Read more
This book presents numerous discussions of specific aspects of democratic politics, showing how 'democracy' can be projected as a model of deliberate imperfection - a model that tolerates various loose ends in the system - and how democracy recognizes a multiplicity of possible courses open to the system at any point in time. Against this backdrop, the book carefully analyzes the lifetime work of D.L. Sheth, which, seen as a whole, offers us with a theory of Indian politics.
The selection of fifteen essays has been clustered into five sections that signify the major domains of democratic politics: State, Nation, Democracy; Parapolitics of Democracy; Social Power and Democracy; Representation in Liberal Democracy; and Emerging Challenges of Democracy. These essays give a sense of the transformations and struggles that are underway in India, brought about by the dynamics of democratic politics. Each of the fifteen chapters focuses on one aspect, providing a unique analysis of the deepening of democracy in India.
List of contents
Introduction: 'A Political theory of Indian Democracy' by Peter Ronald deSouza.- Section I: State, Nation, Democracy.- Chapter 1: Historicizing India's Nationhood: History as Contemporary Politics.- Chapter 2: State-Nation Building: The Making of Liberal Democracy.- Chapter 3: Crisis of Political Authority.- Section II: Parapolitics of Democracy.- Chapter 4: Civil Society and Non-party Political Formations.- Chapter 5: Transformative Politics of Grassroots Movements.- Chapter 6: Law and Outcasts of Development.- Section III: Social Power and Democracy.- Chapter 7: Secularization of Caste and the Making of the New Middle-Class.- Chapter 8: The Dalit Question in Four Frames.- Chapter 12: The Great Language Debate: Politics of Metropolitan Versus Vernacular India.- Section IV: Representation in Liberal Democracy.- Chapter 10: Interests and Identities: The Changing Politics of Representation.- Chapter 11: Minority Politics: The Shifting Terms of Policy Discourse.- Chapter 12: Growth of Communal Polarization in Gujarat and the Making of a Hindutva Laboratory.- Section V: Emerging Challenges of Democracy.- Chapter 13: Revisiting the Reservations Policy.- Chapter 14: Entering the Twenty-first Century: Changes in National Politics and Discourse.- Chapter 15: Democratizing Global Governance: A Minimalist Perspective.
About the author
Essays by Professor D.L. Sheth, Honorary Senior Fellow, Former Member National Commission for Backward Classes, Former National Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Centre For the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS).
Compiled and Edited by
Professor Peter Ronald deSouza, Former Director Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Former Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Chair of the Rajya Sabha.
Summary
This book presents numerous discussions of specific aspects of democratic politics, showing how ‘democracy’ can be projected as a model of deliberate imperfection – a model that tolerates various loose ends in the system – and how democracy recognizes a multiplicity of possible courses open to the system at any point in time. Against this backdrop, the book carefully analyzes the lifetime work of D.L. Sheth, which, seen as a whole, offers us with a theory of Indian politics.
The selection of fifteen essays has been clustered into five sections that signify the major domains of democratic politics: State, Nation, Democracy; Parapolitics of Democracy; Social Power and Democracy; Representation in Liberal Democracy; and Emerging Challenges of Democracy. These essays give a sense of the transformations and struggles that are underway in India, brought about by the dynamics of democratic politics. Each of the fifteen chapters focuses on one aspect, providing a unique analysis of the deepening of democracy in India.
