Government as Practice
Democratic Left in a Transforming India

This book situates 'government as practice' as a prism for critical thinking on democratic politics in postcolonial India.

Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya (Author)

9781107102262, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 January 2016

290 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.3 cm, 0.54 kg

The democratic Left in India is in crisis. During the first decade of this century it slid from its highest parliamentary presence to virtual irrelevance. A key to its retrieval, this book argues, lies in its ability to imagine a new popular politics for reinventing its democratic credentials beyond electoral posturing. In this respect, much can be learnt from the Left's governmental practices as they have evolved since the late 1960s, crafting a unique blend of politics, policy, idealism, practicality, vision and delivery. By looking at the problematics of government from the days of deft land reforms to messy land acquisition, this book situates 'government as practice' as a prism for critical thinking on democratic politics in postcolonial India. Grounded in empirical and archival research, the book will be useful for those who are passionate as well as sceptical about the revival potentials of a new Left in India's fast-changing political economy.

Preface
Abbreviations
1. Inception: government as practice
2. Consolidation: land reforms
3. Agency: school teachers
4. Machinery: party society
5. Implosion: Singur, Nandigram
Appendix 1. The Left through elections
Appendix 2. Local governance and electability
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Political structures: democracy [JPHV], Socialism & left-of-centre democratic ideologies [JPFF]