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

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The Fragile Discourse of Caste in West Bengal

The objective of this article is to put forward a modest hypothesis to test, namely “to politicise caste in Bengal, it needs to be taken out from the fold of Hindu religion.” The category needs to be mobilised and radicalised through the active participation of lower-caste groups across the state. To do this, the proliferation of sociocultural organisations is necessary whose prime concern would be to stretch the logic of caste in the political domain, whereas caste has hitherto taken only a comfortable refuge in the Hinduised domain of the Bengal social.

Agrarian Relations in West Bengal

Socio-Economic Surveys of Three Villages in West Bengal: A Study of Agrarian Relations edited by Aparajita Bakshi and Tapas Singh Modak, New Delhi: Tulika, 2021; pp 496, `1,250

Income Convergence among the Districts of West Bengal

The study of the inter-district convergence of per capita incomes in any state or country is crucial to policy agenda as it exposes the scenario of real income distribution. The present paper examines inter-district convergence of per capita income in West Bengal using the neoclassical growth and panel unit root models; the second is an advanced approach compared to the first. The results in line with the two approaches show that the districts are not converging in terms of income; rather the districts are diverging between 1993 and 2014. It is an alarming knock to the state since divergence in income leads to rising inequality across districts; it will hamper the development of the state.

Politics of Identity Contra Anti-caste Social Visions

The intricate relations between caste-based identity politics and anti-caste social associations and visions in West Bengal are unravelled, based on findings from a micro study conducted in a village in Nadia district between November 2020 and March 2021. In-depth interviews too were conducted with Namasudra leaders, the anti-caste Matua sect, and Matua dals (village associations) in Nadia and North 24 Parganas districts. While the discourse on citizenship and the long experience of social and political marginalisation have resulted in a strategic polarisation of the Matuas towards the politics of Hindutva, this has never stifled their quest for social justice.The intricate relations between caste-based identity politics and anti-caste social associations and visions in West Bengal are unravelled, based on findings from a micro study conducted in a village in Nadia district between November 2020 and March 2021. In-depth interviews too were conducted with Namasudra leaders, the anti-caste Matua sect, and Matua dals (village associations) in Nadia and North 24 Parganas districts. While the discourse on citizenship and the long experience of social and political marginalisation have resulted in a strategic polarisation of the Matuas towards the politics of Hindutva, this has never stifled their quest for social justice.

Short Stories on Precarity

Field Notes from a Waterborne Land: Bengal Beyond the Bhadralok by Parimal Bhattacharya, New Delhi: HarperCollins India, 2022; pp 312, `499 (paperback).

Politics of Cultural Misrecognitions and the Rise of Identity Consolidations in Post-left West Bengal

West Bengal has a substantive presence of minority population with 27% Muslims and 5.5% Scheduled Tribes. They often have a ghettoised presence and political parties take special care to secure electoral dividends from them. After the end to the left regime in 2011, the Trinamool Congress in its second term has percolated in most of the traditional left bastions, especially among the ethnic and religious minorities. This paper explores the mechanisms of TMC’s percolation among the ethnic and religious minorities through “cultural misrecognition.” Through an ethnographic work on the promotion of cultural expressions and recent ethnic conflicts, it is argued that, while the organisation-based political mechanism has been put in the backseat, West Bengal is observing a rapid rise of primordial identity-based political practices.

Political Stability in West Bengal

The conventional belief indicates that the gradual success of an incumbent party lies in the economic progression of the state and the well-being of the majority of voters. However, the recent growth of the incumbent party in West Bengal does not support the belief entirely. A marginal improvement of agriculture and rural people, relying on the delivery of welfare schemes at the cost of overall growth (including industrial and service sectors), reveals a redistribute strategy employed by the state in the federal setting. This compels the dependency of low-income people on minuscule resources in the absence of modern sector growth along with building an organisation of cadres, mushroomed under the shadow of welfare schemes, to deliver those services among the networks against the agency fees and commission, worked effectively to engineer the popularity and helped to extinguish the unrest among the non-beneficiaries. This paper unfolds evidence in support of such a strategy that helped maintain incumbency.

Conditions of Farmers in West Bengal

This paper is a part of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) Project, and the author is thankful to ICSSR, New Delhi for providing him with financial assistance to conduct this research work. The author is also thankful to Sridev Adak and Animesh Kundu, former research assistants, ICSSR Research Project for helping him in data collection, data entry, and tabulation works.
 

How Did West Bengal Perform in the ‘Firecracker Ban Test’ amid COVID-19?

This article analyses what makes a social regulation like the firecracker ban in the state of West Bengal in India a success story such that it may be replicated by other states which are striving hard to curb air pollution levels and arrest rising pandemic cases amidst a festive season. The authors have examined the firecracker ban on the basis of Teubner’s Regulatory Trilemma and Parker and Braithwaite’s three principles to check whether it passes the tests of effectiveness, responsiveness and coherence. The article demonstrates how West Bengal has carved a new and expanded meaning of “performing regulation” in India by ensuring compliance through not just a threat of punishment but cooperation as well.

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