Bengal, India, the volume presents unique observations on Indian politics and its trajectories.

Autorentext

Suman Nath teaches anthropology as Assistant Professor at Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Government College, Kolkata, India. He did his PhD jointly under faculties from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta and the University of Calcutta, India in Anthropology. Since 2007, he has been researching on issues of politics of resource allocation, which includes a stint as Research Associate at Public Policy and Management Group, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, India. His books include a monograph, titled People-Party-Policy Interplay in India (2020), a co-authored volume on Sexuality, Identity and Health (2014), and Theory, Policy, Practice: Development and Discontents in India, a collection of essays co-edited with Debraj Bhattacharya (2022). He has also published in international journals on issues of politics, corruption and governance. He was awarded to participate in different research programmes organised by the UNDP, Planning Commission and SaciWATERs. Apart from his academic publications, Suman runs a couple of internationally recognised blogs and writes popular articles in Little Magazines and Bengali dailies.

Inhalt

1. Introduction 2. Culture, power and misrecognitions in West Bengal 3. The Changing Trajectories in Bengal Violence: From Party to Identity 4. Islamic fundamentalism and an innocent ignorance 5. Aggressive Hindutva, its Organisations and Mechanisms 6. When Fundamentalists Meet: The Riots 7. The Grandeur of Cultural Misrecognition, India meets Bengal 8. Conclusions