Jaffrelot Christophe. Religion Caste and Politics in India

Primus Books, 2010. — 823 p.Following independence, the Nehruvian approach to socialism in India rested on three pillars: secularism and democracy in the political domain, state intervention in the economy, and diplomatic non-alignment mitigated by pro-Soviet leanings after the 1960s. These features defined a distinct "Indian model," if not the country's political identity. From this starting point, Christophe Jaffrelot traces the transformation of India throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the 1980s and 90s. The world's largest democracy has sustained itself by embracing not only the vernacular politicians of linguistic states, but also Dalits and "Other Backward Classes," or OBCs. The simultaneous—and related—rise of Hindu nationalism has put minorities—and secularism—on the defensive. In many ways the rule of law has been placed on trial as well. The liberalization of the economy has resulted in growth, yet not necessarily development, and India has acquired a new global status, becoming an emerging power intent on political and economic partnerships with Asia and the West. The traditional Nehruvian system is giving way to a less cohesive though more active India, a country that has become what it is against all odds. Jaffrelot maps this tumultuous journey, exploring the role of religion, caste, and politics in determining the fabric of a modern democratic state.ContentsPreface
Acknowledgement
IntroductionI Secularism at Stake. The Birth and Rise of Hindu Nationalism
Composite culture is not multiculturalism: a study of the Indian Constituent Assembly debates
From Indian territory to Hindu bhoomi: the ethnicization of nation-state mapping in India
The invention of an ethnic nationalism
Hindu nationalism, strategic syncretism in ideology-building
The genesis and development of Hindu nationalism in the
Punjab: from the Arya Samaj to the Hindu Sabha (1875-1910)
The idea of the Hindu race in the writings of Hindu nationalist ideologues in the 1920s and 1930s: a concept between two cultures
Militant Hindus and the conversion issue (1885-1990):
from shuddhi to dharm parivartan: politicization
and diffusion of an ‘invention of tradition’
The rise of Hindu nationalism and the marginalization
of Muslims in India today
II. The Sangh Parivar
The Sangh Parivar: how cohesive is this family?
Hindu nationalism and democracy
The Vishva Hindu Parishad: a nationalist but
mimetic attempt at federating the Hindu sects
The BJP in Madhya Pradesh: networks, strategies and power
The Hindu nationalist movement in Delhi: from ‘locals’ to refugees—and towards peripheral groups?
Hindu nationalism and the (not so easy) art of being outraged: the Ram Setu controversy
The Hindu nationalist reinterpretation of pilgrimage in India: the limits of yatra politics
III. Communal Violence
The politics of processions and Hindu-Muslim riots
The 2002 pogrom in Gujarat: the post-9/11 face of
Hindu nationalist anti-Muslim violence
Gujarat: the meaning of Modi’s victory in 2007
IV. The Rise of the Lower Castes
The plebeianization of the Indian political class
The changing identity of the Jats in north India:
kshatriyas, kisans or backwards?
Sanskritization vs. ethnicization in India: changing
identities and caste politics before Mandal
The rise of the Other Backward Classes in the Hindi belt
The subordinate castes’ revolution
The impact of affirmative action in India: more political than socioeconomic
The Bahujan Samaj Party in north India:
no longer just a Dalit party?
The Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh: whose party is it?
V. The Political Culture (of Voting) in India
Voting in India: electoral symbols, the party system and the collective citizen
“Why should we vote?’: the Indian middle class and the functioning of the world’s largest democracy
Indian democracy: the rule of law on trial
India and Pakistan: interpreting the divergence of two political trajectories
VI. India and the World
The cardinal points of Indian foreign policy
The Sangh Parivar and the Hindu diaspora in the west: what kind of ‘long-distance nationalism’?
India’s Look East policy: an Asianist strategy in perspective
Does Europe matter to India?
The India-US rapprochement: state-driven or middle class-driven?Select Bibliography
Index