ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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‘Development’ and the Mahagathbandhan in UP

With 80 Lok Sabha seats, Uttar Pradesh is easily the focus of political speculation and observation. This article looks at how the dynamics between various stakeholders are playing out in the campaigning and polls in the state.

The AAP Audit: Can ‘Alternative Politics’ Work?

The Aam Aadmi Party was founded on the belief that Indian politics could be transformed. This reading list examines if this political project has been a success, or if the party's idealism is incompatible with the way politics in India functions.

Does Every Vote Count? Assessing India’s Electoral System

The Indian electoral system is fraught with difficulties that obscure the democratic ideals of an election.

Legitimacy, Support and Endorsement: Narendra Modi’s Social Media Engagement with Celebrities

The temporal spread of celebrity engagement with Modi, and perhaps politics in general, underlines the challenges of public brand performance in contemporary India.

Ghoul: Challenging the Category of the ‘Nationalist Muslim’

The Netflix web series Ghoul provides an alternative to the stereotypical representation of the Muslim figure in Hindi cinema through its central protagonist and her dilemmas.

‘Ghoul’ and the Spectre of Totalitarianism

Though Ghoul has been classified as horror, it extends the present political climate to portray an unsettling dystopian future.

Ethnicity, Religion, and Identity Politics among Tribes in Jharkhand

The underlying causes for the ethnic, religious, and political divides among the tribals of Jharkhand have been examined. Tribal leaders have failed in uniting the tribal society of Jharkhand, leading to divisive and fragmented politics among them. The tribal leaders of today need to realise and understand that any further divide will weaken their collective voice and identity.

Towards Political Power, Social Equality and Justice

Dalit Politics in Contemporary India by Sambaiah Gundimeda, Oxon, New York, Routledge, 2016; pp 32 + 298, 995.

Pawan Kalyan's Inconsistent Political Agenda Might Make Janasena Party Come Undone

Pawan Kalyan’s political party, the Janasena Party has no clear agenda and has been inconsistent in taking concrete steps. It looks unlikely that the political outfit can succeed solely based on Pawan Kalyan’s on-screen prowess.

Genealogies of Nagaland’s ‘Tribal Democracy’

Compared to the bulky literature on caste and democracy, we still know little about the form and functioning of democratic politics amongst tribes. This is a serious lacuna, one which, at the level of sociology, impedes the kind of careful comparison that has long proven fruitful to capture the inner logic and intricacies of social life. If caste is deemed central to any understanding of contemporary Indian politics, what about those states and constituencies in which tribes preponderate numerically?

How BJP Appropriated the Idea of Equality to Create a Divided India

Right-wing populism has managed to turn the traditional progressive political practices on their head. The BJP began with a critique of poor implementation of NREGA through a discourse on corruption, but gradually resignified it into a critique of welfare itself; anger against growing economic inequalities leads to the election of more pro-corporate government. This article looks at the future of right-wing populism in India, arguing that instead of a moral rejection, we need to undersand the "moral structure" on which it builds its politics.

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