JISCMail - BNAC Archives

Varieties of Activist Experience
Civil Society in South Asia
Edited by DAVID N GELLNER, University of Oxford, UK

This book examines in rich detail the lives, struggles and strategies of South Asian activists seeking to advance various political, social and environmental causes. Through a series of case studies from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka on activists’ efforts, it elucidates how they mediate between different spheres that are often (and sometimes legally) kept apart: the political and the legal, the economic and the political, the local and the international.

The uniqueness of this book lies in its treatment of ‘civil society’ as a process brought into being by the actions of specific individuals whose struggles and experiences can profitably be examined for an understanding of everyday politics. The ethnographic studies lay bare how activists in the entire region continuously wrestle with the tensions between the tidy boxes of official classifications and the fuzzy categories of everyday life.

Series: Governance, Conflict, and Civic Action
2010 / 308 pages / Cloth: 978-81-321-0450-6

Contents: Preface / Introduction: Making Civil Society in South Asia David N Gellner / I: POLITICS: The Biography of a Magar Communist Anne de Sales / Creating ‘Civilized’ Communists: A Quarter of a Century of Politicization in Rural Nepal Sara Shneiderman / Youth and Political Engagement in Sri Lanka Siripala Hettige / Can Women be Mobilized to Participate in Indian Local Politics? Stefanie Strulik / Surveying Activists in Nepal David N Gellner and Mrigendra Bahadur Karki / II: DEVELOPMENT: Disciplined Activists, Unruly Brokers? Exploring the Boundaries between Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), Donors, and the State in Bangladesh David Lewis / Activists and Development in Nepal Celayne Heaton Shrestha / From Big Game to Biodiversity: Middle-class Environmental Activists and Wildlife Conservation in Sri Lanka Arjun Guneratne / Civil Society and its Fragments William F Fisher / Glossary and Abbreviations / Name Index / Subject Index

Ethnic Activism and Civil Society in South Asia

Edited by DAVID N GELLNER, University of Oxford, UK

These are six well-researched articles on ethnic activism in South Asia. A fairly wide range has been examined…. At a time when South Asia is bubbling over with ethnic aspirations, this is an important collection of contemporary insights into the politics of identity behind activism in South Asia.

Civil Society

Series: Governance, Conflict, and Civic Action
2009 / 372 pages / Cloth: 978-81-321-0086-7

Local Democracy in South Asia
Microprocesses of Democratization in Nepal and its Neighbours
Edited by DAVID N GELLNER, University of Oxford, UK and KRISHNA HACHHETHU, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

The book…is a significant attempt to study the methodologies adopted by the South Asian countries, while implementing local democratic institutions in their respective countries.

The News, Pakistan

Series: Governance, Conflict, and Civic Action
2008 / 472 pages / Cloth: 978-0-7619-3650-3)

Order Your Copy Now!

Governance, Conflict and Civic Action: Volume 2
2009 / 372 pages
Cloth
(978-81-321-0086-7)

For orders from
South Asia
Click Here

For orders from
UK, Europe, Africa, Australia
Click Here

For orders from
North and South America
Click Here

For orders from
Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asia
Click Here

ETHNIC ACTIVISM AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN SOUTH ASIA
Edited by DAVID N GELLNER,
Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford

This volume, the second in the Governance, Conflict, and Civic Action series, examines civil society in South Asia through case studies of different kinds of ethnic ('communal') activism. With chapters covering Nepal, Sri Lanka, and India (Darjeeling, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu), it avoids the 'methodological nationalism' so frequent in social science publications on the region. The articles examine Hindu nationalism, Dalit activism in India and Nepal, and the Janajati movement in Nepal, and show how they are animated by common ideals and themes, such as emphasis on the involvement of youth, the assertion of pride and masculinity, the desire to resist injustice and reassess previously stigmatized symbols, the importance of land and belonging, and so on.

South Asian civil society is a site of constant struggle. This volume shows how ethnic activists wrestle with official classifications and categories of daily, traditional practices and attempt to turn these to their advantage, often bringing about radical social, political, and intellectual change as a result. It also argues that ethnic movements need to be investigated by social scientists as a part of civil society, and it shows how this can be done.

Ethnic Activism and Civil Society in South Asia will be an ideal reference for those interested in ethnicity, sociology, political science, anthropology, and South Asian studies.

CONTENTS

Preface / Introduction: How Civil are 'Communal' and Ethno-nationalist Movements? David N Gellner / HINDU NATIONALISM AS A FORM OF ETHNIC ACTIVISM: Young Men's Public Activities and Hindu Nationalism: Naviyuvak Mandals and the Sangh Parivar in a Western Indian Town Minoru Mio / Activists and Adivasis: Hindu Nationalist Militants in Chhattisgarh, Central India Peggy Froerer / THE RISE OF TRANSNATIONAL CONNECTIONS: Reconstructing Jaffna: Transnational Tamil Activism at Local Interfaces Eva Gerharz / Ethnic (P)reservations: Comparing Thangmi Ethnic Activism in Nepal and India Sara Shneiderman / DALIT MOVEMENTS: Becoming a Dalit Panther: Caste-based Activism in South India Hugo Gorringe / Dalit Christian Activism in Contemporary Tamil Nadu David Mosse / Struggles against Domination: Forms of Nepali Dalit Activism Laurie Ann Vasily / JANAJATI ACTIVISM IN A MULTI-ETHNIC FORMER HINDU KINGDOM: Intellectuals and Ethnic Activism: Writings on the Tharu Past Gisèle Krauskopff / Tamang Activism, History, and Territorial Consciousness Mukta S Tamang / Ruling Social Groups—From Species to Nations: Reflections on Changing Conceptualizations of Caste and Ethnicity in Nepal Marie Lecomte-Tilouine / Glossary and Abbreviations / Name Index / Subject Index

Also available in the series!

Governance, Conflict and Civic Action: Volume 1
2008 / 472 pages
Cloth
(978-0-7619-3650-3)

LOCAL DEMOCRACY IN SOUTH ASIA
Microprocesses of Democratization in Nepal and its Neighbours
Edited by DAVID N GELLNER University of Oxford and
KRISHNA HACHHETHU, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

The book…is a significant attempt to study the methodologies adopted by the South Asian countries, while implementing local democratic institutions in their respective countries.

The News