Power and Contestation: India since 1989

235 Pages·2007·1.93 MB·English

by  Nivedita Menon

global history of the present
Series editor | Nicholas Guyatt
In the Global History of the Present series, historians address the
upheavals in world history since 1989, as we have lurched from the
Cold War to the War on Terror. Each book considers the unique
story of an individual country or region, refuting grandiose claims
of “the end of history,” and linking local narratives to international
developments.
Lively and accessible, these books are ideal introductions to the
contemporary politics and history of a diverse range of countries.
By bringing a historical perspective to recent debates and events,
from democracy and terrorism to nationalism and globalization,
the series challenges assumptions about the past and the present.
Published
Thabit A. J. Abdullah, Dictatorship, Imperialism and Chaos: Iraq
since 1989
Timothy Cheek, Living with Freedom: China since 1989
Alexander Dawson, First World Dreams: Mexico since 1989
Padraic Kenney, The Burdens of Freedom: Eastern Europe since 1989
Stephen Lovell, Destination in Doubt: Russia since 1989
Alejandra Bronfman, On the Move: The Caribbean since 1989
Nivedita Menon and Aditya Nigam, Power and Contestation: India
since 1989
Hyung Gu Lynn, Bipolar Orders: The Two Koreas since 1989
Forthcoming
James D. Le Sueur, Between Terror and Democracy: Algeria since
1989
Mark LeVine, Impossible Peace: Israel/Palestine since 1989
Helena Pohlandt-McCormick, What Have We Done? South Africa
since 1989
Bryan McCann, The Throes of Democracy: Brazil since 1989
Nicholas Guyatt is a lecturer in history at the University of York.
About the authors
Nivedita Menon is a reader in the Department
of Political Science at the University of Delhi. She
is the author of Recovering Subversion: Feminist
Politics Beyond the Law (2004) and editor of
Sexualities (2007) and Gender and Politics in India
(1999). A feminist scholar and political theorist,
she has been involved in a wide range of political
and social movements, especially against the rise
of sectarian politics, against mass displacement
of workers and in the anti-nuclearization move-
ment.
Aditya Nigam is currently a fellow at the Centre
for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi. He
has written and published on issues relating to
Marxism, modernity, nationalism and identity,
and is currently working on a book on the left in a
post-utopian world. He is the author of The Insur-
rection of Little Selves (2006). He was a full-time
political activist with the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) for over a decade and has worked
with various social movements before reentering
academia.
Power and Contestation: India
since 1989
Nivedita Menon and Aditya Nigam
Fernwood Publishing
halifax | winnipeg
Zed Books
london | new york
Power and Contestation: India since 1989 was first published in 2007
Published in Canada by Fernwood Publishing Ltd, 32 Oceanvista Lane,
Site 2a, Box 5, Black Point, Nova Scotia b0j 1b0
<www.fernwoodpublishing.ca>
Published in the rest of the world by Zed Books Ltd, 7 Cynthia Street, London
n1 9jf, uk and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, ny 10010, usa
<www.zedbooks.co.uk>
Copyright © Nivedita Menon and Aditya Nigam, 2007
The rights of Nivedita Menon and Aditya Nigam to be identified as the
authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
Cover designed by Andrew Corbett
Set in OurTypeArnhem and Futura Bold by Ewan Smith, London
Index <ed.emery@the freeuniversity.net>
Printed and bound in Malta by Gutenberg Press Ltd
Distributed in the usa exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of
St Martin’s Press, llc, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, ny 10010.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
us cip data are available from the Library of Congress.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Menon, Nivedita
Power and contestation : India since 1989 / Nivedita Menon and Aditya
Nigam.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-1-55266-239-7
1. India--Politics and government--1977-. 2. India--Foreign relations--1984-.
3. India--History--1947-. I. Nigam, Aditya II. Title.
ds480.853.m45 2007 954.05’2 c2007-903403-9
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the publisher.
isbn 978-1-84277-814-2 hb (Zed Books)
isbn 978-1-84277-815-9 pb (Zed Books)
isbn 978-1-55266-239-7 pb (Fernwood Publishing)
Contents
Acknowledgments | vi
Abbreviations | vii Timeline | x
India at a glance | xiii Map | xiv
Introduction: a genealogy of the 199os | 1
1 The recalcitrance of caste | 15
2 Politics of Hindutva and the minorities | 36
3 Globalization I: accumulation by dispossession | 61
4 Globalization II: new economies of desire | 83
5 Old Left, New Left | 103
6 When was the nation? | 135
7 India in the world | 166
Conclusion: a heterogeneous present | 176
Notes | 182
Bibliography | 193
Index | 209
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Nick Guyatt, the series editor; Ellen
McKinlay, Commissioning Editor, Zed Books; the two
anonymous readers and our friend Mary John for their
careful reading of the first draft of this book. Their
thoughtful suggestions have been invaluable.
We also thank Sujit Deb and Avinash Jha of the
library of the Centre for the Study of Developing
Societies, Delhi, without whose enthusiastic support
beyond the call of duty, our task would have been much
more difficult.
Abbreviations
ADB Asian Development Bank
AFSPA Armed Forces Special Powers Act
AGP Asom Gana Parishad
AIADMK All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham
AIBMM All India Backward Muslim Morcha
AIPRF All India People’s Resistance Forum
AITUC All India Trade Union Congress
APCLC Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee
APDR Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights
APHC All Party Hurriyat Conference
BJP Bharatiya Janata Party
BSP Bahujan Samaj Party
CITU Centre of Indian Trade Unions
CMM Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha
CMSS Chhattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh
CNDP Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace
CPI Communist Party of India
CPI(M) Communist Party of India (Marxist)
CPI(Maoist) Communist Party of India (Maoist)
CPI(ML) Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
CSWI Committee for the Status of Women in India
DMK Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham
EP Ekta Parishad
HM Hizb-ul-Mujahideen
IIM Indian Institute of Management
IIT Indian Institute of Technology
INTUC Indian National Trade Union Congress
IRC Independent Review Committee
JKLF Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front
KSSP Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad
KSU Khasi Students’ Union
LF Left Front
viii | Abbreviations
MBCs Most Backward Classes
MCC Maoist Communist Centre
MKSS Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
MNC Multinational Corporation
MP Member of Parliament
MPLF Manipur People’s Liberation Front
MUF Muslim United Front
NC National Conference
NCL National Centre for Labour
NDA National Democratic Alliance
NESO North East Students’ Organization
NHDC Narmada Hydroelectric Development Corporation
NHPC National Hydro Power Corporation
NNC Naga National Council
NSCN National Socialist Council of Nagaland
NTUI New Trade Union Initiative
NVP Narmada Valley Project
OBC Other Backward Classes, used to refer to lower castes
other than Dalits
PIL Public Interest Litigation
PLA People’s Liberation Army
PMM Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz or the Backward Muslim
Front
POK Pakistan Occupied Kashmir
POTA Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act
POW Progressive Organization of Women
PRIs Panchayati Raj Institutions
PUCL People’s Union for Civil Liberties
PUDR People’s Union for Democratic Rights
PWG People’s War Group
RSS Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
SC Scheduled Castes (the administrative category for
Dalits)
SEZ Special Economic Zone
SJM Swadeshi Jagaran Manch
SP Samajwadi Party
SSP Sardar Sarovar Project
ST Scheduled Tribes (the administrative category for
Adivasis/Tribals)
Abbreviations | ix
TISCO Tata Iron and Steel Corporation
UF United Front
ULFA United Liberation Front of Asom
UNLF United National Liberation Front
UPA United Progressive Alliance
VHP Vishwa Hindu Parishad
WDP Women’s Development Programme
WRB Women’s Reservation Bill