Poetics of Village Politics: The Making of West Bengal's Rural Communism (Routledge Revivals)

Originally published in 2003, this volume studies village politics and the changes brought about in rural society through political developments. It focuses on the social, political and cultural circumstances of communist mobilization in rural West Bengal. It analyses the emergence of rural communism in the local context of changes in the position of women, in caste practices, in economic conditions and in new efforts to create ‘development’. It investigates how this cultural change interacts with the mechanisms and tools of village politics, and using anthropological methods and oral history as tools, allows for a detailed and intimate ethnographic description of village politics and its changes. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Original Title Original Copyright Dedication Contents List of Tables Acknowledgements 1. Anthropology and History of Village Politics Village and the State The Village Politics Studies Views from Below What is this Thing called Culture? 2. Small Communities in Landscape and History The Village Setting Gradual Political Radicalization Agrarian Relations and Increasing Poverty The Spark: A New Line of Thinking But Does It All Fit? 3. Two Stories about Power and Influence 'We were all in it Together?' Gopinathpur: The Story of an Enduring Alliance Udaynala: The Story of a Brittle Alliance Sources of Individual 'Power' in Village History Money-lenders as Political Leaders? Interested Patron-Client Relationships 'Power'—As in 'Influence'? 4. Road, Poetry, and Some Crafty Young Men On Commensality and Other Changes The bhadralok and His Making Selimmaster's Notebook and a Critique of Village Society Implementing the Modern Tradition in Udaynala Family Ties, Education, and New-found Reading Material From the Epics to 20th Century Novels Modern Tradition in Village Drama Language and Status 5. Caste Stereotypes and Communist Mobilization Excesses and Typical Village Politics Udaynala and Gopinathpur and the United Front Period Caste and Class, ca. 1960 Dacoity 'We are bagdis!': The Bagdi Stereotype Bagdis in Udaynala Village Affairs The Shifting Alliances of the 1970s The Bagdi, and Assertion as Identity and Source of Influence 'We Made Ourselves Low': An Untouchable Identity Muchis in Village Public Affairs Hierarchy and Mobilization 6. Formal Politics and Informal Politics From the Discussion-House to the Office New Formal Institutions: 1960s Ohabsaheb's Exit How Important Were the Reformed Panchayats? Bichar—an Informal Institution Informal Politics and Middle-Men 'Symbolic Capital' and Len-den Formal and Informal Politics: Two Interlocked Games 7. Gossip and Reputation: The Making of Village Leaders The Importance of Gossip The Making and Unmaking of Individual Reputations Towards Manikbhai's Bichar Gossip and The Village Agenda Manipulation 8. Conclusion A Space for Change? References Index