Identity Politics and Nationalisms in Colonial India

Abstract

Explores the pre-1920s development of Hindu nationalist identity, which is prior to the polarization between Indian nationalism & communalism, focusing on the latter. These two key concepts are scrutinized in terms of a framework of polarization, arguing that they must be distinguished to gain an understanding of how Hindu nationalism works in Indian politics. In addition, & in contravention of this framework, a close relationship between Hindu & Indian nationalisms is posited. At issue is clarifying how Hindu nationalism formed autonomously sans the polarization framework to shape its meaning. The ideological development of the Hindu Sabha movement in northwestern India is depicted. This identity emerged in the context of rapid change & intense scrutiny of Indian nationalism. It is contended that the development of these competing identities was tied as they worked in the same discursive arena of middle-class consciousness & grappled with the core question of how people ought to be represented relative to the state. Analysis is aimed at illustrating that identity politics is associated schematically with the modernity of universalist nationalism. 28 References. J. Zendejas