| Rohit Negi (Ambedkar University) and I are organizing an AAG panel (2016) titled, Saffronizing Fasicsm? Economy, Culture and Environment in India (abstract provided below). We are looking for panelists who are interested in contributing to the stated theme. If you are interested in being a panelist, please email an abstract of your presentation and a short biography to waquar.ahmed@unt.edu and rohit@aud.ac.in
Abstract: The electoral landslide that brought Narendra Modi, the charismatic leader of the Hindu Right Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) to power in the summer of 2014 has led to a marked shift in the Indian politico-cultural scene. The Modi-government has aggressively pursued Hindutva (political Hinduism), along with social engineering and consolidation on the one hand, and Islamophobia and polarization on the other. The Hindu Right has begun infiltrating educational institutions with the motive of subverting research and intellectual pursuits that do not fit their version of Hindu/India exceptionalism. Intolerance has been normalized as nationalism. Additionally, neoliberal economic policy has been further intensified, despite the global economic crisis. Attempts are on to further ‘open up’ the economy to private capital at the cost of vulnerable populations and the environment. While many of these changes have been resisted on the ground by popular forces, it is unclear if a united resistance to the Modi-fied state will emerge in the immediate future. It is in this context that the panel proposes to situate the regime with respect to the shifts and continuities with previous governments, problematize its political economic and social agenda as well as the environmental imbrications of its programs, and consider the state of oppositional forces on the ground.
—————————— Waquar Ahmed Assistant Professor Department of Geography, University of North Texas. 1155 Union Circle # 305279 Denton, TX 76203. https://faculty.unt.edu/ https://unt.academia.edu/ Chair, Development Geographies Specialty Group, Association of American Geographers. |
