Contesting the Nation: Religion, Community and the Politics of Democracy in India (South Asia Seminar Series) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0812233549 ISBN 13: 9780812233544

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996

Synopsis

Today, powerful political forces seek to make the Indian state Hindu. Their rising influence since 1980 has occurred during a period of radical change in Indian society and politics, and has been accomplished by electoral means as well as by organized violence. The 1996 elections will be a major test of their power and of the influence of Hindu majoritarianism among the Indian electorate.

Animated by a sense of urgency that was heightened by the massive violence following the destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, Contesting the Nation explores Hindu majoritarian politics over the last century and its dramatic reformulation during the decline of the Congress Party in the 1980s. Twelve prominent scholars from India, Europe, and the United States provide perspectives from the fields of political science, religious studies, ethnomusicology, history, art history, and anthropology, comparing trends in India with ethnic, religious, and cultural movements in other parts of the world.

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From the Back Cover

Today, powerful political forces seek to make the Indian state Hindu. Their rising influence since 1980 has occurred during a period of radical change in Indian society and politics, and has been accomplished by electoral means as well as by organized violence. The 1996 elections will be a major test of their power and of the influence of Hindu majoritarianism among the Indian electorate. Animated by a sense of urgency that was heightened by the massive violence following the destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, Contesting the Nation explores Hindu majoritarian politics over the last century and its dramatic reformulation during the decline of the Congress Party in the 1980s. Twelve prominent scholars from India, Europe, and the United States provide perspectives from the fields of political science, religious studies, ethnomusicology, history, art history, and anthropology, comparing trends in India with ethnic, religious, and cultural movements in other parts of the world.

Synopsis

An explication of Indian communalism directed primarily to a US audience and representing the current state of research on Hindu nationalism. The 12 essays, culled from a seminar collaboration, combine methods in anthropology, history, political science and religious studies to develop the ideas of communal mobilization, and the genealogies of colo

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0812233549
• ISBN 13: 9780812233544
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320
• Editor: Ludden David