Vernon Hewitt – författare

This book addresses the paradox of political mobilization and the failings of governance in India, with reference to the conflict between secularism and Hindu nationalism, authoritarianism and democracy. It demonstrates how the Internal Emergency of 1975 led to increased support of groups such as the BJS and the RSS, accounting for the rise of political movements advocating Hindu nationalism - Hindutva - as a response to rapid political mobilization triggered by the Emergency, and an attempt by political elites to control this to their advantage. Vernon Hewitt argues that the political disjuncture between democracy and mobilization in India is partly a function of the Indian state, the nature of a caste-class based society, but also - and significantly - the contingencies of individual leaders and the styles of rule. He shows how, in the wake of the Emergency, the BJP and the RSS gained popularity and power amid the on-going decline and fragmentation of the Congress, whilst, at the same time, Hindu nationalism appeared to be of such importance that Congress began aligning themselves with the Hindu right for electoral gains. The volume suggests that, in the light of these developments, the rise of the BJP should not be considered as remarkable – or as transformative – as was at first imagined.

This book addresses the paradox of political mobilization and the failings of governance in India, with reference to the conflict between secularism and Hindu nationalism, authoritarianism and democracy. It demonstrates how the Internal Emergency of 1975 led to increased support of groups such as the BJS and the RSS, accounting for the rise of political movements advocating Hindu nationalism - Hindutva - as a response to rapid political mobilization triggered by the Emergency, and an attempt by political elites to control this to their advantage. Vernon Hewitt argues that the political disjuncture between democracy and mobilization in India is partly a function of the Indian state, the nature of a caste-class based society, but also - and significantly - the contingencies of individual leaders and the styles of rule. He shows how, in the wake of the Emergency, the BJP and the RSS gained popularity and power amid the on-going decline and fragmentation of the Congress, whilst, at the same time, Hindu nationalism appeared to be of such importance that Congress began aligning themselves with the Hindu right for electoral gains. The volume suggests that, in the light of these developments, the rise of the BJP should not be considered as remarkable – or as transformative – as was at first imagined.

Fully revised and updated from the 1992 edition. First edition well reviewed.. Relatively little accessible literature in the area.

This book makes a unique contribution to the renewed debate about empire and imperialism and will be of great interest to all those concerned with understanding the historical antecedents and wider implications of today's emergentliberal interventionism, and the various logics of international development.This collection explores the similarities, differences and overlaps between the contemporary debates on international development and humanitarian intervention and the historical artefacts and strategies of Empire. It includes views by historians and students of politics and development, drawing on a range of methodologies and approaches.The parallels between the language of nineteenth-century liberal imperialism and the humanitarian interventionism of the post-Cold War era are striking. The American military, both in Somalia in the early 1990s and in the aftermath the Iraq invasion, used ethnographic information compiled by British colonial administrators. Are these interconnections, which are capable of endless multiplication, accidental curiosities or more elemental? The contributors to this book articulate the belief that these comparisons are not just anecdotal but are analytically revealing.From the language of moral necessity and conviction, the design of specific aid packages; the devised forms of intervention and governmentality, through to the life-style, design and location of NGO encampments, the authors seek to account for the numerous and often striking parallels between contemporary international security, development and humanitarian intervention, and the logic of Empire.MARK DUFFIELD is Professor of Development Politicsat the University of Bristol; VERNON HEWITT is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of BristolSouthern Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Namibia): HSRC Press