Hindu Nationalism and Gender in the Indian Civil Society

Abstract

The Indian women's movement has for the last two decades been engaged in a struggle against an aggressive Hindu nationalism. Based on the idea of Hindu supremacy and a revival of traditional Hindu culture, the Hindu nationalist movement has grown as a political force in an era of rapid modernization and globalization. Met with strong resistance from secular forces, this Hindu nationalist challenge has tried to turn civil society into a battlefield challenging feminist liberal and socialist ideas on gender relations, advocating a definition of gender roles based on a traditional Hindu culture. The theoretical starting point of the article is a form of modified civil society theory in which civil society is analysed as an arena where various social and political forces battle against the State, but also against each other. It is argued in the article that despite their significant political success the Hindu nationalist forces have largely failed to gain any ground within the Indian women's movement and remain relatively isolated.