Communalism

About: Communalism is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 445 publications have been published within this topic receiving 6450 citations.

Imagined Religious Communities? Ancient History and the Modern Search for a Hindu Identity

Abstract: My choice of subject for this lecture arose from what I think might have been a matter of some interest to Kingsley Martin; as also from my own concern that the interplay between the past and contemporary times requires a continuing dialogue between historians working on these periods. Such a dialogue is perhaps more pertinent to post-colonial societies where the colonial experience changed the framework of the comprehension of the past from what had existed earlier: a disjuncture which is of more than mere historiographical interest. And where political ideologies appropriate this comprehension and seek justification from the pre-colonial past, there, the historian's comment on this process is called for. Among the more visible strands in the political ideology of contemporary India is the growth and acceptance of what are called communal ideologies. ‘Communal’, as many in this audience are aware, in the Indian context has a specific meaning and primarily perceives Indian society as constituted of a number of religious communities. Communalism in the Indian sense therefore is a consciousness which draws on a supposed religious identity and uses this as the basis for an ideology. It then demands political allegiance to a religious community and supports a programme of political action designed to further the interests of that religious community. Such an ideology is of recent origin but uses history to justify the notion that the community (as defined in recent history) and therefore the communal identity have existed since the early past.

The Production of Hindu-Muslim Violence in Contemporary India

Abstract: The Production of Hindu-Muslim Violence in Contemporary India. By Paul R. Brass. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2003. 448p. 35.00 paper.Rioting in South Asia is commonly understood as a form of political activity, and the idea that it may not be spontaneous but planned is not a novel one. However, in The Production of Hindu Muslim Violence in Contemporary India, Paul Brass makes the more interesting claim that riot-prone cities are those that are marked by institutionalized systems that create, control, and direct the course of riots. He bases these ideas—developed in his earlier work Theft of an Idol—on four decades of research carried out in the northern Indian town of Aligarh, home to a sizable and historic Muslim community. Brass argues that polarizing issues or incidents by themselves do not lead to riots, but that a toxic mix of interested politicians, an existing discourse of communalism, an ineffective administration, and a specialized network that “produces” riots enhances the likelihood that such incidents will eventuate in riots. In describing this social construction of rioting, Brass highlights interesting features, such as the need for a group to dominate the narrative describing the riot, which establishes it as a defensive rather than offensive measure, thereby creating legitimacy for the violence.

Compassionate Communalism: Welfare and Sectarianism in Lebanon

Abstract: The idea behind the book, Compassionate Communalism, materialized after Dr. Melani Cammett read an article in the New York Times about a healthcare facility in Baghdad that was taken over by a newly formed religious party during the American invasion of Iraq. Cammett was fascinated by the phenomenon of access to welfare services in a state where public welfare was crumbling. In that sense, Lebanon became her next logical research field as it is known for welfare provisions by non-state actors. Cammett wanted to understand why non-state actors distribute welfare and the reasons behind choosing to serve their in-group constituents to branch out to out-groups.

The Colors of Violence: Cultural Identities, Religion, and Conflict

Abstract: For decades India has been the scene of outbursts of religious violence, thrusting many ordinary Hindus and Muslims into bloody conflict. This work analyzes the psychological roots of Hindu-Muslim violence and examines the subjective experience of religious hatred in the author's native land. Sudhir Kakar discusses the profoundly enigmatic relations that link individual egos to cultural moralities and religious violence. His psychological approach offers a framework for understanding the kind of ethnic-religious conflict that characterizes the turmoil in India. Using case studies, he explores cultural stereotypes, religious antagonisms, ethnocentric histories and episodic violence to trace the development of both Hindu and Muslim psyches. Kakar argues that in early childhood the social identity of every Indian is grounded in traditional religious identifications and communalism. Together these bring about deep-set psychological anxieties and animosities toward the other. For Hindus and Muslims alike, violence becomes morally acceptable when communally and religiously sanctioned. As the changing pressures of modernization and secularism in a multicultural society grate at this entrenched communalism, and as each group vies for power, ethnic-religious conflicts ignite. Sudhir Kakar is also the author of "The Analyst and the Mystic: Psychoanalytic Reflections on Religion and Mysticism", "Intimate Relations: Exploring Indian Sexuality" and "Shamans, Mystics and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India and its Healing Traditions", all published by the University of Chicago Press.