Course objective: Actual politics in India diverges quite significantly from constitutional legal rules. An understanding of the political process thus calls for a different mode of analysis - that offered by political sociology. This course maps the working of ‘modern’ institutions, premised on the existence of an individuated society, in a context marked by communitarian solidarities, and their mutual transformation thereby. It also familiarizes students with the working of the Indian state, paying attention to the contradictory dynamics of modern state power.
READING LIST
· R. Kothari, (2002) ‘The Congress System’, in Z. Hasan (ed.) Parties and Party Politics in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp 39-55.
· E. Sridharan, (2012) ‘Introduction: Theorizing Democratic Consolidation, Parties and Coalitions’, in Coalition Politics and Democratic Consolidation in Asia, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
· Y. Yadav and S. Palshikar, (2006) ‘Party System and Electoral Politics in the
Indian States, 1952-2002: From Hegemony to Convergence’, in P. deSouza and
E. Sridharan (eds.) India’s Political Parties, New Delhi: Sage Publications, pp. 73-115.
· Y. Yadav, (2000) ‘Understanding the Second Democratic Upsurge’, in F. Frankel,
Z. Hasan, and R. Bhargava (eds.) Transforming India: Social and Political Dynamics in Democracy, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 120-145.
· C. Jaffrelot, (2008) ‘Why Should We Vote? The Indian Middle Class and the Functioning of World’s Largest Democracy’, in Religion, Caste and Politics in India, Delhi: Primus, pp. 604- 619.
· R. Deshpande, (2004) ‘How Gendered was Women’s Participation in Elections 2004?’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 39, No. 51, pp. 5431-5436.
· S. Kumar, (2009) ‘Religious Practices Among Indian Hindus,’ Japanese Journal of Political Science, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 313-332.
· M. Chadda, (2010) ‘Integration through Internal Reorganisation’, in S. Baruah (ed.) Ethnonationalism in India: A Reader, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 379-402.
· P. Brass, (1999) ‘Crisis of National Unity: Punjab, the Northeast and Kashmir’, in The Politics of India Since Independence, New Delhi: Cambridge University Press and Foundation Books, pp.192-227.
· T. Pantham, (2004) ‘Understanding Indian Secularism: Learning from its Recent Critics’, in R. Vora and S. Palshikar (eds.) Indian Democracy: Meanings and Practices, New Delhi: Sage, pp. 235-256.
· N. Menon and A. Nigam, (2007) ‘Politics of Hindutva and the Minorities’, in Power and Contestation: India since 1989, London: Fernwood Publishing, Halifax and Zed Books, pp.36-60.
· N. Chandhoke, (2010) ‘Secularism’, in P. Mehta and N. Jayal (eds.) The Oxford Companion to Politics in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 333- 346.
· R. Kothari, (1970) ‘Introduction’, in Caste in Indian Politics, Delhi: Orient Longman, pp.3-25.
· M. Weiner, (2001) ‘The Struggle for Equality: Caste in Indian Politics’, in Atul Kohli (ed.) The Success of India’s Democracy, New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, pp. 193-225.
· G. Omvedt, (2002) ‘Ambedkar and After: The Dalit Movement in India’, in G. Shah (ed.) Social Movements and the State, New Delhi: Sage Publications, pp. 293-309.
· M. Galanter, (2002) ‘The Long Half-Life of Reservations’, in Z. Hasan, E. Sridharan and R. Sudarshan (eds.) India’s Living Constitution: Ideas, Practices, Controversies, New Delhi: Permanent Black, pp. 306-318.
· C. Jaffrelot, (2005) ‘The Politics of the OBCs’, in Seminar, Issue 549, pp. 41-45.
· M. John, (2011) ‘The Politics of Quotas and the Women’s Reservation Bill in India’, in M. Tsujimura and J. Steele (eds.) Gender Equality in Asia, Japan: Tohoku University Press, pp. 169-195.
· S. Palshikar, (2008) ‘The Indian State: Constitution and Beyond’, in R. Bhargava (ed.) Politics and Ethics of the Indian Constitution, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 143-163.
· R. Deshpande, (2005) ‘State and Democracy in India: Strategies of Accommodation and Manipulation’, Occasional Paper, Series III, No. 4, Special Assistance Programme, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Pune.
· M. Mohanty, (1989) ‘Duality of the State Process in India: A Hypothesis’,
Bhartiya Samajik Chintan, Vol. XII (1-2)
· T. Byres, (1994) ‘Introduction: Development Planning and the Interventionist State Versus Liberalization and the Neo-Liberal State: India, 1989-1996’, in T. Byres (ed.) The State, Development Planning and Liberalization in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994, pp.1-35.
· A. Verma, (2007) ‘Police Agencies and Coercive Power’, in S. Ganguly, L. Diamond and M. Plattner (eds.) The State of India’s Democracy, Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, pp. 130-139.
· Paul and Nayak, Rajanaitik Twatwa, Arun Prakashan, Guwahati.
This course is divided into five units. The Course helps the student familiarize with the basic normative concepts of political theory. Each concept is related to a crucial political issue that requires analysis with the aid of our conceptual understanding. This exercise is designed to encourage critical and reflective analysis and interpretation of social practices through the relevant conceptual toolkit. Further this course introduces the students to the important debates in the subject. These debates prompt us to consider that there is no settled way of understanding concepts and that in the light of new insights and challenges, besides newer ways of perceiving and interpreting the world around us, we inaugurate new modes of political debates.
Reading List:
· Mckinnon, Catriona (ed.) Issues in Political Theory, New York: Oxford University Press
· Knowles, Dudley. (2001) Political Philosophy. London: Routledge
· Swift, Adam. (2001) Political Philosophy: A Beginners Guide for Student’s and
Politicians. Cambridge: Polity Press
· Carter, Ian. (2003) ‘Liberty’, in Bellamy, Richard and Mason, Andrew (eds.).
Political Concepts. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 4-15.
· Bhargava, Rajeev and Acharya, Ashok. (eds.) Political Theory: An Introduction. New Delhi: Pearson Longman Bedau, Hugo Adam. (2003) ‘Capital Punishment’, in LaFollette, Hugh (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Practical Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 705-733
· Bellamy, Richard and Mason, Andrew (eds.). Political Concepts. Manchester: Manchester University Press
· Andrew Heywood, Political Ideologies: An Introduction, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012
· Gauba, O.P., An Introduction to Political Theory, MacMillan India Ltd, Delhi, 2007
· Dutta, Akhil Ranjan, Political Theory: Issues and Debates, Arun Prakashan, Guwahati, 2011
· Bellamy Richard.(ed.) Theories and Concepts of Politics. New York: Manchester University Press Amoah, Jewel. (2007) ‘The World on Her Shoulders: The Rights of the Girl-Child in the Context of Culture & Identity’, in Essex Human Rights Review, 4(2), pp. 1-23.
· Paul and Nayak, Rajanaitik Twatwa, Arun Prakashan, Guwahati.
Working Group on the Girl Child (2007), A Girl’s Right to Live: Female Foeticide and
Girl Infanticide, available on http://www.crin.org/docs/Girl’s infanticide CSW 2007