Abstract
The All India Agricultural Labourers Association (AIALA) was formed in 2003 by the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (Liberation) (CPI-ML Liberation), formerly an ‘underground’ Naxalite party, which adopted legal and democratic means in the early 1990’s. Focusing on its main stronghold in the countryside of Bihar, this article analyses the way the economic struggles, social aspirations and aesthetic values of the rural proletariat are being articulated with the party’s political goal of producing a revolutionary class at the subjective level. These goals are analysed in the context of the party’s evolution towards a mass movement and through a critique of the legitimist and populist approaches towards popular culture. The party’s recent emphasis on symbolic politics indicates a greater inclination towards the popular than implied by the Leninist model of intellectual authority, thus highlighting the cultural negotiations that underlie the making of class subjectivity.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
