Hindu Nationalism in South India - The Rise of Saffron in Kerala

Hindu Nationalism in South India engages with a range of factors that shapes the trajectory of Hindu nationalism in Kerala, the southern state of India.
Until recently, Kerala was considered a socio-political exception which had no room for Hindu nationalism. This book questions such Panglossian prognosis and shows the need to map the ideological and political growth of Hindu nationalism which has been downplayed in the academic discourse as temporary aberrations. The introduction to the book places Kerala in the context of South India. Arguing that Hindutva is a real force which needs to be contended within theoretical and empirical terms, the chapters in this book examine Hindu nationalism in Kerala in relation to themes such as history, caste, culture, post-truth, ideology, gender, politics, and the Indian national space.
Considering the rise of Hindu nationalism in the recent years, this pioneering book will be of interest to a students and academics studying Politics, in particular Nationalism, Asian Politics and Religion and Politics and South Asian Studies.

List of contents

1. Introduction: Kerala, South India and Hindu Nationalism Part I: National versus Local? 2. The Fate of Secularism in India; 3.Kerala: The Antinomy of Hindutva Nationalism; 4. Faith Revival in Kerala: The 2019 Parliamentary Election and Beyond Part II: Hindutva and its Lineages 5. Chattampi Swamikal and the Deconstruction of the Malayala Sudra: Contradictions of Hindu Revisionist Theology in 19th Century Kerala Part III: Gender and Hindutva 6. A Gendered History of the Rise of the Neo-Savarna in Twentieth Century Kerala; 7. Feeling' Malikappuram: Soft-Hindutva and Filmic Mediation of the Sabarimala Controversy Part IV: Hindutva and the Everyday 8. Sangh Parivar: Remaking of Temples in the World of Politics; 9. The Hindutva 'Practice' in Kerala: A Political Ethnography of RSS in Thalassery; 10. Crisis as Opportunity: Exploring the Hindu Nationalist Politics of 'Seva' During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Kerala; Index

About the author

Nissim Mannathukkaren is Professor in the Department of International Development Studies, Dalhousie University, Canada.

Product details

• Assisted by: Nissim Mannathukkaren (Editor)
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 26.12.2025
• EAN: 9781032015637
• ISBN: 978-1-032-01563-7
• No. of pages: 244
• Weight: 470 g
• Illustrations: Tabellen, schwarz-weiss
• Series: Routledge Advances in South Asian Studies
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Other religions; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geography; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Regional Studies, India, Politics & government, Religion & politics, Hinduism, Regional Studies, Politics and government, Regional / International studies, Religion and Politics, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General