Reclaiming Indigeneity and Democracy in India's Jharkhand

Jharkhand, a region in India created in 2000, represents an important experiment in regional autonomy and self-determination for indigenous communities. In Reclaiming Indigeneity and Democracy in India's Jharkhand, Ipshita Basu highlights the relations of justification as a central feature of group-based claims-making for social groups identifying with indigeneity. The book focuses on reclaiming political recognition for Adivasis within the contemporary dynamics of majoritarian populism and the market economy. It unites perspectives from philosophy, politics, and culture studies and is based on ethnographic and archival research. The author argues that when relations are at the epicentre of claims-making, expressive attachments determine political activism over instrumental choices. This book is a timely account of indigenous politics and an attempt to foreground the complex political nature of social justice claims-making in a democracy such as India.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 17 January 2024
Publisher: Oxford University Press

In 2000, Jharkhand emerged as a significant experiment in regional autonomy and self-determination for indigenous communities within a postcolonial democracy. Spanning over two decades, Jharkhand has witnessed a turbulent political landscape, as competing political groups have mobilized indigenous subaltern communities for diverse purposes. In her book, Reclaiming Indigeneity and Democracy in India's Jharkhand, Ipshita Basu makes a valuable contribution to scholarship on critical social justice and indigeneity by emphasizing the role of relations of justification as a central aspect of group-based claims-making for social groups identifying with indigeneity in various ways. Specifically, the book focuses on reclaiming political recognition for Adivasis within the contemporary dynamics of majoritarian populism and the market economy. Drawing from perspectives in philosophy (social justice), politics (democracy and public reasoning), and culture studies (identity), the author combines ethnographic and archival research to argue that when relations are at the core of claims-making, expressive attachments shape political activism over the instrumental choices that groups are compelled to make in the context of significant power differentials. This book offers a timely account of indigenous politics and aims to foreground the intricate political nature of social justice claims-making within a democratic context such as India.

Dimension: 216 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780198884675