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SoSe 20: (GEND) Indian Politics

Kirsten Jörgensen-Ullmann

Hinweise für Studierende

Die Veranstaltung findet zu den angegebenen Zeiten als Online-Seminar statt.

Kommentar

Indian politics, the analysis of interests, identities, and institutions that shape political processes and their outcomes – ‘who gets what’ – is a fascinating study area. It is multifaceted, contradictory, and diverse. India is one of the fastest growing economies. However, despite relatively high growth rates and progress in poverty eradication, high poverty rates, social inequality and high demand for urban and rural infrastructures prevail. India moves up and down in the Human Development Index and has so far not been able to leapfrog to a significantly better ranking. Since independence in 1947 and even more significantly after India’s economic liberalization in 1990, different governing parties and coalitions have similarly pursued rapid economic development policies. Interests related to India’s growing urban middle class, rural and urban poverty, deficits in economic and political gender equality, and Hindu nationalist parties, also influence Indian politics. Identities - religious, ethnic and linguistic diversity - have always mattered in shaping India’s democracy, causing conflict, providing balance, and drawing the boundaries of India’s subnational states. Recently, Hindu nationalist populism has gained strength challenging the secularist principle incorporated in India’s constitution. Institutions, such as the one-party dominance system, the centralized federal system, India’s third way development strategy, which has involved Five-Year-Planning, provide channels of influence, which have empowered some actors while constraining other actors and groups. We will approach Indian domestic politics and India’s role as a global player and regional power by examining policy fields, which are shaped by different types of challenges: security, migration and citizenship, energy, urbanization, environment, and climate. Our analytical framework will draw on theoretical debates about the role interests, identity, institutions, and gender play in Indian politics. We will skype people in from our Indian-European network and invite guests to make the seminar more interactive. Schließen