Studies in Indian Politics, Volume 11, Issue 2, Page 192-204, December 2023.
This article is about the afterlife of Dewan Chaman Lall’s interwar internationalism. Exploring the trajectory of his public career from 1946, it shows how Lall, an Oxford-educated trade unionist, and an ally of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, took a nationalist turn in his later political interventions on/after (a) Partition of British India, (b) the dispute on the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, and (c) on the government of India’s worsening border relations with the People’s Republic of China. Simultaneously, his understandings on issues like press freedom/official secrets, evacuee property exchange/sale, Sikh linguistic autonomy and labour/capital equation turned status quo-ist. By putting together his contributions on these national questions and juxtaposing them vis-à-vis his earlier avatar, this article also signifies the shift that took place in the perspectives of those who, like Lall, hitherto enveloped by empire, emerged in nation-statehood post-1945.
Caste, Class and Vote: Consolidation of the Privileged and Dispersal of Underprivileged
Studies in Indian Politics, Volume 11, Issue 2, Page 258-273, December 2023.
This article attempts to examine the combined impact of caste and class on voting choices. By using data from National Election Studies conducted by Lokniti from 1996 to 2019, the article seeks to situate the findings in the larger temporal frame of a quarter of a century. This allows us to also examine if changing patterns of party competition affect the impact of caste–class combined. The article argues that two patterns emerge: one is the consolidation of the more privileged social sections in terms of class and caste and the other is the dispersal of the less privileged. The latter, by virtue of their political dispersal, are unable to shape as a political force in both electoral politics and in agenda setting. This finding is partly an extension of the earlier findings that politics of backward castes hit a dead-end and politics of the poor never emerged as an all-India political alternative. Together with the earlier experience, the findings in this article throw light on the limits of democratization and on the prospects of politics of the less privileged sections across the country.
This article attempts to examine the combined impact of caste and class on voting choices. By using data from National Election Studies conducted by Lokniti from 1996 to 2019, the article seeks to situate the findings in the larger temporal frame of a quarter of a century. This allows us to also examine if changing patterns of party competition affect the impact of caste–class combined. The article argues that two patterns emerge: one is the consolidation of the more privileged social sections in terms of class and caste and the other is the dispersal of the less privileged. The latter, by virtue of their political dispersal, are unable to shape as a political force in both electoral politics and in agenda setting. This finding is partly an extension of the earlier findings that politics of backward castes hit a dead-end and politics of the poor never emerged as an all-India political alternative. Together with the earlier experience, the findings in this article throw light on the limits of democratization and on the prospects of politics of the less privileged sections across the country.
Mapping Class and Electoral Participation in India from 1996 to 2019
Studies in Indian Politics, Volume 11, Issue 2, Page 225-257, December 2023.
This article studies the relation between class and electoral participation. While the relation between political participation and many demographic variables such as caste, gender, age and location has been well researched in India, the same is not the case for the relation between class and electoral participation. Multiple measures of class (income, asset-wealth, occupation and education) are explored and conceptualized in this article, following which these measures of class are operationalized using the National Election Study datasets covering a twenty-three-year period (1996–2019). Each of these measures is used to trace the relation of class with two outcomes of electoral participation (turnout and party vote share) over time. Disaggregation by gender, locality and caste is provided. Finally, regression analysis to study the impact of these variables on turnout and vote share reveals the complexity of class. We find a complex picture of turnout and party choice with variation across different class measures. More significantly, variations in results raise questions about the usefulness of existing class indices. Further, we find that the type of measure being used affects different outcomes differently. For turnout, income and wealth seem to be better predictors, and for party vote share, subjective class is a better fit, whereas asset-wealth displays opposite patterns to income and subjective class in some instances.
This article studies the relation between class and electoral participation. While the relation between political participation and many demographic variables such as caste, gender, age and location has been well researched in India, the same is not the case for the relation between class and electoral participation. Multiple measures of class (income, asset-wealth, occupation and education) are explored and conceptualized in this article, following which these measures of class are operationalized using the National Election Study datasets covering a twenty-three-year period (1996–2019). Each of these measures is used to trace the relation of class with two outcomes of electoral participation (turnout and party vote share) over time. Disaggregation by gender, locality and caste is provided. Finally, regression analysis to study the impact of these variables on turnout and vote share reveals the complexity of class. We find a complex picture of turnout and party choice with variation across different class measures. More significantly, variations in results raise questions about the usefulness of existing class indices. Further, we find that the type of measure being used affects different outcomes differently. For turnout, income and wealth seem to be better predictors, and for party vote share, subjective class is a better fit, whereas asset-wealth displays opposite patterns to income and subjective class in some instances.
Editorial Note
Studies in Indian Politics, Volume 11, Issue 2, Page 169-169, December 2023.
The Urban Voter: Emerging Trend and Changing Pattern
Studies in Indian Politics, Volume 11, Issue 2, Page 304-316, December 2023.
The recent phenomenon of growing urbanization in India has shifted the focus from rural vote to urban vote in electoral politics. The discussion on urban politics and urban vote revolves largely around two issues—first the issue of turnout and second, a somewhat different political choice among the urban voters compared to the rural voters. The two issues have been highlighted by the fact that urban constituencies have registered lower turnout compared to the turnout in rural constituencies. Among the former, the constituencies of big metropolitan cities register much lower turnout compared to the constituencies of small and medium towns. Results of various elections in the past indicate that the backbone of electoral support of the BJP during the late 1990s is its strong support among the urban voters. The BJP’s strong support base among the urban voters enabled it to emerge as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha during the 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections enabling it to form a coalition government along with other regional parties. This article tries to seek answers to the question, why do we see this distinct difference in voting patterns among rural and urban voters, especially till 2009 Lok Sabha elections, though it has changed somewhat during the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections? Is it because the rural India and Urban India represent two different kinds of voters, or is it because the issues and concerns of rural and urban voters are vastly different from each other which make them vote differently?
The recent phenomenon of growing urbanization in India has shifted the focus from rural vote to urban vote in electoral politics. The discussion on urban politics and urban vote revolves largely around two issues—first the issue of turnout and second, a somewhat different political choice among the urban voters compared to the rural voters. The two issues have been highlighted by the fact that urban constituencies have registered lower turnout compared to the turnout in rural constituencies. Among the former, the constituencies of big metropolitan cities register much lower turnout compared to the constituencies of small and medium towns. Results of various elections in the past indicate that the backbone of electoral support of the BJP during the late 1990s is its strong support among the urban voters. The BJP’s strong support base among the urban voters enabled it to emerge as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha during the 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections enabling it to form a coalition government along with other regional parties. This article tries to seek answers to the question, why do we see this distinct difference in voting patterns among rural and urban voters, especially till 2009 Lok Sabha elections, though it has changed somewhat during the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections? Is it because the rural India and Urban India represent two different kinds of voters, or is it because the issues and concerns of rural and urban voters are vastly different from each other which make them vote differently?
Electoral Participation and Political Choice Among Muslims
Studies in Indian Politics, Volume 11, Issue 2, Page 289-303, December 2023.
Muslims are the largest minority group in India. As a minority group, their electoral participation and expression has drawn wide religious attention of scholars. However, much of the discussion around Muslims’ electoral participation and political preference is either based on speculations or on sketchy field studies. This article, drawing upon large scale representative surveys, analyses Muslims’ electoral participation and choices since 1990s. It argues that inferences about the community’s electoral behaviour at the national level are misleading. Its electoral behaviour can better be understood by locating them in politically differentiated contexts.
Muslims are the largest minority group in India. As a minority group, their electoral participation and expression has drawn wide religious attention of scholars. However, much of the discussion around Muslims’ electoral participation and political preference is either based on speculations or on sketchy field studies. This article, drawing upon large scale representative surveys, analyses Muslims’ electoral participation and choices since 1990s. It argues that inferences about the community’s electoral behaviour at the national level are misleading. Its electoral behaviour can better be understood by locating them in politically differentiated contexts.
Impact of Informal Online Learning on the Lives of Tribal Women: An Ethnographic Study from Central India
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Technology has a significant impact on our daily lives. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, we were not adequately aware of the use of technology, either in academia or otherwise. After the pandemic, we have been forced to depend on technology for everything. Tribal women in India are deprived of their social, economic, and political rights. Hence, they are in rampant state of poverty and do not have minimum needs to survive. This prevents them from engaging in traditional learning activities. Despite of these limitations, few of them do possess android phones in order to fulfil their essential need of telephonic engagement with their friends and peers. However, it is through these devices that they can most conveniently engage in informal learning through technology and thus, informal technological learning is highly beneficial to tribal women. The article draws its inferences from both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary data is gathered through a field study among the Gond and Panika tribal women from Lalpur village of Pushprajgarh, Anuppur District of Madhya Pradesh. The village is an adjacent to IGNTU campus. The secondary data is gathered from published and unpublished sources, online materials, and other related literature from magazines, newspapers, and reports of government and non-government agencies. The thrust of the article is to explain the use of technology and its benefits to tribal women in their day-to-day life situations.
Technology has a significant impact on our daily lives. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, we were not adequately aware of the use of technology, either in academia or otherwise. After the pandemic, we have been forced to depend on technology for everything. Tribal women in India are deprived of their social, economic, and political rights. Hence, they are in rampant state of poverty and do not have minimum needs to survive. This prevents them from engaging in traditional learning activities. Despite of these limitations, few of them do possess android phones in order to fulfil their essential need of telephonic engagement with their friends and peers. However, it is through these devices that they can most conveniently engage in informal learning through technology and thus, informal technological learning is highly beneficial to tribal women. The article draws its inferences from both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary data is gathered through a field study among the Gond and Panika tribal women from Lalpur village of Pushprajgarh, Anuppur District of Madhya Pradesh. The village is an adjacent to IGNTU campus. The secondary data is gathered from published and unpublished sources, online materials, and other related literature from magazines, newspapers, and reports of government and non-government agencies. The thrust of the article is to explain the use of technology and its benefits to tribal women in their day-to-day life situations.
Digital Dilemmas and Exclusion of Marginals: A Trajectory from Paradox of Privacy to Poverty of Privacy
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
This article investigates the competing claims over privacy by the state and civil society as the digital dilemmas arise in the implementation of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 that poses a potential challenge to people’s right to privacy guaranteed under the Indian constitution. The objective is to examine how different sections, especially the marginals such as SC, ST, OBCs, minorities, and women perceive and practice privacy in enrolling for Aadhaar in India. This article has adopted a technique of ‘convenient sampling’ in conducting in-depth discussions with ‘open-ended questions’ during fieldwork in the Telangana state of India. The empirical evidence suggests that demographic factors such as class, caste, gender, and religion influence privacy in India. Further, the interpretation of the informants’ responses, on privacy and Aadhaar, indicates the prevailing ‘poverty of privacy’ rather than the ‘privacy paradox’ among the marginalized sections.
This article investigates the competing claims over privacy by the state and civil society as the digital dilemmas arise in the implementation of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 that poses a potential challenge to people’s right to privacy guaranteed under the Indian constitution. The objective is to examine how different sections, especially the marginals such as SC, ST, OBCs, minorities, and women perceive and practice privacy in enrolling for Aadhaar in India. This article has adopted a technique of ‘convenient sampling’ in conducting in-depth discussions with ‘open-ended questions’ during fieldwork in the Telangana state of India. The empirical evidence suggests that demographic factors such as class, caste, gender, and religion influence privacy in India. Further, the interpretation of the informants’ responses, on privacy and Aadhaar, indicates the prevailing ‘poverty of privacy’ rather than the ‘privacy paradox’ among the marginalized sections.
Situating Injustice in the Frame of Dalit Politics: A Case of Democracy in Nayattu
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
It might not be amiss to observe that, Nayattu, the Malayalam movie by filmmaker Martin Prakkat rides its last lap on the breathtaking suspense of a suspension of justice set in the backdrop of Indian electoral politics. Such suspense or suspension is hardly unanticipated in the writings of Jacques Derrida for whom the reasoning of democracy is of ‘a certain reason to come, as democracy to come’. Rather than eager anticipation ready to bear fruit, the reasoning of democracy is the contrary. It is the impossibility of ever bearing fruit which is portrayed through the executive’s insensitivity and domineeringness towards ordinary man’s justice. Several other characteristics also make the movie a worthwhile analysis in this frame. It is the story of the sheer inadequacy of traditional democratic institutions in fulfilling their role—three police officers who are wrongly accused need to run to the valley/hill outside the walls of the ‘city’ in search of a place of refuge that is never to be found. However, it is the portrayal of Dalits both as the mob and as the victimized that contributes to the tempo of the movie.
It might not be amiss to observe that, Nayattu, the Malayalam movie by filmmaker Martin Prakkat rides its last lap on the breathtaking suspense of a suspension of justice set in the backdrop of Indian electoral politics. Such suspense or suspension is hardly unanticipated in the writings of Jacques Derrida for whom the reasoning of democracy is of ‘a certain reason to come, as democracy to come’. Rather than eager anticipation ready to bear fruit, the reasoning of democracy is the contrary. It is the impossibility of ever bearing fruit which is portrayed through the executive’s insensitivity and domineeringness towards ordinary man’s justice. Several other characteristics also make the movie a worthwhile analysis in this frame. It is the story of the sheer inadequacy of traditional democratic institutions in fulfilling their role—three police officers who are wrongly accused need to run to the valley/hill outside the walls of the ‘city’ in search of a place of refuge that is never to be found. However, it is the portrayal of Dalits both as the mob and as the victimized that contributes to the tempo of the movie.
Book Review: Party Switching in Israel: A Historical and Comparative Analysis
Party Politics, Volume 30, Issue 2, Page 389-390, March 2024.