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Neera Chandhoke

Professor of Political Science (em), University of Delhi

Resident at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften:

October 2012‒March 2013

Research topic at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften:

»What is the Relationship between Democracy and Political Violence? The Context of India«

Project outline:

Democracy and political violence appear at first glance to be contradictory concepts. Logically the institutionalisation of democracy with its rich traditions of debate, participation and representation should pre-empt the eruption and consolidation of sustained political violence. Yet a democracy like India has been wracked by political violence for quite some time now. Apart from the violence of everyday life, the country confronts a highly organised armed struggle waged by the extreme left in about one thirds of the country. The struggle raises some very uncomfortable questions about Indian democracy. If in 125 districts in the country, people have either taken up the gun to wage war against the Government of India, or supported (explicitly or implicitly) Maoist cadres who do so, what does this tell us about the nature of democracy? The more substantive question follows: what is the relationship between democracy and political violence? Taking the case of India as an empirical anchor for a theoretical enquiry, this research project seeks to explore the complexities of the relationship between democracy and highly organized and ideologically charged forms of political violence, or more specifically radical armed struggle. (Neera Chandhoke)

Funding of the stay:

»Justitia Amplificata. Rethinking Justice − Applied and Global«

Scholarly profile of Neera Chandhoke

Main areas of research:

Political Theory, Comparative Politics, and the Politics of Developing Societies with special focus on India

Selected publications:

The Life and Times of Secularism (work in progress).
Democracy and Revolutionary Politics (Theory for a Global Age Series), London: Bloomsbury, 2015.
Contested Secessions: Rights, Democracy, Self-Determination and Kashmir, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2012.
The Conceits of Civil Society, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Beyond Secularism: The Rights of Religious Minorities, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999.
State And Civil Society: Explorations in Political Theory, New Delhi: Sage, 1995.
Contemporary India, New Delhi, Pearsons, (co-edited with Praveen Priyadarshi), 2009.
Mapping Histories, New Delhi: Tulika, 2000.
Understanding The Post- Colonial World: Theory and Method, New Delhi: Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, 1996.

Neera Chandhoke

Scholarly profile of Neera Chandhoke

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