Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India

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Routledge, Sep 16, 2019 - Political Science - 368 pages
This study describes and analyses the new social movements that have arisen in India over the past two decades, in particular the anti-caste movement (of both the untouchables and the lower-middle castes), the women's liberation movement, the farmers' movement (centred on struggles arising out of their integration into a state-controlled capitalist market), and the environmental movements (opposition to destructive development, including resistance to big dam projects and the search for alternatives). Rooted in participant observation, it focuses on the ideologies and self-understanding of the movements themselves. The central themes of this book are the origin of movements in the socio-economic contradictions of post-independence India; their effect on political developments, in particular the disintegration of Congress hegemony; their relation to "traditional Marxist" theory and Communist practice; and their groping toward a synthesis of theory and practice that constitutes a new social vision distinct from traditional Marxism.
 

Contents

List of Tables
1912
From Independence to the Naxalite Revolt
1946
The Anticaste Movement
1963
The Womens Movement
The Farmers Movement
The Marxist Vision and the Working Class
The Crisis of Traditional Politics
Women Peasants Tribals Environment
The Search for Alternatives
The Rise of Alternative Politics
Conclusion
Notes
Glossary
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