Reclaiming Indigeneity and Democracy in India's Jharkhand

Basu, I. 2024. Reclaiming Indigeneity and Democracy in India's Jharkhand. Oxford Oxford University Press.

TitleReclaiming Indigeneity and Democracy in India's Jharkhand
AuthorsBasu, I.
Abstract

‘Jharkhand’ - the land of forests, is the only self-defined indigenous state in India, which was created in 2000 after a long-standing regional movement known as the Jharkhand Movement. Over 20 years, the state has gone through a volatile political environment, as competing political groups from the radical left known as Maoists, to Hindu right and regional parties mobilised indigenous subaltern communities for different ends.
The book contributes to scholarship on critical social justice and indigeneity, by highlighting ‘relations of justification’ as a central feature of group-based claims-making for social groups who identify with indigeneity in different ways. In an ethnic political environment like Jharkhand, ‘relations’ that determine whether or not social groups are recognised as ‘agents of justice’ rather than simply as ‘subjects’ to be allocated goods to correct their backwardness depends on- relations with other communities; with political groups; and with different scales of governance. Today, as adivasi identity in Jharkhand is perceived to provide political and social capital, we find more evidence of social groups from indigenous backgrounds as well as from long term-inhabitants from schedule castes and other backward classes, trying to build bridges with indigeneity while simultaneously critiquing the internal hierarchies and contestations within it. Through insights from ethnographic and archival research, the book explains that when ‘relations’ in terms of how marginalised groups are treated by others are at the epicentre of claims-making, expressive attachments determine political activism over the instrumental choices that groups are forced to make in contexts of huge power differentials.

KeywordsCritical Social Justice
Indigenous
Subaltern
Recognition Politics
Expressive Partisanship
Instrumental Partisanship
Democracy
Year2024
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication dates
Published26 Nov 2023
Place of publicationOxford
ISBN9780198884675
9780191993695
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198884675.001.0001
Web address (URL)https://academic.oup.com/book/55711

Related outputs

Valuing the 'neighbourhood': Responding to Racialised Post-War Development in Slave Island,Colombo
Basu, I. and Hettiarachchi, R. 2024. Valuing the 'neighbourhood': Responding to Racialised Post-War Development in Slave Island,Colombo. European Journal of Development Research. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-024-00668-3

My City (In)visible: Colombo
Basu,I. 2023. My City (In)visible: Colombo. Liverpool

The Democratic Prospects of Digital Urban Futures: Lessons from India's Smart Cities Mission
Basu,I. 2022. The Democratic Prospects of Digital Urban Futures: Lessons from India's Smart Cities Mission. Journal of Indian and Asian Studies. 3 (2), pp. 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1142/S2717541322400071

Who Is in the Middle: Social Class, Core Values, and Identities in India
Capelos, T. and Basu, I. 2022. Who Is in the Middle: Social Class, Core Values, and Identities in India. Political Psychology. 43 (1), pp. 89-109. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12742

Governing Without the Politics: Postcolonial Governmentality and the Indian Middle Classes
Basu,I. 2020. Governing Without the Politics: Postcolonial Governmentality and the Indian Middle Classes. in: Teo, T.-A. and Wynne-Hughes, E. (ed.) Postcolonial Governmentalities London Rowman & Littlefield.

Elite Discourse Coalitions and the Governance of 'Smart Spaces':Politics, Power and Privilege in India's Smart Cities Mission
Basu, I. 2019. Elite Discourse Coalitions and the Governance of 'Smart Spaces':Politics, Power and Privilege in India's Smart Cities Mission. Political Geography. 68, pp. 77-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2018.11.002

Governance, rights and the demand for democracy: evidence from Bangladesh
Basu, I., Brown, G.K. and Devine, J. 2018. Governance, rights and the demand for democracy: evidence from Bangladesh. in: Basu, I., Devine, J. and Wood, G. (ed.) Politics and Governance in Bangladesh: Uncertain Landscapes London Routledge.

Dhaka's Invisible Inhabitants
Basu,I. 2012. Dhaka's Invisible Inhabitants. Daily Star.

State of Cities: Urban Governance in Dhaka City Report
Basu, I. 2012. State of Cities: Urban Governance in Dhaka City Report. Dhaka, Bangladesh BRAC.

The Politics of Recognition and Redistribution: Development, Tribal Identity Politics and Distributive Justice in India's Jharkhand
Basu, I. 2012. The Politics of Recognition and Redistribution: Development, Tribal Identity Politics and Distributive Justice in India's Jharkhand. Development and Change. 43 (6), pp. 1291-1312. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2012.01803.x

Security and Development: are they two sides of the same coin? Investigating India’s two-pronged policy towards left wing extremism
Basu, I. 2011. Security and Development: are they two sides of the same coin? Investigating India’s two-pronged policy towards left wing extremism . Contemporary South Asia. 19 (4), pp. 373-393. https://doi.org/10.1080/09584935.2010.537745

Permalink - https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/ww6v0/reclaiming-indigeneity-and-democracy-in-india-s-jharkhand


Share this

Usage statistics

25 total views
0 total downloads
These values cover views and downloads from WestminsterResearch and are for the period from September 2nd 2018, when this repository was created.