HINDUISM and neoliberalism emerged as strange bedfellows in India at the turn of the century. Postcolonial India was prided for its somewhat sacred separation between spirituality and materiality. It was often argued that even under colonial rule, the ‘inside’ India, marked by its spiritual pursuit, remained sovereign, and it was only the ‘outside’ that got colonised by materiality, the market and technology. In today’s—or rather Modi’s—‘New India’, the market and spirituality are having a gala time together in a bonhomie that is here to last.
What is even more important to note is that both Hinduism and neoliberalism are decentred and decentralised. Hinduism is more of a ‘way of life’ encompassing countless local practices, whereas neoliberalism is a faceless post-Westphalia phenomenon without an anchor. In a sense, both Hinduism and neoliberalism have no nation or sanctum sanctorum to reach out to.
In an earlier articulation, Gandhi struck a chord by mobilising diversity in all its beauty, and the Congress party, in its post-independence avatar, became representative of a decentred polity with the state through its planning and welfare-oriented social democratic vision—a conduit to hold dispersed realities together. India was classically typified as a ‘nation in the making’. Neoliberalism replaced the centrality of state and welfare and replaced it with the processes of globalisation and privatisation.
The emergence of an omnipresent Modi is the personification of this transformed, ‘Modi-fied’ reality. Modi represents the uncertainty that Hinduism came to represent in neoliberal times. Both the processes lacking an anchor gave rise to a mass psyche of insecurity, confusion and a sense of directionlessness. In such a context, Modi rose to fame with a larger-than-life image that can provide the new anchor.
Denne historien er fra February 11, 2024-utgaven av Outlook.
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Denne historien er fra February 11, 2024-utgaven av Outlook.
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The 'Invisible' Dalits
The debate over sub-categorisation of castes is likely to shape the political discourse in the upcoming state elections
Caste Census: To Conquer Or Conserve?
The caste census is generating heated debate, but even its most ardent proponents are not able to articulate a plan about how to use the resulting data
THE FATEFUL COMEDY
Actor-director Rajat Kapoor talks about adapting Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov into a Hindi play
Mad Hatter
When a leader takes off his topi and holds it in his hands while appealing for votes, it signals something extraordinary
Circle Within Circles
The caste question in Muslims.
Backward March
The Maratha reservation question may continue to mire the next government in the state
The 69% Exception
Quota within quota: lessons to be learned from Tamil Nadu
United Indifference
The perils of tweaking tribal identities
Two Nations, Two Destinies
The widely differing balance of power between the military and civilian leadership in India and Pakistan has significantly impacted democracy in the two countries
Crème de la Crème
The mainstream society thinks reservations are against right to equality. It’s high time they are seen in the context of right to justice.
