Secular Sectarianism
Limits of Subaltern Politics
- Ajay Gudavarthy - Associate Professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
Economics & Development Studies (General) | Politics (General) | Sociology (General)
Secularism is a tenet that is fundamental to Indian democracy and enshrined in the Constitution. However, its practice has been severely hampered in recent times largely due to the secular sectarianism pursued by secular, democratic and progressive political formations. This implies the tendency of specific secular political movements to act as if their agenda are exclusively important. Secular sectarianism has gradually polarized communities and advanced a woefully limited political imagination, leading to the proliferation of conflicts between various marginalized groups—Dalits, tribals, OBCs, Muslims, women and the Left. Secular Sectarianism: Limits of Subaltern Politics includes several accounts of such conflicts, opening up a new area of study for further conceptualization.
This book emphasizes that citizenship in practice is expressed through the right to speak for others and not just for oneself. Progress can be made only by opening up dialogues within and across political communities. This is essential for India’s survival as a secular and democratic nation. Progressive politics needs to move towards affinity and an idea of shared spaces.
Challenging political correctness, Secular Sectarianism shows that subalterns are partly responsible for their conditions because of their inner divisions and their sheer ignorance of the very principles they claim to promote, including equality and secularism. This powerful and very original argument is made on the basis of a series of well-chosen case studies ranging from caste groups to tribes and religious minorities.
This is an original and compelling investigation into the fraught question of ‘intra-subaltern’ conflict. Moving beyond the theoretical and political complacencies of elite domination and subaltern resistance paradigms, the authors in this timely volume offer an impressive range of finely crafted, empirically rich studies of the sociology of conflict and the unpredictable dynamics of minority political agency. The volume engages audience across disciplines and reaches well beyond area studies to engage fundamental questions of political and social theory.
Around the world, academics use the language of elites and the subaltern. In Secular Sectarianism: Limits of Subaltern Politics, Ajay Gudavarthy has assembled a group of scholars to show how this binary fails to capture the messy reality of Indian politics. There is not one solid class on top and one solid class below in India. Rather, Dalits, Muslims, women, OBCs and Left-Brahmins often fight with each other, while right-wing forces have gained the support of elites within subaltern social groups. The book is an essential read for those who wish to understand contemporary Indian politics and how the Right (Hindutva, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Prime Minister Modi) is triumphing over the Left (Congress Party, Communist Party). More than that, the book poses a challenge for Left activists and scholars around the world: How is it possible to form political coalitions that are internally diverse but still work together to fight economic and cultural oppression?
“The book helps understand contemporary Indian politics... (and) lays emphasis on expressing citizenship through the right to speak for others and not just for oneself. Progress can be made only by opening up dialogues within and across political communities. This is essential for India’s survival as a secular and democratic nation.”