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Approaching Contemporary India: The Politics of Scale, Space and Aspiration in the Time of Modi

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Globalisation and the Challenges of Development in Contemporary India

Part of the book series: Dynamics of Asian Development ((DAD))

Abstract

This chapter aims to reflect back upon the contributions of the volume, and suggests what they may elucidate about the complex, dynamic and multifaceted set of processes by which power is contested in contemporary India. A multi-scalar analytical framework is utilised to discuss processes of uneven development and changing state–society relations, which together will continue to condition the trajectory of India’s polity and society. It examines how researchers can critically engage with orthodox approaches to the study of India in ways that challenge the epistemic and ontological closures of the current neoliberal conjuncture. In doing so, the chapter places the contributions of this volume into a broader examination of how different disciplines have approached the study of India. The chapter then looks forward and asserts that the politics of space, scale and aspiration will be enduring concerns in understanding how India is transforming. The last part of the chapter is focused on what the election of Narendra Modi’s NDA government may portend for the possible futures of India. It argues that we may see the ascension of Modi as evidence of the rise of a strain of neoliberal, semi-authoritarian populism.

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  1. Department of Geography, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Douglas P. Hill

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  1. Massey University, School of People, Environment & Planning, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Sita Venkateswar

  2. Victoria University of Wellington, School of History, Philosophy, Pol.Sci., Wellington, New Zealand

    Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

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Hill, D.P. (2016). Approaching Contemporary India: The Politics of Scale, Space and Aspiration in the Time of Modi. In: Venkateswar, S., Bandyopadhyay, S. (eds) Globalisation and the Challenges of Development in Contemporary India. Dynamics of Asian Development. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0454-4_13

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