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ID: 116054

Activist can't become a politician: social activism, leadership and the (un)making of a political career in an Indian state / Nielsen, Kenneth Bo

Nielsen, Kenneth Bo	Journal Article
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2012.

Summary/Abstract

This article explores the ambiguity inherent in the relationship between social activism and politics in West Bengal. I use a detailed account of the career of singer-activist turned politician Kabir Suman to examine the activist's view of himself and of politics, as well of how the porous boundary between activism and politics is both blurred and crossable. The fact that activists possess a kind of political capital useful within the framework of a political party may facilitate their entry into electoral politics. Yet as this article demonstrates, the activist may sometimes only be able to retain his activist credentials by sacrificing his political career. In addition, this article seeks to conceptualise the social activist as a particular type of political figure. I do so by locating the study of Kabir Suman within an emerging body of literature on political leadership in India. I argue that while the case of Kabir Suman may not be paradigmatic, his 'activist' style of leadership challenges certain contemporary classifications of political leadership in India.

Key Words

Leadership ; Corruption ; West Bengal ; Activism ; Political Morality

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ID: 155377

Though he is a landlord, that Sarpanch is my servant!’ caste and democracy in a village of south India / Philip, Jessy K

Philip, Jessy K	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

Much of the research exploring democratisation of rural society has focused on changes occurring in the formal political process of elections. In contrast, this article examines the extent of democratisation and the decline of caste in rural society by investigating morality and interactions in diverse political spaces of a village in south India. Our findings suggest that although caste hierarchy and the ideology of patronage have lost their legitimacy in regulating interactions in the course of formal political processes such as elections and institutions of local administration, they continue to command the moral allegiance of village society in the domain of everyday social and political interactions. The study concludes that although there are significant discontinuities in the use of caste power in rural India, caste dominance continues to persist.

Key Words

Democracy ; Caste ; Andhra Pradesh ; Village ; Patronage Politics ; Political Morality

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