This volume marks the fiftieth anniversary of one of the defining moments of Indian history. It examines the Emergency and its aftermath from diverse perspectives – political, historical, legal, economic, philosophical, experiential and cultural, among others. Bringing together leading scholars and writers, it explores how the Emergency transformed Indian polity, and shaped law enforcement and penal practices, the media, student movements, judicial responses, subaltern politics and literary expression, and examines why analysis of the Emergency is still relevant to political discourse in India today.
The extract published on Moneycontrol is from the chapter “Many Meanings of Freedom: The Dandawate Prison Letters” by scholar Gyan Prakash. It is about a set of letters exchanged between the socialist leader Madhu Dandavate (1924–2005) and his wife Pramila Dandavate (1928–2002). 50 Years of the Indian Emergency: Lessons for Democracy is published by Orient Blackswan.
‘. . . a probing and kaleidoscopic reassessment of the origins, . . . the book prompts us to reconsider the multiple dimensions and layers of a compacted historical period and the many frameworks that continue to influence our understanding of it. . . .’ Srinath Raghavan, author of Indira Gandhi and the Years that Transformed India
Peter Ronald deSouza is Senior Research Associate, African Centre for Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (ACEPS), University of Johannesburg, and Trustee of the Institute of Social Studies Trust. He was Director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla, for two terms (2007–13).
Harsh Sethi worked as Consulting Editor of the monthly Seminar for two decades. Earlier he was with Sage Publications as Acquisitions Editor. He also held positions of Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, and Deputy Director at the Indian Council of Social Science Research.
Politics at the best of times can be bewildering. So, when a book like The Dravidian Pathway comes along, one can only hope it provides a useful explanation on how and why the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) movement became as big as it did and is a political entity to contend with in Tamil Nadu. The DMK is a political party that cannot be ignored and is able to hold its own. It is particularly fascinating when observing contemporary politics and the inroads that the North Indian parties like the BJP are trying to make in South India. These days, there are videos circulating on social media of various DMK party members or individuals linked to DMK politicians, refusing to acknowledge BJP politicians ( here and here). The why and the wherefores about the DMK are documented and analysed by Vignesh Rajahmani, He has put together a lot of information and data to provide a sense of history and chronology about the DMK. It is a book that will be useful to political scientists, perhaps even politicians, researchers, and journalists. It has been published by Westland Books.
Book blurb
The transformation of the Dravidian socio-cultural movement into an electorally viable political party-the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, or DMK-is one of the most fascinating stories in modern India. It is also one that is critical to an understanding of South Indian politics as a whole.
Although the movement and the party have both been widely studied, the interplay between the two has been largely neglected, with scholars tending to focus on outcomes. Vignesh Rajahmani’s innovative, detailed study of the Dravidian Movement explores the strategic leadership of DMK and non-DMK figures like Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, C.N. Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi and K. Kamaraj. It illustrates their synthesis of anti-caste ideology, socio-economic and educational mobility, and inclusive Dravidian-Tamil identity, and considers why that vision resonated with marginalised communities.
Tracing the early DMK years, from the party’s social justice campaigns to its landmark electoral victory in 1967, Rajahmani highlights the challenges of navigating ideological commitments within the constraints of political pragmatism, while also making politics accessible to the common person. He explains how iterations on the initial ideology and political offering can reinvigorate such movements, keeping their politics agile, and importantly, incentivising inclusive policymaking. An investigation into how the DMK shaped Tamil Nadu’s counter-hegemonic political identity, which has proven electorally resilient in spite of majoritarian onslaughts, The Dravidian Pathway is a timely contribution to the public and scholarly understanding of Tamil Nadu’s politics.
‘The definitive study of one of India’s most important social movements and the political party it gave rise to’ — Faisal Devji, Beit Professor of Global and Imperial History, University of Oxford
‘[C]asts casts new light on the deepening of democratic politics in the early decades of the Indian republic.’ — Srinath Raghavan, author of Indira Gandhi and the Years That Transformed India
‘Ideas and interests, coalitions and contests, personality and populism are measured in Rajahmani’s stimulating book.’ — Shruti Kapila, author of Violent Fraternity: Indian Political Thought in the Global Age
‘[S]hows us that majoritarianism is not the only pathway to power—social reform is not just a viable political strategy, it is rich with democratic possibilities too’. — Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor of The Wire
Vignesh Rajahmani is a postdoctoral research fellow in Indian and Indonesian politics at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, with a PhD in Political Science and Public Policy from King’s College London. He is also a postdoctoral affiliate at the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a research affiliate at the King’s India Institute, King’s College London. Rajahmani has over five years of professional experience in public policy, legislative research and political consulting, including his advisory work on a range of Indian parties’ electoral strategies and manifestos, at regional and national levels. His research interests include public policy, the politics of mobilisation, democratic development, the interplay between domestic politics and foreign policy, and political communication in the age of social media.
