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The rise of strong nationalist and religious movements in postcolonial and newly democratic countries alarms many Western observers. In The Saffron Wave, Thomas Hansen turns our attention to recent events in the world's largest democracy, India. Here he analyzes Indian receptivity to the right-wing Hindu nationalist party and its political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which claims to create a polity based on "ancient" Hindu culture. Rather than interpreting Hindu nationalism as a mainly religious phenomenon, or a strictly political movement, Hansen places the BJP within the context of the larger transformations of democratic governance in India. Hansen demonstrates that democratic transformation has enabled such developments as political mobilization among the lower castes and civil protections for religious minorities. Against this backdrop, the Hindu nationalist movement has successfully articulated the anxieties and desires of the large and amorphous Indian middle class. A form of conservative populism, the movement has attracted not only privileged groups fearing encroachment on their dominant positions but also "plebeian" and impoverished groups seeking recognition around a majoritarian rhetoric of cultural pride, order, and national strength. Combining political theory, ethnographic material, and sensitivity to colonial and postcolonial history, The Saffron Wave offers fresh insights into Indian politics and, by focusing on the links between democracy and ethnic majoritarianism, advances our understanding of democracy in the postcolonial world.

Hinduism and politics --- Nationalism --- Religious aspects --- Hinduism --- India --- Politics and government --- -Nationalism --- -Consciousness, National --- Identity, National --- National consciousness --- National identity --- International relations --- Patriotism --- Political science --- Autonomy and independence movements --- Internationalism --- Political messianism --- Politics and Hinduism --- -Hinduism --- Political aspects --- -Hinduism and politics --- Hinduism. --- Consciousness, National --- Religious aspects&delete& --- Hinduism and politics - India --- Nationalism - Religious aspects - Hinduism --- India - Politics and government - 1977

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The assertion that even institutions often viewed as abhorrent should be dispassionately understood motivates Arkotong Longkumer's pathbreaking ethnography of the Sangh Parivar, a family of organizations comprising the Hindu right. The Greater India Experiment counters the urge to explain away their ideas and actions as inconsequential by demonstrating their efforts to influence local politics and culture in Northeast India. Longkumer constructs a comprehensive understanding of Hindutva, an idea central to the establishment of a Hindu nation-state, by focusing on the Sangh Parivar's engagement with indigenous peoples in a region that has long resisted the "idea of India." Contextualizing their activities as a Hindutva "experiment" within the broader Indian political and cultural landscape, he ultimately paints a unique picture of the country today.

Hinduism and politics --- Hindutva --- Sangh Parivar. --- Christianity. --- Greater India. --- Hindutva. --- Rani Gaidinliu. --- ethnography. --- iconoclash. --- indigeneity. --- nationalism. --- northeast India. --- Hindu nationalism --- Hinduism and state --- Nationalism --- Hinduism --- Politics and Hinduism --- Political science --- Political aspects --- Saṅgha Parivāra --- India, Northeastern --- Politics and government.

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The authors analyse the reasons underlying the resurgence of communalism in the 2000s in Uttar Pradesh (UP) leading to riots in Mau in 2005, Gorakhpur in 2007, and Muzaffarnagar in 2013, but more importantly move beyond riots to analyse the new ways and means whereby communalism in the present phase is being manufactured by the Hindu right. They argue that UP is experiencing a post-Ayodhya phase of communalism markedly different from the late 1980s/early 1990s. The text employs a model of institutionalized everyday communalism whose defining feature is that rather than initiating major, state-wide riots, the strategy of the BJP-RSS currently is to create and sustain constant, low-key communal tension together with frequent, small, low-intensity incidents out of petty everyday issues that institutionalize communalism at the grassroots.

Communalism --- Riots --- Hinduism and politics --- Muslims --- Hindutva --- Political activity --- Uttar Pradesh (India) --- Ethnic relations --- Political aspects. --- Hindu nationalism --- Hinduism and state --- Nationalism --- Mohammedans --- Moors (People) --- Moslems --- Muhammadans --- Musalmans --- Mussalmans --- Mussulmans --- Mussulmen --- Religious adherents --- Islam --- Hinduism --- Politics and Hinduism --- Political science --- Civil disorders --- Assembly, Right of --- History --- Offenses against public safety --- Political violence --- Crowds --- Demonstrations --- Mobs --- Street fighting (Military science) --- Ethnocentrism --- Political aspects --- U.P. --- UP --- State of Uttar Pradesh (India) --- Uttara Pradeśa (India) --- Уттар-Прадеш (India) --- United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (India)