Everyday Life of Hindu Nationalism: An Ethnographic Account amzn.eu/d/fehw8Kz
An ethnographic account of the rise of Hindu nationalism in the north Indian state of Rajasthan during the period 1990-94,
It looks at the transformation of cultural meanings in everyday life that make possible the political success & anti-minority violence of the Hindu right.
Many accounts of the Hindu right that present images of religious frenzy & fanaticism are misleading bc they draw attention away from the world of the everyday & ordinary, from homes, workplaces, schools & communities where realities of Hindu nationalism are created & maintained.
This book takes seriously the claims of RSS activists that theirs is a cultural organization, and that its main task is ‘character- building’, in order to answer the central question:
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How does one comprehend the selves that are capable of the extraordinary violence witnessed in India at the turn of the millennium?
The patterns of anti-minority violence that accompanies the rise of Hindu nationalism show that it follows not a political or economic logic, but a cultural one.
The geographic & demographic distribution of violence maps & confirms cultural beliefs abt the nation & its enemies.
Finally, this book argues that media and academic discourses on Hindu nationalism function to produce what has been called ‘cultural anesthesia’, diffusing and deflecting questions..
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..about agency and accountability while silencing the experience of the victims and excluding the cultural idioms which provide them means of comprehension and healing.
Contents/chapters:
Shubh Mathur is an anthropologist whose work focuses on minorities, violence, human rights, gender & immigration. She received her doctorate from the New School for Social Research, NY. She is at present Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Franklin Pierce University.
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Data shows that Ashraf Muslims are at the economic lvl of Hindu OBCs. That's all i said.
Why aren't Ashrafs doing better than Hindu OBCs economically & in terms of representation?
Social discrimination.
& One can acknowledge that fact while also admitting discrimination against pasmanda+dalit Muslims, who face disc from both Ms&Hs & are even worse off economically
Prof Amar Farooqui, whose book Opium City is one of our favorite titles at Three Essays Collective, retired today from the Department of History, Delhi University.
Thanks for getting it! Would love to hear your thoughts once you finish reading!
This is definitely an essential read for understanding the state response to communal mass violence, with tons of RTIs retrieving information not accessible previously to any researchers.
Why are you going so out of your way to be concerned about misinfo on that one, while your platform enables hate and misinfo in more recent ones in progress - India, Myanmar for eg?
Why is the social media game so rigged in favor of the saffron RW in India? A quick #thread of some important reads:
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Extremely important piece on special privileges given to ppl like Amit Malviya to post what they want w/o moderation and to have posts he reports automatically and instantly removed without a content moderation process.
By @jahnavi_sen thewire.in/tech/amit-malv…
Please check out @thewire_in's series on TekFog for a larger contextual idea of the RW field of mass operations online - by @onosmosis and @kaulayush