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- Convenors:
-
James Chiriyankandath
(University of London)
Andrew Wyatt (University of Bristol)
- Location:
- C402
- Start time:
- 28 July, 2012 at
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
- Session slots:
- 2
Short Abstract:
Political parties have been a significant feature of the political landscape in South Asia. Today every state has a multiparty political system with parties forming the government. The aim of the panel is to broaden and deepen comparative understanding of the role of parties in national life.
Long Abstract:
Political parties, often rooted in movements for independence, have been a significant feature of the political landscape in the subcontinent for well over a century. Today every state has a multiparty political system with parties forming the government as well as operating on the margins and beyond constitutional electoral politics. They range from Marxist to religiously-oriented, and ethnic and caste-based parties. Yet apart from for a time in the 1960s and 1970s they have not received much scholarly attention. The broad focus of this panel will be how parties across South Asia have been shaped by - and responded and contributed to - political, social, cultural and economic changes. The aim will be to broaden and deepen comparative understanding of the role of parties in national life. In order to do so contributors may use approaches drawn from a range of disciplines - political science, history, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies.
Accepted papers:
Session 1James Chiriyankandath (University of London)
Paper short abstract:
The paper examines the discourse on poverty of India's ruling Congress Party, its rhetoric on the issue, and the impact of the policies it has pursued in government on the mass poverty that persists in the rapidly expanding Indian economy of the early 21st century.
Paper long abstract:
In the last two decades of market liberalisation the attitude of India's ruling Congress Party on the economy has changed dramatically in comparison to the socialist tone that dominated its language and practise in the previous forty years. The paper examines the party's discourse on poverty, its rhetoric on the issue, and the impact of the policies it has pursued in government on the mass poverty that persists in the rapidly expanding Indian economy of the early 21st century. It begins by tracing the place of poverty in the development of the socialist strand that came to dominate the post-independence Congress Party under Jawaharlal Nehru (under whom the party adopted the 1955 Avadi resolution committing itself to a socialist pattern of society) and Indira Gandhi (who made the phrase "garibi hatao", or "end poverty", the slogan of her triumphant 1971 general election campaign). This is followed by a consideration of the politics of the initially halting moves towards liberalising the economy, moves that quickened and became sustained with the reforms introduced from 1991 by Manmohan Singh as finance minister, a platform built upon by successive governments (including his own since 2004) in the next twenty years. The focus is on analysing the profound ambivalence that characterises both the rhetoric and practise of the politics of poverty in India.
Binayak Bhattacharya (Amity University)
Paper short abstract:
This paper seeks to examine the genesis, growth and breaking down of leftist rule in West Bengal by revisiting the cultural history. It also attempts to introduce and theorize the idea of 'cultural governance' as a ruling pattern to explain the durability of the leftist dominance there.
Paper long abstract:
Ever since their emergence from nationalist tradition, the leftists of West Bengal have always been considered culturally progressive. Left Front (LF) - the coalition of left-wing parties - was successful in retaining power from 1977 to 2011. No other state has had such an uninterrupted regime. Social theorists like Partha Chatterjee argue that through their rule, the leftists were successful in sustaining a hierarchical paradigm where the bhadralok (educated, cultured elite) section alone enjoyed the legitimacy to govern. Is this a factor that explains their electoral success? How did it become possible only in West Bengal? Can it be seen as a unique way of constructing popular consensus? Is it possible to theorize this pattern of rule as 'cultural governance'? My paper will try to address these questions considering the historical genealogy of the leftist movement in India, particularly in Bengal. Further, I am interested to examine the recent experiences where the existing pattern of governance has been shattered by a thrust from the domain of the governed. The movements against land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram in 2007-08, and the Lalgarh Tribal Uprising in 2009 preceded the electoral defeat of the LF in 2011. It is important to see whether these popular movements have posed threats to the dominant archetype of middle-class bhadralok identity through placing demands to reconfigure the operating domain of democracy.
Harshan Kumarasingham (University of Cambridge)
Paper short abstract:
This paper examines how executive politics functioned as a personal and elite game in Sri Lanka in the early years after independence placing parties and other democratic institutions in an inferior role
Paper long abstract:
When Sri Lanka became independent in February 1948 it lacked a well established party system and instead relied upon patronage and elite social relationships to carry out executive power. Though it had a long pre-independence history of constitutional development and evolving democracy, party politics was not deep-rooted and instead political power continued to be wielded by an elite that had an almost feudal relationship with the masses. The convention based Westminster model Sri Lanka adopted engendered a local system that relied more on relationships than rules. Political parties and institutions were often unable to check and balance the Executive's conduct of power. Sri Lanka's elite operated British institutions in an anachronistic eighteenth-century manner such as in having a patronage-based Cabinet dominated by its prime ministerial leader/patron rather than by collegial attitudes or values. The weakness of party institutionalisation and the ambiguity in the constitutional arrangements even allowed Governors-General to exercise much more power at times than has any modern British monarch or their democratic counterparts. The sanguine continuity of affairs of state from the colonial era and the known and reassuring leadership of D.S. Senanayake and his "Uncle-Nephew Party" masked the democratic tensions and institutional fragility within the Sri Lankan state that would come to the fore violently only years after the tranquil transfer of power. Sri Lanka is still grappling with these issues and tensions today.
Neil DeVotta (Wake Forest University)
Paper short abstract:
This paper evaluates the mechanisms Sri Lanka's government is putting in place to transform the island from an illiberal democracy to a soft-authoritarian regime geared to create a political dynasty. It further explains how domestic and international politics combine to make this possible.
Paper long abstract:
The high hopes that many had for Sri Lanka's post-civil war trajectory have been dashed thanks to the authoritarian practices adopted by the Mahinda Rajapaksa government. The charges of war crimes leveled against the regime (for the brutal manner in which the civil war was terminated) have also created a troubling nexus between the island's military and civilian leadership and led to a culture of impunity that is further undermining the rule of law. The authoritarian mechanisms that are being instituted are designed to ensure a Rajapaksa political dynasty and come at the expense of reconciliation with the Tamil minority and good governance for all Sri Lankans. Both domestic politics and the balance of power transformation taking place at the international level have combined to assist this troubling development.
Andrew Wyatt (University of Bristol)
Paper short abstract:
Two populist styles have been prominent features of party politics in Tamil Nadu since the 1960s. This paper shows how populism has been remarkably resilient and has been adapted to new circumstances.
Paper long abstract:
The literature on party politics in Tamil Nadu published in the 1990s identified two traditions of populist politics in the state. The two leading political parties in the state, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK) and the All-India Anna DMK (AIADMK), are each associated with a populist style. I argue that while this categorisation of competing populist styles is still very useful for interpreting state politics there has been some change recently. I show that in the last decade the DMK has adjusted its populist appeals in order to better connect with lower status groups, a constituency usually linked to the AIADMK. Also, the AIADMK has re-worked its populist appeals to include references to economic themes in ways that appeal to higher status voters while still reaching out to its longstanding supporters. I conclude that populism is a flexible ideological format that can be used to manage political tensions created by economic change.
Pritam Singh (Oxford Brookes University)
Paper short abstract:
This paper tracks the confllicting pressures of class, religion and nationalism in the way Akali Dal negotiates its politics in Indian federalism
Paper long abstract:
The Akali Dal is the best organised political party in Punjab and has ruled over Punjab for a longer period than any other political party since the creation of the Punjabi speaking state in 1966. It articulates aspirations of Punjabi regional nationalism while trying to protect the interests of the Sikhs as a religious minority in India. As a part of shaping Punjab's economic future, it deals with the pressures of Indian and global capitalism. This paper is an attempt to track the multi-faced pressures of class, religion and nationalism in the way Akali Dal negotiates its politics in Indian federalism.
Shandana Khan Mohmand (Institute of Development Studies)
Paper short abstract:
This paper analyses the impact that political parties have had on the lives of the residents of one village in Pakistani Punjab over half a century. In particular it considers the impact that they have had on the changing relations between different economic and social groups within the village.
Paper long abstract:
Most studies of political parties consider their role within national politics and their representation of large groups of citizens (ethnic groups, classes). Few studies have analysed the impact that political parties can have on the everyday lives of rural citizens far removed from the usual sites of contestation over power at the centre. In this paper I provide one such view of how political parties have changed relations between different economic and social groups in a remote village of Pakistani Punjab. By conducting a longitudinal study of the lives and politics of the residents of this village over more than half a century, I am able to provide a rare perspective on the profound impact that political parties can have on the lives, relations and everyday struggles of rural citizens.
I provide a brief overview of national politics and the evolution of political parties in Pakistan since its birth in 1947, and then analyse what was happening within one village of its most populous and politically most important province, Punjab, while these changes were playing out on the national stage. This paper is the tale of the transition of a village from "feudalism" to clientelism. Its journey from colonial times to 2008 provides an interesting perspective on the transformation of local relationships and politics as a direct consequence of national-level politics and the evolution of political parties.
Bettina Robotka (Humboldt University Berlin)
Paper short abstract:
The paper will analyze the political situation in Karachi with special attention to the party structure in the city and the competing interests of the main parties. The role of the MQM will be explored and conclusions about the political system of Pakistan shall be put forward for discussion.
Paper long abstract:
Karachi with an estimated population of 18 million people is not only the economic hub of Pakistan; it is also an important political center of the country. It is sometimes called a 'small Pakistan' with people from all ethnic, religious and social backgrounds living here together. All major political parties have a presence and a stake in being present in Karachi which has often produced severe strains and outbreaks of violence. At several times political unrest in Karachi has threatened the stability of the Pakistani state and endangered social peace. The paper will analyze the political situation in Karachi with special attention to the party structure in the city and the competing interests of the main parties together with their ethnic, religious and social backgrounds. The role of the MQM as one of the major players will be explored and conclusions about the current political system of Pakistan shall be put forward for discussion.