Sarbeswar Sahoo

Doing Development or Creating Dependency? NGOs and Civil Society in India

Abstract This paper examines the role of non-government organisations (NGOs) and the implications for democratisation in India. By analysing one such organisation, this paper argues that NGOs do not always contribute positively to the democratisation process. It shows how Seva Mandir, an NGO working in the tribal areas of Rajasthan, has adopted a purely technocratic and apolitical service delivery approach and promoted a neo-liberal model of development. The unintended consequence of promoting this model has been the growth of a culture of ‘organised dependency’ at the grass-roots level, which has adversely affected the larger objectives of empowerment and democratisation.

Globalization and Politics of the Poor in India

The paper addresses two basic questions in the globalization literature: (1) is globalization a threat or an opportunity? And (2) how far does market deepening actually encourage genuine substantive democracy in the world? Many scholars have argued that globalization has resulted in increasing inequality and marginalization of the poor, which is not conducive for democracy. Drawing on the case of India, this paper, however, argues that the rolling back of the welfare state and the demise of developmentalism led to the mobilization of the masses against the elitist and exploitative agenda of globalization. As a result, a counter-hegemonic vibrant civil society has emerged, which challenges the hegemony of the elites and channels the empowerment agenda of the subaltern groups. This new politics of the subaltern is grounded on the idea of social justice and citizenship rights, which is redefining the nature of the Indian state and democracy.

Civil society and democratization: a counter-case from India

This article assesses whether civil society promotes democratization, as has been argued implicitly or explicitly in the political discourse, following the publication of Putnams Making Democracy Work. The theorists of “third-wave” transitology have advocated civil society as the indispensable instrument for the survival and sustenance of democracy. This article, however, argues that civil society is not necessarily a democratic force. It may or may not have positive implications in regard to democratization and the functioning of democracy. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the tribal-dominated south Rajasthan, this article analyses the case of Rajasthan Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad (RVKP), a Hindu(tva)-oriented non-governmental organization (NGO), to demonstrate how civil society could also be anti-democratic. It shows that by utilizing development as a medium of entry, the RVKP has not only successfully presented itself as a counter-force against the “threatening others”, such as Muslims and Christians but also mobilized electoral support for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In return, the BJP-led state government has provided economic, political and legal support to the RVKP and facilitated the Hindutva politics at the grassroots level. The article concludes that in the context of Rajasthan, a conservative state has collaborated with an exclusivist civil society organization – the consequence of which has not just been the spread of violence and demonization of religious minorities but also a serious undermining of cultural pluralism and democratic values of Indian society.

Religious Violence and the “Developmental State” in Rajasthan

Religious conflict, known as “communalism”, has had a long history in India. Although Hindu–Muslim conflict has been, what Varshney (2002) calls, the “master narrative” of Indian politics, it is observed that since the 1990s the Christian populations have increasingly become the targets of violence. What is interesting is that most of these atrocities have occurred in provinces that not only have a sizable tribal population but also are ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and/or its allies. The central question then is why has violence against Christians increased in the tribal dominated, BJP-ruled provinces in particular? The paper argues that in order to explain this, it is important to understand the political economy of the tribal society and the politics of Hindu nationalism as well as of Christian missionaries during the post-colonial period. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in the tribal dominated regions of south Rajasthan, the paper concludes that economic “backwardness” and contested cultural identity of tribals on the one hand and the competing projects of “conversion” by Christian missionaries and Hindu nationalists on the other are responsible for this increasing anti-Christian violence in India.

Civil Society and Democratization in India : Institutions, Ideologies and Interests

1. Introduction: The Primacy of Politics 2. Civil Society and Democratization: Conceptual and Theoretical Perspectives 3. The State and Civil Society in India: A Historical Narrative 4. Seva Mandir and Constructive Developmentalism 5. Astha Sansthan and Welfare Rights Activism 6. Rajasthan Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad and the Cultural Politics of Development 7. Summary and Conclusions: The Multiple Faces of Civil Society

Dealing with the Intimate Enemy: Civil Society and Ethno-Religious Conflict in Contemporary India

Civil society, once boasting its democratic contribution, is now undermining the secular-democratic culture of India. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this chapter examines the role of Rajasthan Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad (RVKP), a Hindu nationalist organization, among the Bhil tribes of Rajasthan. The chapter argues that the RVKP has implemented several developmental projects as a medium to gain people’s trust. By claiming to represent tribal interests, the RVKP has established itself as a “counterforce” against local Muslims and Christians and projected them as the “threatening others”. In this regard, it has received economic and politico-legal support from the state of Rajasthan, which is governed by the Hindu nationalists. The chapter concludes that the exclusivist politics of the RVKP and the Hindu nationalist state in Rajasthan have not only created a insecurity amongst the religious minorities; they have also radically polarized the public life and threatened the secular-democratic ethos of Indian society.

Book Review: Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, Beyond Religious Freedom: The New Global Politics of ReligionBeyond Religious Freedom: The New Global Politics of Religion by HurdElizabeth Shakman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2015. 210pp., £19.95 (h/b), ISBN 9780691166094

polity’ which takes the individual as its referent object. Inevitably, this coexistence creates political and moral conundrums which challenge theorists and practitioners of international politics to adapt and even to rethink their most central theories and concepts. It is precisely at this point that Brown takes a decisive step beyond a mere introduction to IPT. In fact, he argues that and demonstrates why IPT is one of the most promising lenses through which this normative shift in the international landscape can be analysed and understood. And this is indeed the brilliance of this book. Not only does it serve as an accessible, yet comprehensive, introductory text to the evolving field of IPT; it also demonstrates the legitimacy of and the need for a field that often ventures beyond the traditional boundaries of IR. Drawing, as always, on a wide range of thinkers from various disciplines and presenting his arguments in his typical, engaging writing style, Brown’s book should be compulsory reading not only for IR and IPT students but, more generally, for anyone interested in the normative dimensions of international and global politics.

Book Review: Jonathan Fox, Political Secularism, Religion, and the State: A Time Series Analysis of Worldwide DataPolitical Secularism, Religion, and the State: A Time Series Analysis of Worldwide Data by FoxJonathan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. 285pp., £21.99 (p/b), ISBN 9781107433915

This book is a collection of essays written by Adrian Favell between 1989 and 2014. Despite its form which may suggest the compilation of random topics, it is a holistic work presenting the most important ideas from several decades of migration studies. Favell postulates that migration studies should be conducted across disciplines and national political contexts, and he offers a good attempt at such an approach. To explain phenomena in the field of immigration, integration and mobility, Favell uses theories from sociology, political science, geography, anthropology, economics and demography (pp. ix–x). The perfect audience for this book would be scholars of migration studies looking for a new interpretation of their own research results. The volume consists of four themed parts (each comprising two essays), along with an Introduction and a Conclusion that have a more general character. Part I deals with the problem of applying political philosophy to the empirical analysis of immigration policies in Western Europe. Part II considers the challenges of integration – in both the European and the American context. In Part III, myths regarding migration of the highly skilled are confronted with the data. Finally, Part IV discusses the impact of European integration on migration in Europe. The situation created by East–West migration after the EU enlargements of 2004 and 2008 is considered by Favell to be the best illustration of the consequences of free mobility. Favell successfully presents how diversified fields of migration studies can be unified in order to support the theoretical analysis. He combines theories with field research and supports his arguments indiscriminately with findings from both big quantitative surveys and small in-depth qualitative studies conducted by a wide variety of researchers. To make his points, he moves both in time (through decades of migration theories) and geographical space (mostly between Europe and the United States). His goal is to fight the naivety of the migration debate by setting it in a wider theoretical context. The strength of the book is its author’s passionate attitude and emotional involvement with his arguments, which makes his writing very appealing to the reader. The book’s greatest weakness is the time flow. Although the author claims that his essays have been revised and updated (p. xi), sometimes the quoted data seem to contradict him. To discuss the social mobility of migrants, he uses the European Social Survey 2004, while new statistics are published every 2 years (pp. 148–150), or the Labour Force Survey 2006 (p. 153), even though it is an annual publication.

Book Review: Anastasia Piliavsky (ed.), Patronage as Politics in South Asia

the increasing importance of regional issues in national politics from much earlier. He demonstrates, for example, the inadequacy of viewing the 1977 and 1979 elections as ‘waves’ of national opinion, given the importance of regional factors. By focusing on local issues and the relationship between Gandhi and the country’s institutions, the book does not confine itself to Gandhi’s actions at the centre. It offers a more nuanced perspective, demonstrating the importance of regional actors and political institutions themselves in shaping events under Gandhi’s leadership. This book will appeal to scholars of the history of Gandhi’s governance and of national and regional politics in the 1980s and even before. Maiorano’s analysis concludes by highlighting the legacies of Gandhi’s Prime Ministership – the institutionalisation of corruption and dynastic power and the rise of Hindu politics – demonstrating their prevalence in Indian politics today. He also offers some positive outcomes, suggesting that her persistent rhetoric of the ‘weaker sections’ contributed to the political awakening of the ‘masses’, and brought poverty to the centre of political discourse. These concluding points remain less developed than his analysis of her leadership’s more negative impacts. Maiorano’s more persuasive arguments about the latter, and the connections made between Gandhi and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also make this book essential reading for observers of contemporary Indian politics. Gemma Scott (Keele University)

Faith in Politics: Religion and Liberal Democracy – By Bryan T. McGraw. The Political Origins of Religious Liberty – By Anthony Gill

twentieth century. Poor countries worry that they have too many people, while rich countries worry that they do not have enough people. An ever growing number of people seek to migrate to wealthier or more tolerant countries in order to escape deprivation or political oppression. Many scholars worry about the impact of population growth on the resources and environmental conditions that we are leaving behind for future generations. At the same time, advances in biomedical science mean that prospective parents have more control over both their ability to conceive and their ability to prevent the conception of children with undesirable traits. Given these developments, it is surprising that so little work has been done on the normative and policy implications of demographic change. This volume, the latest in a distinguished series, represents an impressive attempt to advance our understanding of this important and intriguing subject. The editors have brought together some of the leading scholars in the field to examine the following topics: the reasons for, and the implications of, giving priority to actual lives over potential lives; whether an action can be wrong if no actual person is adversely affected; the criteria for determining an ideal population size; whether rights should be assigned to future generations; how resources should be distributed between age groups; the implications of a changing age structure for welfare policy; how we should understand the status of caregivers given the ageing of the population in affluent societies; the ethical problems raised by advances in biomedical technology, in particular, whether there are legitimate grounds for placing restrictions on reproductive freedom; the rights and responsibilities of immigrants and host countries; and, finally, the normative arguments for and against placing restrictions on freedom of exit and entry. Each chapter typically reviews the current state of the debate before moving on to advance a particular argumentative position. As a result the book is both accessible to the uninitiated and valuable to the initiated. Overall, it represents an excellent resource for political philosophers, population theorists and policy makers.