This book offers a more contextualised and nuanced understanding of the complex ways in which identity is constructed in India, the manner in which gender and community intersect and cross-cut each other, and the ways in which these two elements interact with State policy.

This volume challenges the assumption that Muslims in India constitute a homogeneous community. Focusing specifically on gender issues, the contributors instead locate the Muslim womens community within the social, economic, and political developments that have taken place in the subcontinent, pre- and post-Independence, in order to examine how th

India became independent in 1947 and, after nearly three years of debate in the Constituent Assembly, adopted a Constitution that came into effect on 26 January 1950. This Constitution has lasted until the present, with its basic structure unaltered, a remarkable achievement given that the generally accepted prerequisites for democratic stability did not exist, and do not exist even today. Half a century of constitutional democracy is something that political scientists and legal scholars need to analyze and explain. This volume examines the career of constitutional-political ideas (implicitly of Western origin) in the text of the Indian Constitution or implicit within it, as well as in actual political practice in the country over the past half-century.

"India s Living Constitution" examines the constitution that was adopted nearly three years after independence on 26 January 1950, and which remarkably survives today with its basic structure unaltered. This is an extraordinary achievement given that the generally accepted prerequisites for democratic stability did not exist at the time of its composition, and do not even exist today. Half a century of constitutional democracy is a phenomenon that political scientists and legal scholars need to analyse and explain.The Indian Constitution outlined the framework and organization of the political and social order. This included universal citizenship and suffrage, civil and political liberties, and a vision of social justice and equality. Many of these constitutional provisions aimed to bring about a fundamental change in the structure of Indian society. But society does not change with the adoption of a radically new constitution. While constitutionalism is about rules, democracy follows a wayward path, driven by the passions of competing political visions, interests and mass mobilization.This new collection by a group of distinguished scholars rigorously analyses the constitutional-political ideas -- implicitly of Western origin -- that are embedded in the text of the Indian Constitution, and their evolution in political practice in the country over the past 50 years.

Ideology and Organization in Indian Politics examines the immense changes that have occurred in Indian politics over the past decade and its impact on the Indian National Congress. The impact is most apparent in the changing fortunes of the Congress party, which suffered two major defeats in 2014 and 2019 elections, bringing the party's crisis to the front and centre of public debate. This book seeks to understand the reasons for these enormous changes by looking first at the underlying conditions that led to the decline of the Congress and, second, the challenges' both external and internal' confronting the Congress and, while doing so, estimating its impact on Indian politics and on the Congress. More specifically, it looks at how important ideological debates provoked by the rise of majoritarianism, the Gujarat model, hypernationalism, the secular retreat, and the curbs and restrictions on the opposition influenced Congress. Exploring ideological shifts and organizational limits that shaped the decline of the Congress makes a compelling case for the significance of the Congress story in understanding the larger political transformation underway in India. The argument centers on the Congress party, but comparatively speaking, it has relevance for the experience of centrist and centre-left parties in other countries, which too suffered a decline in the context of the upsurge of populist nationalism and right-wing politics in the past few years. Analysis of political change in India in the past decade affords insights into the processes of transformation and polarization that grounded the Congress party and centrist parties in other countries as well.

The book examines (1) the relationship between political mobilization and the making of policy/ to grant socio-economic rights (2) the creation of institutions and (3) representation in public institutions i.e. legislatures. It investigates the relationship of political mobilization, party strategies and policy change to understand how campaigns and agitations organized by actors outside traditional electoral networks interact with established political actors to influence the making of social policy and legislations in India in the broader frame of democratic politics. The central question is in what circumstances is social and political mobilization to claim rights and entitlements or the demand for accountability or greater representation in legislatures responded to and addressed to by the state. This is done through an analusis of three empirical cases: (1) Right to employment and Right to food; (2) The anti-corruption or Lokpal or movement, (3) Legislative reservations for women. All but one resulted in legislation. These three cases cover recurring themes in the sphere of political mobilization and the claims they make for redistribution, accountability and representation. By focusing on political actors and processes that shape various legislations to expand rights, accountability and representation, the book argues that it is principally the political context, party processes and leadership strategies that influenced policy decisions of the government. Taken together, the arguments advanced here underlines the social and political implications of situations where both state and mobilization campaigns are the agents and loci of dominance, resistance, and critique. Outcomes are contingent on political responses and party strategies which are an important element of the underlying dynamics, and not merely the scale and intensity of public protest and collective action.

All known societies exclude and stigmatize one or more minority groups. Frequently, these exclusions are underwritten with a rhetoric of disgust. People of certain groups, it is alleged, are filthy, hyper-animal, or not fit to share such facilities as drinking water, food, and public swimming pools with the 'clean' and 'fully human' majority. But exclusions vary in their scope and also in the specific disgust-ideologies underlying them. In this volume, interdisciplinary scholars from India and the United States present a detailed comparative study of the varieties of prejudice and stigma that pervade contemporary social and political life. These include prejudice along the axes of caste, race, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, religion, and economic class. In examining these forms of stigma and their intersections, the authors present theoretically pluralistic and empirically sensitive accounts that both explain group-based stigma and suggest ways forward. These forward-looking remedies, including group resistance to subordination as well as institutional and legal change, point the way towards a public culture that is informed by our diverse histories of discrimination and therefore equipped to eliminate stigma in all of its multifaceted forms.

This volume provides a cross-disciplinary analysis by leading social scientists of contemporary India of the transformations unleashed by the introduction of egalitarian and liberal principles of government within the context of the colonial legacy, hierarchial social order, group-based identities and plural cultures. The combination of political processes and institutions that have impacted on democracy and changed owing to democracy.