The Saffron Wave: Democracy & Hindu Nationalism in Modern India

by Thomas Blom Hansen

just read it

Genres: India, Politics, Nonfiction, Academic, Religion, History

pbk. : alk. paper

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Andrew Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a challenge to read, its a bit dense, the writing style is a bit unapproachable. However, the work is high quality, its a great source, but its heavily academic, and not for a casual reader. I think the author's work is amazing, he has a deep understanding of what he's writing about, this is not a surface work.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's okay - he's just a political scientist. Here's how the BJP became possible; here's how the political sphere changed between the Nehruvian and the post-Nehruvian; here's what a Sangh Parivar looks and talks like; this is what naked self-interest (class interest; caste interest) looks like; this is what ideology looks like; and this is how hegemony is won.

I could have used less of Laclau and Zizek and more hilarious quotes from the body politic, e.g., "How can you have half-naked women as gods? Everything Hindu is obsesses with this. All is sexy, sexy" - Muslim informant, n. 11, p. 265. Or "A Hindu is like any other human being, only more so..." - the Hindu Declaration, n. 22, p. 267.

[J. Aaron Blecher]

changed everything