Indian Politics Research Articles

Is Getting Into Student Politics In India A Waste of Time?

Anyone who says they are not interested in politics is like a drowning man who insists he is not interested in water,"Mahatma Gandhi.:The students of today will be the future stewards of our nation's destiny in the future. In order for future leaders of the nation to grow and develop a healthy public opinion, political consciousness must be instilled in them as early as possible as a matter of course. But these young men and women must never be allowed to become the pawns of selfish and self-centred shoddy politicians who have no regard for the general public. As one of the first and most important requirements of democracy, students must cultivate a sublime sense of discipline in themselves. Should students participate in politics or not has long been one of the most perplexing questions facing governments around the world. The Lok Sabha had recommended several years ago that the voting age be lowered to 18 years in order to provide students with an opportunity to participate actively in politics and, later, in activities involving the entire nation. The recommendation was accepted by the government. This issue, on the other hand, has been debated in the parliament for quite some time now. The purpose of this research is to examine the role of student politics in India and to discuss the pinnacles of student activism in the country.

Conceptions of Community, Nation and Politics: The Ezhavas of South Malabar, India and their Quest for Equality

This article discusses caste reforms, anti-caste ideas, and thoughts on nationalism amongst Ezhavas of South Malabar in the Madras Presidency. The discourses of equality, the right to the public, the process of community formation, ideology, and the mode of struggle for emancipation are examined. The question of caste, by what means the aspirations of the lower castes were addressed in the uniting project of reformed Hinduism and nationalism is addressed. By capturing disagreements, conflicts, consensus, and the politics of ‘sub-nationalities’ within the ‘national,’ the generic view of national movement as a single, homogeneous consensus project is contested. Towards the end, the article contends that Ezhavas’ assertions imply the presence of an “autonomous anti-caste movement” in the South Malabar region. This article also proposes that the dichotomy of colonialism versus nationalism, and the portrayal of South Indian politics as a sectarian competition for British patronage, limits the opportunity to comprehend localised movements and their vernacular expressions.

The expanding role of majoritarianism in India

ABSTRACT This article aims to explain the concept of majoritarianism that is currently commonly used in the context of Indian politics. It also attempts to make sense of available empirical data that suggests a considerable presence of majoritarianism in India and, on that basis, discusses the implications of the diffuse nature of the majoritarian tendency. The paper argues that the diffuse nature of majoritarianism portends the possibility of democratic distortion.

Not Going Anywhere: Local Protests as Post-global Politics

Abstract With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, extensive restrictions on travel and migration effectively destroyed the global mobility of persons, while widespread supply chain disruptions meant that commodities were no longer as globally mobile. Drawing on this 2020 context, this article shows how 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests indicate the contours of what we might think of as a “post-global” politics: that is, a movement that reflects a globally informed analysis but nonetheless draws only implicitly on ideas of global commonality. National movements affirm the unity of national space, but BLM insists on its very unevenness; internationalism seeks to forge communities across regions and nations, but BLM takes the unity and transportability of “Black” as a given; globalization discourse argues that the world is coming ever closer together, but BLM lays claim to no future unity. This article demonstrates this post-global conceptualization through two of 2020’s most successful novels: Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half and Charles Yu's Interior Chinatown. What, then, is the analytic value of worldwide comparisons for a post-global movement? To answer this question, the US-based BLM protests of 2020 are considered alongside Indian politics in the same period, both through the Indian farmers’ protests that began in late 2020 and through an analysis of a successful 2020 US novel about India, Megha Majumdar's A Burning. This novel was explicitly connected by US readers to BLM's critiques of state violence against minority populations, yet the book itself feels claustrophobically small. Through the combined analysis of these three recent literary successes, this article shows how a post-global politics is reshaping US understandings of racialization.

Social Media Replacing the Party Manifesto as the Key Factor in Deciding Election Outcomes

Abstract: In present study researcher will examine role of social media in political campaigning management. In 2014 General elections, social media played a key role in influencing voter’s behavior. From 2014 onwards many startups related to the social media came into picture. Due to which major impact has been seen in domestic elections due to this emerging medium of information. The present paper mainly focuses on influence of social media in politics under which researcher covers its role, importance and opportunities. The study will also examine how social media influences voter’s behavior and political parties spending on social media for campaign management in various elections. It will also cover related issues such as Facebook– Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Social Media and Indian Politics and its evolution, Voluntary Code of Ethics by social media platforms for 2019 General Election and lastly Ethics, Political Communication, and Security Implications of it. Keywords: Social media, Indian Politics, Voters, Ethics, Political Communication, Security etc.

Homopopulism: A new layer of LGBTQ politics in India

This paper seeks to conceptualize homopopulism as a popular relationality in shifting contexts of inclusion/exclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) identified persons. A new layer of queer politics is visible in contemporary India. Hinged between older colonial discourses, current neoliberal systems, and promises by state actors to include LGBTQ concerns, sexuality is explicitly and implicitly mobilized to create, claim, and resist the present social. This consists of organizational left and liberal efforts to include and represent LGBTQ identified bodies in election promises, with effects that are titled heavily toward the middle to upper-middle class, able, caste-Hindu bodies. Alongside this, groups such as Queer Hindu Alliance are working to claim a stake in the Hindutva regime. Parallel to this, the bodies and voices of queer and trans* persons aim and struggle to connect with Muslim and Dalit individuals and groups around survival and citizenship. This paper attempts to comprehend these unique and tumultuous moments through the concept of homopopulism. I argue that homopopulism offers a useful reference point to understand how a complex democracy, consisting of right-wing, left-liberal, and centrist state practices, uses populist discourses and methods to gradually mobilize LGBTQ identities for thin centered ideologies without necessarily having to create a recognizable population group with affirmative action policies and anti-discriminatory guarantees, as facilitating conditions for a liveable life.

Politics of Knowledge in Development: The Case of Sugar as an Artificial Sweetener

The article aims to explicate the binary created between the two sweeteners, that is, gur (jaggery) and sugar. The focal point of this article is to understand with the analytical framework of politics of knowledge how a ‘traditional’ sweetener, that is, gur, is replaced from our diet by a ‘modern’ sweetener, that is, sugar. This framework replaces the term ‘traditional’ knowledge with ‘already existing knowledge system’ (AEKS, as spelt out by Banerjee [2021, Studies in Indian Politics, vol. 9, pp. 78–90]) and its transformation is examined in five different spaces: epistemology, political economy, historical context, state policy and collective action. In the first section, the epistemic hegemony of sugar is deconstructed through analytical understanding of technological processing; in the second, the changing political economy of sweeteners is explored. The third analyses post-colonial sugar policy showing the continuum from the colonial; and the fourth explores the politics of collective action to challenge and delegitimize the hegemony of sugar.

Dalit Movement And Contribution Of Dalit Associations In United Provinces.

This article attempts to document the history of dalit associations in United Provinces. The main objective of this article is to provide a historical trajectory of evolution of dalit movement and contribution of dalit associations to it in United Provinces. The main argument put forwarded is that dalit associations played an important role in mobilization and organization of multiple dalit castes which prepared ground work for emergence of Dalit movement in United Provinces. Dalit movement in United Provincenial atmosphere for mobilization of Dalits for achieving socio-political rights of Dalits.es attracted the attention of several scholars on account of its success in the form of the Bahujan Samajwadi Party. It has been perceived as a symbol of new trend in Indian politics from below. Studies of Sudha Pai, Chrisstrofar Jafferlot Badri Narayan and Ramnarayan Rawat, look at Dalit assertion from the perspective of politics of people for power. These studies did a commendable job by reflecting upon the historical dynamics of Dalit movement in United Provinces. But the fact is that the role of caste associations established by Dalits and their impact upon the politics of Dalits received insignificant coverage. Consequently, the valuable contribution of Dalit caste associations remained unexplored. This article tries to document the ideas and activities of Dalit caste associations and their impact upon Dalits movement of United Provinces.

Dalit Movement And Contribution Of Dalit Associations In United Provinces.

This article attempts to document the history of dalit associations in United Provinces. The main objective of this article is to provide a historical trajectory of evolution of dalit movement and contribution of dalit associations to it in United Provinces. The main argument put forwarded is that dalit associations played an important role in mobilization and organization of multiple dalit castes which prepared ground work for emergence of Dalit movement in United Provinces. Dalit movement in United Provincenial atmosphere for mobilization of Dalits for achieving socio-political rights of Dalits.es attracted the attention of several scholars on account of its success in the form of the Bahujan Samajwadi Party. It has been perceived as a symbol of new trend in Indian politics from below. Studies of Sudha Pai, Chrisstrofar Jafferlot Badri Narayan and Ramnarayan Rawat, look at Dalit assertion from the perspective of politics of people for power. These studies did a commendable job by reflecting upon the historical dynamics of Dalit movement in United Provinces. But the fact is that the role of caste associations established by Dalits and their impact upon the politics of Dalits received insignificant coverage. Consequently, the valuable contribution of Dalit caste associations remained unexplored. This article tries to document the ideas and activities of Dalit caste associations and their impact upon Dalits movement of United Provinces.

Recovering the Story of Pragmatism in India: Bhimrao Ambedkar, John Dewey, and the Origins of Navayana Pragmatism

Recovering the Story of Pragmatism in India: Bhimrao Ambedkar, John Dewey, and the Origins of Navayana Pragmatism

Police worker politics in India, Brasil, and beyond

ABSTRACT This article conceives a new conceptual framework of ‘police worker politics’ (PWP) as a means to inspire critical research on how the political significance and legitimacy of police configure concepts and practices of democratic governance. Drawing on anthropological theories and methodologies of disjunctive comparison, I consider public policing as work, and figure public police officials as political actors who mobilise around their identities as workers in ways that may be more or less legitimate in the eyes of the governments and the publics they serve. I focus on two major forms of PWP—police unionism and police strikes—and analyze how they have manifested historically in two of the world’s most populous and pluralistic democratic states: India and Brazil. Comparing institutional structures and specific events of PWP in these two Global South postcolonies, I aim 1) to better understand how police worker politics and their legitimacy are co-configured with processes of decolonisation and democratisation; 2) to energise more theoretically nuanced and empirically grounded debates on police worker politics as an understudied global form ripe for comparative research, and 3) to generate and contribute to collaborative inquiries in the emerging field of comparative policing studies generally.

CONTEMPORARY TRIBAL POLITICS IN KERALA

This article tends to focus on the primordial roots of tribal politics in India during the colonial period in order to understand tribal communitys dissent towards the coercive approaches taken up by the British administration. Besides, the prominent social issues faced by the tribal groups in post colonial period would be studied upon to acknowledge how social movements had played a crucial role in addressing it. In particular, the discussions on tribal politics post-independence will be elucidated by narrowing it down to the tribal affairs in the state of Kerala. The Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha a social movement in Kerala led by tribal group would be analysed, to comprehend upon how effectively it had organised the tribal groups and addressed their collective needs. Further, the statistical analysis section highlights the presence of tribal communities in Kerala from parameters like thedistrict wise population, gender ratio, reserved constituencies and representation in local governing bodies. Also, the tribal groups in ST reserved constituencies would be taken into account to explain more about tribal politics and their representation in local government bodies.Lastly, the article aims to provide necessary suggestions on how to enhance the tribal peoples participation in politics.

The Rise of Religious Nationalism and the Changes of Secularism in Indian Politics

The Rise of Religious Nationalism and the Changes of Secularism in Indian Politics

From Dalits as a Political Category to Becoming Dalits in Post-Political Conditions: Explaining the Dual Challenges in Contemporary India

Dalit politics in India has substantially influenced the emerging post-political discourse. They have reinstated their dialectical mode of functioning in order to circumvent the dispersed social power and the disciplinary effects of civil society, albeit in its selective celebration of identity politics. However, this writing departs from locating the Dalit category as naively synonymous with the notion of victimhood of upper-caste violence. Rather, we contend that it is more important to conceive of the Dalit category in symbolic sense: to stay critical to the effects of dominant culture, lest it covertly imposes itself, and simultaneously to build and promote own counterculture with all sorts of folk forms and symbolic representation of identity that nurtures the existence and dignity of the ‘other’.

Representation of Women in Indian Politics

Women political participation has been the highly contested issue since a long time. Women in the Indian Political System time and again have been underrepresented, although having a strong and enigmatic role in historical India. Very less has changed since independence concerning the representation of women in Indian political system. Indian political system has always been an affair of men and always favored men over women. The purpose of this study is to highlight the role women play in Indian political arena. Further it will talk about the women underrepresentation in Indian Parliament and what percentage they constitute in the lower house.

Representation of Women in Indian Politics

Women political participation has been the highly contested issue since a long time. Women in the Indian Political System time and again have been underrepresented, although having a strong and enigmatic role in historical India. Very less has changed since independence concerning the representation of women in Indian political system. Indian political system has always been an affair of men and always favoredmen over women. The purpose of this study is to highlight the role women play in Indian political arena. Further it will talk about the women underrepresentation in Indian Parliament and what percentage they constitute in the lower house.

Single Caste Parties with special reference to Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022"

Political parties regulate politics in every modern democratic country. Since the 1980s, smaller parties based on caste have appeared in numerous states in India. They serve as a reflection of representational and recognition of politics. In Uttar Pradesh, people from the Most Backward Caste (MBCs) have been forming single caste-based political parties in large numbers over the last two decades to gain social, cultural, and political recognition. The BJP and Samajwadi Party formed a rainbow alliance of single caste parties ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh in 2022. In parallel, the BJP significantly contributed to the state's growth of single caste parties. In the 2022 UP assembly election, single caste parties felt their presence in electoral and non-electoral politics. References Banerjee, Mukulika (2014), Why India Votes?, Routledge, New Delhi. Baxter, Craig (1975), ( The Rise and Fall of Bhartiya Kranti Dal), in Myron Weiner and John Osgoodfied, Electoral politics in Indian states: party system and cleavages volume-4 New Delhi. Beg, Mirza Asmer (2012), (The Muslim Parties in Uttar Pradesh and Assam), Economic and Political Weekly No 43, Volume,47 Oct, 27. Brass, Paul(1966), Caste, Faction and Party in Indian politics “ Election study, Volume 2 (Chanakya publication Delhi). Chandra, Kanchan (2004),Why Ethnic Parties Succeed: Patronage and Ethnic Head Counts in India, Cambridge University Press. Duncan, Ian, (1997), (New political equation in North India: Mayawati, Mulayam andgovernment instability in UP), Asian Survey Volume,37. Fickett Lewis, JR (1993), (The Rise and Fall of Jantadal),, Asian Survey Volume-33 No.12,December. G,S (1999), ( Rise of smaller parties: Uttar Pradesh), Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.34,No,41. Kumar, D. S. (2022). Election of State Assembly Held during February and March 2022: Study with Reference to Uttar Pradesh. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 3831–3843. Retrieved from https://journalppw.com/index.php/jpsp/article/view/6861 Hasan, Zoya (1997), Quest for Power: Oppositional Movements and Post Congress Politics in Uttar Pradesh, OUP Publisher, India. Hasan, Zoya (2004). Parties and party politics in India. New Delhi; Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003), India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes, C Hurst &Co Publishers Ltd. Kothari, Rajni (1964), Politics In India, Orient BlackSwan, New Delhi. Pai, Sudha (2002), Dalit Assertion and the Unfinished Democratic Revolution: The Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh, Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd.Delhi. ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF THE OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES IN INDIA: thought. (2021). S.L.: Routledge India. Singh, Jagpal (1992), Capitalism and Dependence: Agrarian Politics in Western Uttar Pradesh, 1951-1991, Manohar Publishers and Distributors, Delhi. Singh, Jagpal (2021). Caste, state and society: degrees of democracy in North India. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge. Wiener, Myron (1968), State Politics in India, (Princeton Legacy Library), Paperback, Delhi.

Transformation of the Soviet Ties with Indian Communist Movement in the1960s: from the Struggle with “Pro-Chinese Sectarians” towards the Left Unification Politics

The history of the Communist party of India is important due to the party’s activities during the struggle for the country’s independence and in virtue of its leading position in Indian politics during the period when the government of J. Nehru was in power. Differences between so-called “leftists” and “rightists” in the party lead to the split in the CPI and to the formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) which was founded by the leaders of the “leftist” faction. The main reasons of the split were the differences in the attitude of different groups of Indian communists towards the Indian National Congress and the politics of Indian government. At the same time the spit related to the foreign politics of India and with the international communist movement. At the first stage of the conflict within the party, the sympathies of the USSR were entirely on the side of the “rightist” faction and the current leadership of the CPI. The “leftist” and the CPI (M) were considered as anti-Soviet group and potential political allies of China. However, the electoral success of the CPI(M) and the neutral position of the party during the Sino-Soviet split changed the attitude of the Soviet government towards this political force. Since the second half of the 1960s the USSR tried to maintain relations with the two main communist parties in India. The key sources are the documents of the Soviet Embassy in Delhi, which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.

UNDERSTANDING CASTE IN UTTAR PRADESH POLITICS

Caste has always been important in Indian society from ancient times. Its impact can be traced in all aspects of society such as- cultural, economic, social and political. In this research paper, the role of caste in Uttar Pradesh politics is being analysed. It is said that Uttar Pradesh is the political king maker in Indian politics, so caste is the king in Uttar Pradesh. This shows the importance of caste in politics. Many political parties have been formed on the basis of caste based ideology and vote bank. The dynamics of caste and politics is quite visible. Upper castes, untouchables and several dominant castes of the state are important from a political point of view. Here is an attempt to understand this equation from pre-independence to after independence and so far, how politicians have used caste to gain legitimate power to rule.

Changing status of Indian democracy :

A democracy is widely accepted to be a system that efficiently manifests public opinion of the electorate while also maintaining a checks and balance on power through free elections. However, India continues to show an increasing incidence of rent-seeking and criminal politics, even while the exercise of democracy remains intact. This paper employs North, Wallis and Weingast's conceptualisation of social organisation as access orders in a society to show that Indian democracy has a system of political representation with an inefficient system of political access. The analysis further contributes to the literature by conceptualising the means of access in societies and argues that India is a society of limited access orders. Using this framework, the paper argues that the limited access in Indian democracy occurs as a result of manipulation of the means of access by a small politico-economic elite, using a system of privileged and personal inter-elite relationships that results in a growing convergence of rent-seeking practices in Indian politics.