Convenor:
Dr. Radhika Desai, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

The political stabilization of Hindutva in Gujarat has attracted much attention in recent years. However, the socio-economic background against which it is taking place - that of one of the most successful capitalist development among the states of India - has received less attention. In many ways, the stabilization of Hindutva in Gujarat challenges much established understanding of the conditions of its growth in that much established understanding focuses on its hold on some of the least developed parts of India, such as UP. What are the principal patterns of economic growth in Gujarat? How are they related to the patterns of support for, and opposition to, Hindutva by class, gender, caste and community? What are the chief regional and sectoral variations in capitalist development? What are the specific patterns of labour exploitation? How do they vary by gender, caste, tribe and community? What forms of struggle, by workers, women, peasants, tribals and minorities have sprung up to resist this exploitation? How has the recent recession and agricultural crisis changed these patterns of economic growth of past decades? What are the solutions to those crises? What are the political patterns associated with these patterns of economic growth and the struggles to which it gives rise? How, in particular, are the patterns of economic growth associated with the political stabilization of Hintutva in the state? And what forces of resistance to Hindutva have these patterns of growth generated? In this panel I invite papers for the 19 ECMSAS in Leiden on the sorts of questions listed above and any kindred questions.

Ganesh Devy, Bhasha Rsearch and Publication Centre, Baroda, India
Ashwamwdha on the Expressway: Tribal Identity and Hindutva in Gujarat
 
The presentation will focus on the micro,movements in the tribal belt in esatern Gujarat in order to examine the nature of the appeal of the Hindutva ideology to the adivasi coomunities and to assess the impact of that ideology on those comunities. It will comment on the processes of politicisation of the adivasi communities through various micro,movements related to resources sharing and livelihood concerns. The paper will take into account the trajectory of rapidly shifting expectations about adivasi participation in the mainland Gujarat political space. It will also present a brief account of the recent changes in the perception that Adivasi communities have of  their mainstreaming . The presentation will attempt to provide a critique of the  problematic relationship between Gujarat's imagination of the adivasis and the adivasi imagination of Gujarat.
 

Thane Bonarm, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada
Hindutva and the Stratification of Adivasi Communities
 
A number of scholars writing on the rise of Hindutva as a dominant social and political force, particularly in Gujarat, have attributed its success to its ability to serve middle and upper caste and class interests. The pattern of economic development in Gujarat and the relative cohesion of these groups have allowed for the BJP to become firmly entrenched there. Over the past several state and Lok Sabha elections however, the BJP has made significant inroads outside of these elite constituencies into more marginalized communities, particularly amongst the Adivasi of Gujarat's Eastern Tribal Belt. Moreover, this electoral support has emerged alongside Adivasi participation in anti,minority violence such as the 2002 carnage.
           
To explain this apparent paradox, analysts have largely relied on a paternalistic attitude that strips the Adivasi of any independent, political agency. Here, Adivasi are viewed on terms remarkably similar to those of 19th century British ethnographers. They are seen as a simple people unable to understand politics and easily incited to violence by alcohol and rumors. What these explanations ignore is how the economic development of Adivasi communities has led to extreme economic stratification and an unequal distribution of power. This paper will look at how tribal development opened up Adivasi areas to Hindutva. Specifically I will examine the role of the Adivasi elite and the emerging Adivasi middle class. I will argue that Adivasi support for Hindutva in Gujarat is by no means paradoxical or due to the Adivasi's ignorance, rather the policies and ideology of Hindutva serve the interests of powerful elements of Adivasi communities.
 
Priyavadan M. Patel, M.S. University of Baroda, India
Status of Social Support Bases for the Politics of Hindutva in Gujarat: Survey Findings
 
In India, an interesting paradox of a parallel and contrast in state politics is witnessed. The two states of Indian Union, located on its western and eastern flanks, namely, Gujarat and West Bengal, have demonstrated a parallel of politico,electoral dominance poll after poll despite committed to diametrically opposite and contrasting ideological orientations. The ideology of socialism or capitalism seems to be having only a symbolic, notional or poll,time relevance when the time to renew the mandate comes. It seems to be achieved and renewed by a well,oiled cadre,based political party organization and the charismatic leadership of that party's government.
 
The more than a decade old but consistent politico,electoral successes of the politics of hindutva at various levels of contests in Gujarat have been a puzzle to political observers and analysts alike. What keeps it going as almost a one,sided politico,electoral contest (as shown by the recently held local level elections in rural & urban areas) in the state is baffling. How do the socio,political opinions, beliefs and attitudes of the Gujarat voters demonstrate support for the politics of hindutva and what are the caste, class, gender and regional break up of this support? Has it become monolithic in Gujarat or are there any evidences of resistance to or the cracks in its social support bases?
 
These questions are attempted to be answered in this paper on the basis of the survey data which were collected during 8,17 January, 2006 in Gujarat as a part of "The State of the Nation Survey,2006" sponsored and funded by the CNN,IBN,Hindustan Times and conceived, designed and carried out by the Lokniti group of social scientists of the Centre for the Study of the Developing Societies, New Delhi. It was carried out in 28 states among the randomly selected 15141 voter respondents of which 757 were from Gujarat. The data were collected by a three stage random sampling procedure. The first stage of sampling was done at the national level to select Assembly Constituencies for the entire nation. The subsequent second and third stages of sampling were done in the respective states to select the polling stations/booths and the voter respondents.  A set of 2 questionnaires was canvassed across the country.  The main one contained 42 questions on the themes of polity, society, family, economy and Muslim minority as well as 17questions on the socio,economic background of the respondents. Specific themes of the questions were: nationalism, BJP rule in Gujarat, primacy of identity (from national/Indian, regional/statal or religious identities) claimed, religious conversions, efficacy of democracy, leadership preference and approval, situation of security of life & property, preferred family & community values on marriages, inheritance of paternal property, extent of religiosity, perceived economic status of the family, reservation of the jobs and educational seats for the weaker sections and privatization of airports managements.
 
Apart from this, an   additional questionnaire containing 13 items was canvassed to Muslim respondents only as a booster sample to ascertain their views on specific problems facing their community, practices of discriminations experienced, internal social/community reforms, religious rights, political representation, madrassa education, issuing of fatawas, Hindu,Muslim interface at family levels and extent of communal divide as felt by them.
 
On the basis of the findings of the survey research, this paper attempts to argue that more than economic, it is the politico,electoral and cadre,based party organizational management of the politics of the hindutva by the sangh parivar organizations and committed voter base among the middle classes and upper castes which has kept its dominance in tact in Gujarat.
 
Judy Whitehead, University of Lethbridge, Canada
Repression and Consent in the Narmada Valley, 1998,2001
 
This paper analyzes the factors responsible for the failure of the anti,dam movement against the Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat. Using a Gramscian framework, it focuses on three major issues facing transnational environmental movements. The first is the changing forms of hegemony associated with globalization, in which both state and international institutions share governance and responsibility for implementing development projects, often constraining civil society movements to a form of accommodative resistance.  The second is the way in which transnational movements, while initially successful, have often led to a nationalist backlash. Hence, movements that are successful internationally can provoke negative nationalist responses if a strong domestic constituency has not been created.  The third factor focuses on internal politics of representation within the movement itself. It is argued that the lack of organic representation and leadersh!
 ip of Gujarat adivasis was a significant factor in the drop in support for the Narmada Bachao Aandolan prior to the negative Supreme Court decision against it
 

Mario Rutten, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Middle Class Interests and Labour Relations in Gujarat: A Comparative Perspective
 
The globalization process of the previous decades gives the impression of the creation of a "global village" that includes the whole world. From the perspective of the Asian middle class, globalisation is indeed more inclusive in character. Members of the middle class have developed an increasing global outlook, partly based on transnational linkages, in which they strongly feel that their future is not related to, nor dependent on the future prospects of the majority of the population in their own country. In their view, their future is closely connected to the interests of the middle classes in other parts of the world. Moreover, they show an increasing indifference to the plight of the poor in their own society. This lack of social commitment illustrates a widening social distance between the elite and the majority of the population. At the same time, the restrictions in movements of people and the rise of nationalist political sentiments, religion specific feelings, and ethnic solidarity, clearly indicate that reality is different and that the future of the middle class in Asia will most probably remain strongly connected to that of the majority of the population in their own society or region.
 
Although globalisation is more inclusive when one looks at the middle classes in Asia, it is at the same time more exclusive in nature when one looks at the lower classes in society. Globalisation has created a situation where it has become more the rule than the exception that production is separated from the markets, and labour from capital. Globalisation has been accompanied by a strong emphasis on liberalisation of capital. However, it has also accompanied by an equally strong emphasis on further restrictions in the movement of labour and on flexibility in the labour relations, resulting in increasing insecurity for the lower classes in society.
 
In this paper, I will discuss these issues with reference to empirical findings on middle,class families of businessmen in rural Gujarat, India, and their relatives in London, and compare them with developments in Indonesia, based on research conducted among small,scale industrialists and workers in the countryside of central Java. In the final section of the paper, I will briefly draw a parallel between these findings on Asia and recent developments in Europe. From early on, it was assumed that the study of Europe would provide insights into future developments in Asia, while the study of Asia would give us, at the most, insights into Europe's past. While these earlier studies therefore emphasised how Asia could learn from Europe's past, including from its mistakes, the aim of this concluding section of the paper is to indicate how and to what extent the study of contemporary developments on the middle class behaviour and labour relations  in Asia might provide us with insights into Europe's future.