Taking the instability of all identities as its point of departure, this collection of essays probes the enigmas of identity politics. How does ‘identitarian’ politics, trying to homogenize identities around some cultural or ethnic name, deal with unstable and diverse identities? And what are the kinds of identity formations that resist identity-based projects? Drawing from theoretical perspectives on communal polarization and its relation to early ...
Nandigram and Other Struggles: The Emergence of New Political Movements
Carving Blocs looks at communalism as it developed in Bengal in the early part of the twentieth century. It examines communalism as an organized ideology saturated in mentalities and acts of violence. Looking at the interaction of events and representational strategies, the book examines communal campaigns within which certain symbols and stereotypes were disseminated in order to mould social tensions, resulting in a world divided by two contesting identities. ...
