Violent Conjunctures in Democratic India (Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics) by Amrita Basu

Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics

by Amrita Basu

This book is a pioneering study of when and why Hindu Nationalists have engaged in discrimination and violence against minorities in contemporary India. Amrita Basu asks why the incidence and severity of violence differs significantly across Indian states, within states, and through time. Contrary to many predictions, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has neither consistently engaged in anti-minority violence nor been compelled by the centrifugal pressures of democracy to become a centrist party. Rather, the national BJP has alternated between moderation and militancy. Hindu nationalist violence has been conjunctural, determined by relations among its own party, social movement organization, and state governments, and on the character of opposition states, parties and movements. This study accords particular importance to the role of social movements in precipitating anti-minority violence. It calls for a broader understanding of social movements and a greater appreciation of their relationship to political parties.

Genres: India

Paperback Bunko

First published December 1, 2015

About the author

Dr. Amrita Basu is an ENT surgeon, previously a teacher in a medical college, author and mommy to a five-year-old little girl. She started writing two and a half years back when she realized she had a passion for sharing healthy lifestyle stories.

She is the author of six books, Fruits for Life: Nutrition secrets your doctor won’t tell,
Picky Eaters: Guaranteed hacks to make you happy and several publications online and offline.
She is the creator of Healthwealthbridge (healthwealthbridge.com) one of the top health –wellness mom blogs in India.Dr. Amrita has been featured in several top publications online and in print. Through the Healthwealthbridge blog and books .Dr. Amrita offers a refreshing perspective about living healthy, loving life and praying hard.If she is not researching her latest book, you can find her reading, pottering about her balcony garden or playing with her daughter.
Though she will forever be a Kolkata girl at heart, she shares a special relationship with Delhi and now lives in Malda town(India) with her husband and daughter.