This book evaluates the promise of human progress and secularism in grand political narratives of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, comparing counter-narratives of South Asia within the context of a fast-changing twenty-first century.
The book embraces a broad range of sources and theoretical approaches that include political philosophy, film, and ideological discourse analysis. In the twenty-first century, global inequality and significant growth of religious and majoritarian nationalisms have been appended with a protracted economic slowdown and recession in many countries. Examining what went wrong in terms of secularism and distributive justice in India, this book critiques the Euro-American visions of democracy, global capitalism, and their so-called universality. As an alternative, it proposes a progressive politics of radical democracy for the Indian people.
Reconsidering alternatives to capitalism, western secularism and the radical possibilities of Islamism, Political Theory and South Asian Counter-Narratives will appeal to students and scholars of political theory, international relations, global history, and South Asian politics.
Part 1: Political Narratives 1. Introduction: Progress Contra Evolution 2. Elusiveness and Necessity of Justice: A Political Exposition 3. Avatar: A Political Cinema 4. Theology and Ideology: Political Reading of Islamic Discourses 5. The Promise of Alternative: Transforming Capitalism? 6. Public Protests and Ethics of Dissent in Our Times Part 2: South Asian Counter Narratives 7. Dilemma of Muslim Belonging in Modern South Asia 8. Majoritarian Nationalism in India 9. Rightwing Populism and Political Rhetoric in Contemporary India 10. Electoral Democracy and State Populism in India 11. Fortunes of Radicalism: Indian Maoists and the Parliamentary Left
Biography
Maidul Islam is a political scientist at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta. His primary research interests are in political theory and contemporary South Asian politics. He is the author of Limits of Islamism (2015) and Indian Muslim(s) after Liberalization (2019).
