Minorities And Populism Critical Perspectives From South Asia And Europe

This volume assembles renowned scholars to address, for the first time, the relationship between minorities and populism in South Asia and Europe from a critical perspective. Despite the very different and to some extent opposite historical and political trajectories, there is today a convergence on nationalist affirmation and on majoritarian politics between South Asia and Europe. In India, the Hindu majority rebels against wide-ranging minority rights anchored in the Constitution. In Europe, the refugee crisis and Islamic radicalization bring to the forefront the postcolonial legacy. Despite all rhetoric, there are obvious dangers of majoritarianism. Populist parties are divisive, partisan, disregard minority rights, engage in lynching, social division, stigmatization and exclusion, turning minorities into second-class citizens. There is a profound structural connection between minorities and the current rise of populism in India and Europe. But there remains a deep perplexity and also anxiety: Does the presence of minorities necessarily have to trigger majoritarian policies? Are there no solutions to this dilemma? Many observers considered multicultural policies and affirmative action programs in India as a possible model for Europe to adopt in order to achieve greater integration. But eventually they seem to have failed. Why so? Are multiculturalism and the recognition of differences still options today? On the other hand, most scholars in India typically reject the European model of liberal democracy and secularism as impracticable in India and locate the reason for the current malaise in the west. But is liberal democracy really so bad in dealing with pluralism? This volume, collecting a selection of the Reset DOC Venice-Padua-Delhi dialogue series, is going to answer two fundamental questions. First, what precisely is the nexus between minorities and populism in South Asia and Europe? Starting from those case studies, the authors will also draw some general theoretical inferences about the nature of populism. Secondly, given the dangers of populism for minorities, the volume will look for the most adequate and feasible solutions.

This book presents South Asian women’s voices which have been marginalised in the theory and practice of international relations in the region. It highlights critical issues of importance for women which are often neglected in traditional International Relations (IR). Embracing Feminist epistemology, the book re imagines the theory and practice of IR in South Asia, placing women’s experiences and their diverse voices at the centre. Refusing the temptation to typecast women, the book showcases the varied voices of South Asian women in international relations with contributions from an eclectic set of authors from different nationalities. In doing so, the book expands the ontological and epistemological limits of IR by including caste, conflict, protest perspectives. While some of these are uniquely South Asian, like caste, all of them show how the field of IR in general can become enriched by being more inclusive. This book will be of interest to researchers as it provides a fresh conceptual re-conceptualization of the field of IR from gender as well as global south perspective. The book will also help graduate students seeking to understand the intersection of gender and IR.

This volume presents the latest developments in the field of political psychology by exploring the psychological processes that underlie political instability and how these can be addressed with psychological interventions. Written by a team of international leading researchers, the book critically re-evaluates the relevance of concepts primarily developed in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) contexts, for non-WEIRD societies. It focuses particularly on East-Central Europe and South Africa, showing how they enjoy some privileges of WEIRD countries but are also characterized by a troubled history and relative deprivation. Covering psychological concepts such as political trust, conspiracy thinking, authoritarianism, populism, autochthony, social identity and prejudice, the chapters illustrate that psychology has the tools to explain the recurring and shared problems of these societies. This original book is ideal for scholars and students in social psychology, political science and social science. It will also be useful reading for policy makers, political analysts and anyone who wishes to understand their role in creating more stable and more just societies.

Drawing on evidence from eight case studies from across three Asian subregions, this volume highlights the distinctive features of Asian populism in comparison with Western experiences. In contrast to the latter, populist practices in Asia tend to exhibit an ambiguous nature, often characterized by ad hoc and mixed ideological add-ons. The case studies shed light on the cultural dimension of populism, an aspect that has been largely overlooked in Western contexts. Empirical evidence shows that political culture and identity politics exert an influence on populist practices in Asia. In the meantime, populist attitudes towards the role of politicians, the popular will and the relationship between the elite and the people can serve as an explanatory variable for political outcomes. The relationship between populism and democracy in Asia is observed to be more intricate than that in Western contexts. Populism is not necessarily endogenous to democracy, and thus its emergence may not solely be a response to the crisis of democracy. The book presents a valuable resource for scholars and students of Asian politics and those looking at the phenomenon of populism through a comparative lens.

Populism and Its Limits is a response to the evaluative and celebratory approaches to populism in social sciences and humanities. It seeks to study the phenomenon of populism, thoroughly consider its limits and, if possible, proposes ways out to other kinds of commitment in life, living and politics. It aims to formulate responses that take on the spurious and non-dialectical dissociation between thought and action, intellect and emotion, the people and the elite.

This essential collection examines South and Southeast Asian Muslim women’s writing and the ways they navigate cultural, political, and controversial boundaries. Providing a global, contemporary collection of essays, this volume uses varied methods of analysis and methodology, including: • Contemporary forms of expression, such as memoir, oral accounts, romance novels, poetry, and social media; • Inclusion of both recognized and lesser-known Muslim authors; • Division by theme to shed light on geographical and transnational concerns; and • Regional focus on Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Muslim Women’s Writing from across South and Southeast Asia will deliver crucial scholarship for all readers interested in the varied perspectives and comparisons of Southern Asian writing, enabling both students and scholars alike to become better acquainted with the burgeoning field of Muslim women's writing. This timely and challenging volume aims to give voice to the creative women who are frequently overlooked and unheard.

This book offers an extensive comparative analysis of populism and radical democratic theories, tracing the line dividing the respective conceptions of ‘people’ and ‘popular sovereignty’. Whereas populism is often said to intertwine with democracy in some way, the contention of this book is that it significantly departs from democratic theory and practice, and belongs to a distinct conceptual space. It cannot be made to overlap, for instance, with “illiberal democracy”, the “democratic myth”, a crude electoral majoritarianism, nor can it amount to hiding undemocratic policies into properly democratic justifications. These positions, frequent as they are in the literature, are contested on the grounds of the dividing line identified, which starts unfolding at the level of the conception of ‘the people’ – i.e., of the sovereign – presupposed by populists and democrats. This book is of great interest to scholars involved in the study of democratic theory, contemporary challenges to democracy and the recent upsurge of populist discourse, as it helps better understand populism as a political phenomenon and more adequately defines it as a self-standing concept in political theory.

Is pluralism inherent to the human condition? Does it have its origins in the diversity of cultures? Are disagreements among individuals the same as disagreements among societies? Focusing on these critical questions essential to the understanding of modern societies, this book traces the origins of pluralism in contemporary political thought and presents new, original interpretations of the idea by contemporary philosophers. The chapters in the volume bring clarity into an ongoing fractious debate and reveal the underlying roots and fissures in our understanding of a dynamic and contested idea. Drawing on the works of John Rawls, Jürgen Habermas, and other major political philosophers, they delve into the different strands of the concept, their possible real-world political outcomes, and popular misconceptions. A key text, this volume will be essential reading for scholars and researchers of politics, political theory and philosophy, and social theory.