Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the effective of prefigurative politics among youth in north India. It argues that prefigurative politics is often effective with respect to individual's mood and mobility but less useful as a tool for social development in the north Indian context.

Paper long abstract:

Reflecting their distrust with formal politics as a mechanism of social transformation, several young people in the village of Bemni, Uttarakhand, north India, have channelled their political energies into a self-consciously prefigurative strategy of 'being the change they want to see in the world', even as other youth adopt the anti-prefigurative strategy of becoming corrupt political brokers in order to make money for their young children (who they hope won't follow them into the business of brokerage). After outlining these forms of youth social and poltiical work, this paper focuses especially on how young people reflect on their prefigurative action. We argue that prefiguration provides self-confidence and a positive outlook even while it fails to transform local social structures in highly unequal settings.