Companion to Indian Democracy Resilience, Fragility, Ambivalence

This book presents a comprehensive overview of the contemporary experiences of democracy in India. It explores the modes by which democracy as an idea, and as a practice, is interpreted, enforced, and lived in India?s current political climate.

The book employs ?case studies? as a methodological vantage point to evolve an innovative conceptual framework for the study of democracy in India. The chapters unpack a diverse range of themes such as democracy and Dalits; agriculture, new sociality and communal violence in rural areas; changing nature of political communication in India; role of anti-nuclear movements in democracies; issues of subaltern citizen?s voice, impaired governance and the development paradigm; free speech and segregation in the public sphere; and, the surveillance state and Indian democracy. These thematic explorations are arranged in an engaging sequence to offer a multifaceted narrative of Indian democracy especially in relation to the recent debates on citizenship and constitutionalism.

A key critical intervention on contemporary politics in South Asia, this book will be essential reading for scholars and researchers of political studies, political science, political sociology, comparative government and politics, sociology, social anthropology, public administration, public policy, and South Asia studies. It will also be of immense interest to policymakers, journalists, think tanks, bureaucrats, and organizations working in the area.

Introduction 1. Democracy, Dalits and Struggle for Common Land in Punjab 2. Agrarian Transformation, Emergence of New Sociality and Communal Violence in Rural Western Uttar Pradesh 3. Electoral campaign as a performative plebiscite: Mapping the changing nature of political communication in India 4. The Role of Anti-Nuclear Movements in Deepening the Meaning and Practices of Democracy 5. People, Protected Areas and Political Parties: A Study of Two Protest Movements in Odisha 6. Democratisation of Communities through Rural Local Governance 7. Regional Movements in Democracy: The Case of Telangana 8. From Land Reform to Guaranteeing Title to Land (Secure Property Rights) in India: Implications for Democracy 9. From Jan Sunwai to Social Audit: Trust, Contention, and ‘Workable Democracy 10. Democracy (practice) in Question? Subaltern Citizen’s-Voice, Impaired Governance and Development Paradigm 11. Election Campaign in Mizoram12. Making Sense of Democracy: Musahars of Eastern Uttar Pradesh 13. Political Mobilisation of Muslims in Kerala: Towards a Communitarian Becoming of Democracy 14. Conceiving Scientific Expertise Democratically: A Study of Western Ghats Ecological Controversy 15. Free Speech, Democracy and the “Hidden Persuaders”: Segregation in the Public Sphere 16. Regulatory Reforms in Electricity Sector: Systemic Change or Sabotage? 17. In Pursuit of Personal Data: A Survey on State’s Surveillance and Democracy in India 18. Contemporary Moment in Indian Democracy

Peter Ronald deSouza, formerly Professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, is D.D. Kosambi Visiting Professor in Interdisciplinary Studies at Goa University, India.

Mohd. Sanjeer Alam is Associate Professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi, India.

Hilal Ahmed is Associate Professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi, India.