Power And Influence In India: Bosses, Lords And Captains (exploring The Political In South Asia)

The book is an ethnographic exploration of how ‘democracy'takes social and cultural roots in India and in the process shapes the nature of popular politics. It centres on a historically marginalised caste who in recent years has become one of the most assertive and politically powerful communities in North India: the Yadavs.The Vernacularisation of Democracy is a vivid account of how Indian popular democracy works on the ground. Challenging conventional theories of democratisation the book shows how the political upsurge of'the lower orders'is situated within a wider process of the vernacularisation of democratic politics, referring to the ways in which values and practices of democracy become embedded in particular cultural and social practices, and in the process become entrenched in the consciousness of ordinary people. During the 1990s, Indian democracy witnessed an upsurge in the political participation of lower castes/communities and the emergence of political leaders from humble social backgrounds who present themselves as promoters of social justice for underprivileged communities. Drawing on a large body of archival and ethnographic material the author shows how the analysis of local idioms of caste, kinship, kingship, popular religion, ‘the past'and politics (‘the vernacular') inform popular perceptions of the political world and of how the democratic process shapes in turn ‘the vernacular'. This line of enquiry provides a novel framework to understand the unique experience of Indian democracy as well as democratic politics and its meaning in other contemporary post-colonial states. Using as a case study the political ethnography of a powerful northern Indian caste (the Yadavs) and combining ethnographic material with colonial and post-colonial history the book examines the unique experience of Indian popular democracy and provides a framework to analyse popular politics in other parts of the world. The book fills The book is an ethnographic exploration of how democracy takes social and cultural roots in India and in the process shapes the nature of popular politics. It centres on a historically marginalised caste who in recent years has become one of the most assertive and politically powerful communities in North the Yadavs. The Vernacularisation of Democracy is a vivid account of how Indian popular democracy works on the ground. Challenging conventional theories of democratisation the book shows how the political upsurge of 'the lower orders' is situated within a wider process of the vernacularisation of democratic politics, referring to the ways in which values and practices of democracy become embedded in particular cultural and social practices, and in the process become entrenched in the consciousness of ordinary people. During the 1990s, Indian democracy witnessed an upsurge in the political participation of lower castes/communities and the emergence of political leaders from humble social backgrounds who present themselves as promoters of social justice for underprivileged communities. Drawing on a large body of archival and ethnographic material the author shows how the analysis of local idioms of caste, kinship, kingship, popular religion, the past and politics (the vernacular) inform popular perceptions of the political world and of how the democratic process shapes in turn the vernacular. This line of enquiry provides a novel framework to understand the unique experience of Indian democracy as well as democratic politics and its meaning in other contemporary post-colonial states. Using as a case study the political ethnography of a powerful northern Indian caste (the Yadavs) and combining ethnographic material with colonial and post-colonial history the book examines the unique experience of Indian popular democracy and provides a framework to analyse popular politics in other parts of the world. The book fills existing gaps in scholarly analysis of political processes by contributing to the understanding of how democracy has been internalised in the popular consciousness of different societies through various abstract principles of political representation, especially by exploring democracy in areas which are not thought of as political per se (for example, family, kinship, kingship, popular religion, and local ideas of personhood). "Firmly situated within the analytics of the political economy of a north Indian province, this book explores self-fashioning in pursuit of the modern amongst low-caste Chamars. Challenging existing accounts of national modernity in the non-West, the book argues that subaltern classes shape their own ideas about modernity by taking and rejecting from models of other classes within the same national context. While displacing the West -- in its colonial and non-colonial manifestations -- as the immanent comparative focus, the book puts forward a unique framework for the analysis of subaltern modernity. This builds on the entanglements between two main trajectories, both of which are viewed as the outcome of the generative impetus of modernisation in India: the first consists of the Chamar appropriation of socio-cultural distinctions forged by 19th-century Indian middle classes in their encounter with colonial modernity; the second features the Chamar subversion of high-caste ideals and practices as a result of low-caste politics initiated during the 20th century. The author contends that these conflicting trends give rise to a temporal antinomy within the Chamar politics of self-making, caught up between compulsions of a past modern and of a contemporary one. The eclectic outcome is termed as 'retro-modernity'. While the book signals a politics of becoming whose dynamics had previously been overlooked by scholars, it simultaneously opens up novel avenues for the understanding of non-elite modern life-forms in postcolonial settings. The book will interest scholars of anthropology, South Asian studies, development studies, gender studies, political science and postcolonial studies."--Publisher's website Taking cognisance of the lack of studies on leadership in modern India, this book explores how leadership is practiced in the Indian context, examining this across varied domains — from rural settings and urban neighbourhoods to political parties and state governments.The importance of individual leaders in the projection of politics in South Asia is evident from how political parties, mobilisation of movements and the media all focus on carefully constructed personalities. Besides, the politically ambitious have considerable room for manoeuvre in the institutional setup of the Indian subcontinent. This book focuses on actors making their political career and/or aspiring for leadership roles, even as it also foregrounds the range of choices open to them in particular contexts. The articles in this volume explore the variety of strategies used by politically engaged actors in trying to acquire (or keep) power — symbolic action, rhetorical usage, moral conviction, building of alliances — illustrating, in the process, both the opportunities and constraints experienced by them.In taking a qualitative approach and tracking both political styles and transactions, this book provides insights into the nature of democracy and the functioning of electoral politics in the subcontinent. Front Cover 1 Power and Influence in India 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 7 List of Abbreviations 9 Glossary 11 Foreword by Mukulika Banerjee 14 Introduction 17 1. Creating Followers, Gaining Patrons: Leadership Strategies in a Tamil Nadu Village: Björn Alm 33 2. Leadership and Political Work: Mukulika Banerjee 52 3. Wrestling with (Body) Politics: Understanding ‘Goonda’ Political Styles in North India: Lucia Michelutti 76 4. To Create a Crowd: Student Leaders in Dhaka: Arild Engelsen Ruud 102 5. Contradictory Youth Politics: Student Mobilisation in Uttar Pradesh: Craig Jeffrey 128 6. The New Caste Headmen? Dalit Movement Leadership in Tamil Nadu: Hugo Gorringe 151 7. The Enduring Appeal of Populist Leadership in Contemporary Tamil Nadu: Andrew Wyatt 176 8. Leadership and the Power of Honour in a Corrupt System: Paul R. Brass 201 9. Beyond Clientelism: Digvijay Singh’s Participatory, Pro-Poor Strategy in Madhya Pradesh: James Manor 225 10. Development, Drought and Campaign Rhetoric in South India: Chandrababu Naidu and the Telugu Desam Party, 2003–2004: Pamela Price 246 About the Editors 276 Contributors 277 Index 279 This book examines certain changes in the political make-up of Karnataka, between the early 1970s and the late 1980s, which, in turn, led to the birth of a unique democracy in the state. In a departure from most studies on political science and political history which pay little or no attention to the role of politicians and focus only on technocratic blueprints, administrative processes and incentive systems, this volume takes into account the role politicians play in shaping the character of their governments, public policy and state–society relations. It studies the political transformation of Karnataka by focusing heavily on three chief ministers of the state who played an important role in making politics in Karnataka more accommodative, enlightened and, hence, more democratic. This volume is a detailed insider's account of the political processes in Karnataka, enriched with interviews and surveys which seek to locate this work in the social science literature, in Karnataka's recent history and in comparative context alongside other Indian states. The importance of individual politicians and leadership in South Asian politics is easily visible in the functioning of political parties and movements, as well as in media coverage. Yet there is a noticeable paucity of academic work on the subject. This volume, a collection of articles documenting the leadership styles of individual politicians in the region, seeks to address this lack. By exploring such aspects of leadership as symbolic action, rhetorical usage, moral conviction, alliance-building, and modes of distribution, the articles illustrate the opportunities and constraints experienced by the politically ambitious. The spectrum of leadership strategies thus uncovered leads the editors to propose a tripartite arrangement of leader-types most commonly seen in the region: boss, lord and captain. In so doing the volume is able to provide important insight into the nature of South Asian democracies and electoral politics, and explain the relative stability of the body politic of what is a very large and complex socio-economic region. --Book Jacket For decades, India has been a conservative democracy governed by the upper caste notables coming from the urban bourgeoisie, the landowning aristocracy and the intelligentsia. The democratisation of the ‘world's largest democracy'started with the rise of peasants'parties and the politicisation of the lower castes who voted their own representatives to power as soon as they emancipated themselves from the elite's domination. In Indian state politics, caste plays a major role and this book successfully studies how this caste-based social diversity gets translated into politics. This is the first comprehensive study of the sociological profile of Indian political personnel at the state level. It examines the individual trajectory of 16 states, from the 1950s to 2000s, according to one dominant parameter—the evolution of the caste background of their elected representatives known as Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs. The study also takes into account other variables like occupation, gender, age and education. For decades, India has been a conservative democracy governed by the upper caste notables coming from the urban bourgeoisie, the landowning aristocracy and the intelligentsia. The democratisation of the worlds largest democracy started with the rise of peasants parties and the politicisation of the lower castes who voted their own representatives to power as soon as they emancipated themselves from the elites domination. In Indian state politics, caste plays a major role and this book successfully studies how this caste-based social diversity gets translated into politics. This is the first comprehensive study of the sociological profile of Indian political personnel at the state level. It examines the individual trajectory of 16 states, from the 1950s to 2000s, according to one dominant parameterthe evolution of the caste background of their elected representatives known as Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs. The study also takes into account other variables like occupation, gender, age and education. In a departure from most books on the politics of the developing world that study political innovation only in terms of technocratic blueprints, administrative processes and incentive systems, this book takes into account the role politicians play in shaping the characters of their governments, public and state-society relations. It focuses on three successive chief ministers of Karnataka who made democracy in the state stronger by triggering significant changes-by ending the dominance of the Congress Party and making way for a genuine multiparty competition; through the decentralisation of power resulting from the creation of powerful local councils, and the inclusion of non-elite groups into the core of the state's politics. These developments opened the way to political transformation in Karnataka from the 1970s onwards On The Changing Perrspective Of Chamārs In Modern Times; A Study. Chapter 1. Chamar Modernity: Progressing Into The Past -- Chapter 2. 'today We Can Touch Anything': Reflections On The Crux Of Indentity And Political Economy -- Chapter 3. Ethnohistories Behind Local And Global Bazaars: Chronicle Of A Weaving Community And Its Disappearance -- Chapter 4. 'we Used To Live Like Animals': Education As A Self- And Community-engineering Process -- Chapter 5. Nonrational Modernity? Religious Agency, Science And Spirits -- Chapter 6. Beyond The Vote: Politics As Sociality, Imagination And Identity -- Chapter 7. The Bourgeois Woman And The Half-naked One: Gendering Retro-modernity -- Chapter 8. The Politics Of Indian Modernity. Manuela Ciotti. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [263]-281)and Index. This book studies the political transformation of Karnataka by focusing on three chief ministers who played an important role in making Karnataka more accommodative and democratic. It includes interviews and surveys which locate this work in social science literature and in comparative context alongside other Indian states. Foregrounding the importance of individual leaders in the projection of politics in South Asia, this multidisciplinary collection of articles illustrates common styles of leadership in modern India, in domains ranging from rural settings and urban neighbourhoods to political parties and state governments Focusing on the low caste Chamar community, this book examines how some of them abandoned their traditional polluting work, and strategically entered the upper-caste weaving profession. Located within the changing politics of the time, it outlines human agency and its search for dignity. Contributed Articles On The Caste Membership Of The Members Of State-level Legislative Assemblies Of India. Editors, Christophe Jaffrelot, Sanjay Kumar. Includes Statistical Tables. Includes Bibliographical References. E. Raghavan, James Manor. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [283]-285) And Index.