Indian Democracy

Alf Gunvald Nilsen is Professor of Sociology at University of Pretoria. He is the author of Dispossession and Resistance in India: The River and the Rage (Routledge, 2010), We Make Our Own History: Marxism and Social Movements in the Twilight of Neoliberalism (Pluto Press, 2014), and Adivasis and the State: Subalternity and Citizenship in India's Bhil Heartland (Cambridge University Press, 2018). Kenneth Bo Nielsen is Associate Professor in the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages at the University of Oslo. He is the author of Land Dispossession and Everyday Politics in Rural Eastern India (Anthem Press, 2018), and the co-editor of several books on Indian society and politics. Anand Vaidya is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Reed College.

'Democracy in India has been a unique experiment. This book provides a sharp understanding of the complexities of contemporary Indian democracy. With their ears to the ground, the contributors have created an incisive volume on the subject' -- Ram Puniyani, author of 'Deconstructing Terrorist Violence' 'How do we understand the threats now facing Indian democracy? This valuable book provides nuanced insights into processes that explain its current travails: the Constitution's missing revolution; identity, discrimination and marginalisation; pressures on and within the media; structured and unstructured violence - and much more' -- Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University 'If we want to know what's wrong with our present, we must know what's wrong with our past. This book offers insight into both. A three-dimensional view of India' -- Shehla Rashid, Activist 'Indian democracy is a veritable riddle with its constitution promising the moon to people but its state denying them even the basic right to voice their miseries. The present saffron regime, its vilest product, has uncovered all of its smokescreens. This book will certainly provoke readers who still see nothing wrong with the system' -- Anand Teltumbde, author of 'Republic of Caste'

• Introduction: Trajectories and Crossroads: Indian Democracy at 70 - Alf Gunvald Nilsen, Kenneth Bo Nielsen and Anand Vaidya1. Democratic Originsi. India's Constitution and the Missing Revolution - Sandpito Dasgupta ii. The Minority Question in South Asia - Anupama Raoiii. Violence and/in the Making of Indian Democracy - Sunil Puroshotham iv. Comments - Ajay Skaria 2. The State and / of the Media in Modi's India - Siddharth Varadarajan3. Writing Counter-insurgency, Conflict, and Democracy in India - Nandini Sundar and Dolly Kikon in conversation4. Democratic Trajectories i. Congressism, Anti-Congressism, and the "People-as-a-Whole" - Subir Sinhaii. Merit and Caste in Contemporary India - Ajantha Subramanian iii. Ritual Inclusivity in Turbulent Times - Kathinka Froystadiv. Comments - Manali Desai5. India's Democracy: Contest for the Nation's Core - Kavita Krishnan6. Feminism and the Politics of Gender in Indian Democracy - Raka Ray and Srila Roy in conversationConclusion: Indian Democracy and its Prospects: 2019 and Beyond - Alf Gunvald Nilsen, Kenneth Bo Nielsen and Anand Vaidya