Ethnicity and Populist Mobilization

By Narendra Subramanian

Studies of ethnic politics have for long focused on how governments and ethnic leaders interact. This book examines how the interactions of parties and society continually reshape ethnic identities and redirect ethnic politics. By exploring the course taken by the Dravidian parties of South India, it shows how citizens and leaders may act to preserve tolerance and democracy amidst considerable ethnic mobilization, even if governments are unable or unwilling to do so. A wide range of sources are used, ranging from electoral data, newspapers, and political tracts to films and interviews with activists. Methods drawn from political science, sociology, and historical anthropology help account for the effects of political mobilization on popular mentalities and civil society. South Indian experiences are illuminated by comparisons with changes elsewhere in South Asia, and in Latin America and Europe. The book suggests new approaches to making theory in the social sciences.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019564316X
• ISBN13: 9780195643169
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 394 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 10.5" x 8.6"