Hindu-Nationalismus und Wissensrevolution

In: Internationale Politik: das Magazin für globales Denken, Band 61, Heft 11, S. 128-131

Abstract

Katharina Kakar & Sudhir Kakar's Die Inder. Portrat einer Gesellschaft ([The Indians. A Portrait of a Society] Munich: C. H. Beck, 2006) & Oliver Muller's Wirtschaftsmacht Indien. Chance und Herausforderung fur uns ([India as an Economic Power. A Chance and a Challenge for Us] Munich: Hanser, 2006) are reviewed. After outlining the contents of both books & commenting on individual chapters in each, the Kakars' book is criticized as a naive political analysis of Hindu nationalism & a distorted representation of the country's economic & social realities. It is argued that the interpretation of social facts & structures there is conducted not from a solid sociological-scientific perspective but rather psychoanalytical & religious ones. Especially troubling is the uncritical presentation of the Hindu nationalist movement, whose extremism was manifested in the genocide massacre of Muslims in the Gujarat region in 2002. Readers are advised to adopt a "critical reading" stance toward this work by authors who are both ignorant & arrogant. On the other hand, Muller's is praised for an insightful analysis of India's recent economic development & a sobering account of the country's political & social problems hampering this development; antiquated/underdeveloped infrastructure, overgrown bureaucracy (the dysfunctional Indian Administrative Service), & a lack of legal protection for workers' rights are identified as the principal three. It is concluded that as for an economist, Muller shows a lot of empathy for India's social problems. Z. Dubiel