Full Description
Taking cognisance of the lack of studies on leadership in modern India, this book explores how leadership is practiced in the Indian context, examining this across varied domains — from rural settings and urban neighbourhoods to political parties and state governments.
The importance of individual leaders in the projection of politics in South Asia is evident from how political parties, mobilisation of movements and the media all focus on carefully constructed personalities. Besides, the politically ambitious have considerable room for manoeuvre in the institutional setup of the Indian subcontinent. This book focuses on actors making their political career and/or aspiring for leadership roles, even as it also foregrounds the range of choices open to them in particular contexts. The articles in this volume explore the variety of strategies used by politically engaged actors in trying to acquire (or keep) power — symbolic action, rhetorical usage, moral conviction, building of alliances — illustrating, in the process, both the opportunities and constraints experienced by them.
In taking a qualitative approach and tracking both political styles and transactions, this book provides insights into the nature of democracy and the functioning of electoral politics in the subcontinent.
Contents
Introduction*The Introduction has been written by Price with assistance from Ruud. Earlier versions of it were presented by Ruud at the workshop, 'Politics of Environmental Challenges in South Asia in the 21st Century' (Oslo, 2008) and the panel, 'Political Creativity in South Asia', at the conference, NORASIA IV (Trondheim, 2008). Price presented a version to members of the Oslo South Asia Symposium. Thanks to participants in these events and the anonymous reviewer for comments. Gratitude goes to David Gilmartin and Ronald Herring on reading and critiquing this, and to Harald Baldersheim for suggestions on reading. The usual disclaimers apply.; Chapter 1 Creating Followers, Gaining Patrons: Leadership Strategies in a Tamil Nadu Village, Björn Alm; Chapter 2 Leadership and Political Work, Mukulika Banerjee; Chapter 3 Wrestling with (Body) Politics: Understanding'Goonda' Political Styles in North India, Lucia Michelutti; Chapter 4 To Create a Crowd: Student Leaders in Dhaka, Arild Engelsen Ruud; Chapter 5 Contradictory Youth Politics: Student Mobilisation in Uttar Pradesh, Craig Jeffrey; Chapter 6 The New Caste Headmen? Dalit Movement Leadership in Tamil Nadu*This was first presented to the 'Creating a Constituency/Producing a Leader in South Asia' workshop in Oslo, 1-3 December 2006. I must thank the participants for insightful comments, suggestions and inspiration. I am indebted to Lucia Michelutti and Andrew Wyatt for detailed comments and especially to the editors for their constructive critiques and suggestions. Needless to say, much of the credit must be shared with the aforementioned but any faults are entirely my own., Hugo Gorringe; Chapter 7 The Enduring Appeal of Populist Leadership in Contemporary Tamil Nadu*I am very grateful to the editors and the other participants at the original workshop for helpful comments on the first draft of this article. I am also endebted to M. Vijayabaskar for his insightful commentary on Vijayakanth's leadership trajectory. The usual disclaimers apply., Andrew Wyatt; Chapter 8 Leadership and the Power of Honourin a Corrupt System*© Individual copyright for this article with Paul R. Brass., R. Brass Paul; Chapter 9 Beyond Clientelism: Digvijay Singh'sparticipatory, Pro-Poor Strategyin Madhya Pradesh, James Manor; Chapter 10 Development, Drought and Campaign Rhetoric in South India: Chandrababu Naidu and the Telugu Desam Party, 2003-2004*For reading and commenting on various drafts of this paper I am grateful to David Gilmartin, Ronald Herring, Arild Ruud, K. C. Suri, and participants at the original conference. Errors of interpretation remain mine., Pamela Price;
