Introduction: Religion in the making of a region

Journal article

The most successful experiment in politicized religion has come from the Hindu Right, led by its ideological core, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which together with its family of organizations has been part of Indian public life for much of the twentieth century. The resurgence of religion in Gujarat fits global trends, which are in turn reflected in increased academic attention. The beginnings of the Indian independence movement were urban, and largely confined to an elite. But central Gujarat, with its Patidar farmers, was probably the first region where the movement made a direct appeal to farmers. With Independence, the relationship between central Gujarat and the surrounding princely states became, to an extent, the relationship between a rising bourgeoisie in the former and an aristocratic elite in disarray in the latter. Adopting a macro perspective, Radhika Desai indicates that the electoral features of Hindutva vary across Gujarat and India.

Authors: Sud, N; Tambs-Lyche, H

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Routledge
• Journal: South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 319-332
• Publication date: 2011-01-01
• DOI: 10.1080/00856401.2011.620549
• EISSN: 1479-0270
• ISSN: 0085-6401