Alf Gunvald Nilsen

‘The authors and the actors of their own drama’: Towards a Marxist theory of social movements

Marxism is a body of theory that emanated from and was crafted for social movements. Yet, paradoxically, it does not contain a theory that specifically explains the emergence, character and development of social movements. This article works towards the formulation of a Marxist theory of social movements. Grounded in Marxs philosophical anthropology, it argues for an ontological conception of social movements, and outlines a series of concepts for the analysis of the collective action of dominant and subaltern groups as ‘social movements from above’ and ‘social movements from below’ in the historical processes that animate the making and unmaking of social structures.

Law Struggles and Hegemonic Processes in Neoliberal India: Gramscian Reflections on Land Acquisition Legislation

Abstract This article explores how, in the context of an unfolding process of neoliberalisation in India, new terrains of resistance are crystallising for subaltern groups seeking to contest the marginalising consequences of this process. We focus particularly on the emergence of Indias ‘new rights agenda’ through a study of the making of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013. Conceiving of the emergence of the ‘new rights agenda’ as a hegemonic process, we decipher how law-making is a complex and contradictory practice seeking to negotiate a compromise equilibrium between, on the one hand, subaltern groups vulnerable to marginalisation and capable of mobilisation; and, on the other, dominant groups whose economic interests are linked to the exploitation of the spaces of accumulation recently pried open by market-oriented reforms. The negotiation of this equilibrium, we suggest, is ultimately intended to facilitate Indias process of neoliberalisation.

Marxism and Social Movements: An Introduction

Marxism is a body of theory crafted for social movements. This chapter suggests that the language of ‘class struggle’ translated into a language of ‘social movement’ with a Marxist accent. While contemporary social movement theories rightly stress the networked character of social movements, they pay less attention to their heterogeneity and internal debates. The book includes theoretical accounts of the relationship between Marxism and social movement studies; analyses of the development and internal tensions of social movements; and historical-comparative and global approaches to social movement studies. Specifically, the chapter focuses on five areas of Marxist theory totality, contradiction, immanence, coherence, and praxis that can more effectively synthesise the disparate parts of contemporary social movement theory and research into a whole that is both more critical and more useful for activists. Keywords:activists; class struggle; marxism; social movement

ADIVASIS IN AND AGAINST THE STATE

The question of the state has come to occupy a central place in recent debates on subaltern politics in contemporary India. Against those critical voices that have claimed that the emancipation of subaltern groups can only proceed by challenging and moving beyond the modern Indian state, a range of scholars and commentators have asserted that it is precisely by seeking to harness the state that social movements can hope to advance their oppositional projects. Intervening in this debate, this article argues that although these new perspectives constitute a decisive advance in terms of developing a relational understanding of subaltern politics in India, questions pertaining to the structural constraints that social movements face in advancing their oppositional projects through the institutions and discourses of the state are still neglected. The article addresses these questions through a detailed exploration of the ways in and extent to which Adivasi movements have managed to democratize local state–society relationships in western Madhya Pradesh, and discusses the conceptual and political lessons that can be drawn from these experiences. Drawing on recent advances in Marxian state theory, the article argues that it is necessary to move beyond the theoretical impasses of both anti-statism and state-centrism and toward a politically enabling engagement with contemporary Adivasi mobilization in India.

On New Social Movements and ‘The Reinvention of India’

Abstract The focal point of this article is the role of new social movements in the process which has been denoted as ‘the reinvention of India’, and in particular, the way in which the politics of these movements is analysed and represented in academic perspectives. Two areas form the focus of the discussion: firstly, the assertion that Indias NSMs represent voices of ‘otherness’ emanating from beyond the postcolonial development project and articulating a rejection of this project, and secondly, the argument that NSMs in India are most likely to have a positive impact upon the situation of marginalised subaltern groups if they seek empowerment through the liberal democratic state. The discussion is carried out in the light of empirical data from the authors research on the movement against dam-building on the Narmada River.

Social Movements and/in the Postcolonial: Dispossession, Development and Resistance in the Global South

A new lie is sold to us as history. The lie about the defeat of hope, the lie about the defeat of dignity, the lie about the defeat of humanity. The mirror of power offers us equilibrium in the balance scale: the lie about the victory of cynicism, the lie about the victory of servitude, the lie about the victory of neoliberalism.

Adivasi Mobilization in Contemporary India: Democratizing the Local State?

This article addresses the political aspects of the structural marginalization of Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes) in India. Relating to critical debates about the changing nature of state–society relations in India, the article assesses the argument that the best way for social movements in India to advance their oppositional projects is to harness the state to their attempts to deepen democracy and advance subaltern emancipation. The trajectories of two Adivasi movements in western Madhya Pradesh are analysed, and I discuss the conceptual and political lessons that can be learnt from these case studies in terms of the relationship between subaltern politics and state power in contemporary India. Theoretically grounded in Marxian state theory, the article puts forward the argument that it is necessary to move beyond both anti-statism and state-centrism in order to develop a politically enabling engagement with contemporary Adivasi mobilization in India.

Against the Current, From Below: Resisting Dispossession in the Narmada Valley, India

This article presents a comprehensive analysis of popular resistance to dam building in the Narmada Valley, India. Like Indian dam projects more generally, the Narmada projects are characterized by a distributional bias in favor of Indias “dominant proprietary classes” and, it is argued, must be understood in terms of the political economy of postcolonial capitalism in India. The article then traces the emergence of popular resistance to dispossession in the form of “militant particularisms” struggling for resettlement and rehabilitation in the dam-affected communities in the riparian state, the transition toward a pan-state antidam campaign—the Narmada Bachao Andolan—embedded in a multiscalar infrastructure of contention, and, finally, the embedding of this struggle in a wider social movement project for alternative development. In conclusion, the author reflects on the strategic lessons that can be drawn from the trajectory of popular resistance to dispossession in the Narmada Valley.

Subalterns and the State in the Longue Durée: Notes from “The Rebellious Century” in the Bhil Heartland

AbstractFocusing on recent debates over the ways in which subaltern groups engage with the state in India, the article proposes that it is imperative to historicise our conceptions of subaltern politics in India. More specifically, the argument is made that it is imperative to recognise that subaltern appropriations of the institutions and discourses of the state have a longer historical lineage than what is often proposed in critical work on popular resistance in rural India. The article presents a detailed analysis of Adivasi rebellions in colonial western India and argues that these took the form of a contentious negotiation of the incorporation of tribal communities into an emergent “colonial state space.” The conclusion presents a sketch of a Gramscian approach to the study of how subaltern politics proceeds in and through determinate state–society relations.Abstract Focusing on recent debates over the ways in which subaltern groups engage with the state in India, the article proposes that it is imperative to historicise our conceptions of subaltern politics in India. More specifically, the argument is made that it is imperative to recognise that subaltern appropriations of the institutions and discourses of the state have a longer historical lineage than what is often proposed in critical work on popular resistance in rural India. The article presents a detailed analysis of Adivasi rebellions in colonial western India and argues that these took the form of a contentious negotiation of the incorporation of tribal communities into an emergent “colonial state space.” The conclusion presents a sketch of a Gramscian approach to the study of how subaltern politics proceeds in and through determinate state–society relations.

Passages from Marxism to Postcolonialism: A Comment on Vivek Chibber’s Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital

The 2013 publication of Vivek Chibber’s book Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital has reignited debates over the relative merits and demerits of Marxism and postcolonialism. This article reviews the debate and raises some critical questions about Chibber’s engagement with questions pertaining to universalism and capitalist development. Focusing on Chibber’s critique of Dipesh Chakrabarty’s Provincializing Europe, the article contends that whereas Chibber is right in arguing for a concept of universal history, the approach he offers towards this end pushes in the direction of Eurocentrism. As an alternative, the article proposes the possibility of crafting passages from Marxism to postcolonialism in order to move beyond Eurocentrism in the historical-sociological study of capitalist development.