Modern Indian Political Thought

Semester and Year Offered: Monsoon semester 2019

Course Coordinator and Team: Dr. Javed Iqbal Wani

Email of course coordinator: javed[at]aud[dot]ac[dot]in

Pre-requisites: None

Aim: The course is offered as an elective to BA Law and Politics students. This course will complement other courses being offered to them, such as Modern Indian Political Thought, and Anti-colonialisms and Postcolonial Futures.

The purpose of this course is to offer a comprehensive perspective on the struggle of Indian people against colonialism. The course begins with the nineteenth century Indian responses to colonial dominance in the form of reformism and its criticism and continues through various phases up to the events leading to Partition and Independence. In the process, the course tries to highlight its various conflicts and contradictions by focusing on its different dimensions: communalism, class struggle, caste and gender questions.

Course Outcomes:

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to

1. Demonstrate a knowledge of the emergence of Indian nationalism and the challenge of colonialism by looking at the struggle from different theoretical perspectives that highlight its various dimensions.

2. Demonstrate a knowledge of the political diversity within the anticolonial movement in India.

3. Participate and contribute through class discussions and research papers on topics related to nationalist leaders, historic events, and political movements that invigorated the Indian nationalist struggle.

Brief description of modules/ Main modules:

The course will comprise of three modules:

Module I (4 Weeks)

Approaches to the Study of Nationalism in India

This module will discuss various approaches to the study of nationalist movement in India for example, the Nationalist school, the Cambridge school, the Marxist school and the Subaltern school. The last section of this module will already begin discussions concerning the rise of nationalist politics with the creation of Congress.

Readings:

Week 1

Orientation Lecture: General outline

• Bandopadhyay, S. (2004) From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. New Delhi: Orient Longman, pp. 184-191.

Week 2

• Thapar, R. (2000) ‘Interpretations of Colonial History: Colonial, Nationalist, Post-colonial’, in DeSouza, P.R. (ed.) Contemporary India: Transitions. New Delhi: Sage Publications, pp. 25-36.
• Islam, S. (2004) ‘The Origins of Indian Nationalism’, in Religious Dimensions of Indian Nationalism. New Delhi: Media House, pp. 71-103.

Week 3

• Chakraborty, Dipesh. ‘A Small History of Subaltern Studies’ in Habitation of Modernity: Essays in the Wake of Subaltern Studies, University of Chicago Press.
• Chatterjee, P. (2010) ‘A Brief History of Subaltern Studies’, in Chatterjee, Partha Empire & Nation: Essential Writings (1985-2005). New Delhi: Permanent Black.

Week 4

• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘Foundations of the Congress: The Myth’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books
• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘Foundation of the Indian National Congress: The Reality’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books

Module II (4 Weeks)

The Rise and Expansion of Nationalist Politics in India:

This module will engage with some of the key phases of nationalist movement in India and the different ideological streams that steered the discussion. Discussions will touch upon issues such as;

• Moderates and Extremists within Congress and the revolutionary radicals,
• Socialist alternatives (Congress Socialists and Communists),
• Some Popular Gandhian Mass Mobilizations: Khilafat, Non-cooperation and Civil Disobedience
• Communalism in Indian Politics, Formation of the Muslim League

Week 5

Rise of Revolutionary politics:

• Mittal, S. and Irfan Habib, (1982) ‘The Congress and the revolutionaries in the 1920s’, Social Scientist 10, no.6, 20-37
• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘The Split in the Congress and the rise of Revolutionary Terrorism’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books
• Bandopadhyay, S. (2004) ‘Early Nationalism: Discontent and Dissension’ in From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. New Delhi: Orient Longman, pp. 227-261
• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘Bhagat Singh, Surya Sen and the Revolutionary Terrorists’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books
• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘The Swadeshi Movement, 1903-1908’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books

Week 6

Emergence of Communism as an Alternative Perspective

• Sarkar, S. (1983) Modern India (1885-1947). New Delhi: Macmillan. 244-251
• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘The Rise of the Left Wing’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books
• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘The Indian Working Class and the Nationalist movement’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books
• Bandopadhyay, S. (2004) “Working Class movements’ in From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. New Delhi: Orient Longman, pp.369-380
• Das, Susnata. (2011) ‘The Empire Against Communism: Colonial Repression on the Marxist Revolutionaries in Bengal (1930-36)’, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 71, 714-727

Week 7

Gandhi and Mass Mobilization:

• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘The Non-cooperation movement, 1920-1922’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books
• Bandopadhyay, S. (2004) From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. New Delhi: Orient Longman, pp. pp 297-322 (Khilafat and Non-cooperation)
• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘Civil Disobedience, 1930-1932’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books
• Habib, Irfan. (1997) ‘Civil Disobedience 1930-31’ Social Scientist 25, no. 9/10, 43-66
• Low, D.A. “The Government of India and the First Non-Cooperation M, 1920-1922, The Journal of Asian Studies 25, no.2 (1966): 241-59
• Niemeijer, A.C. (1972) ‘Khilafat Movement in India: Its Start and Organization’ in The Khilafat Movement in India 1919-1924, Brill, 69-98
• Krishna, Gopal. ‘The Khilafat Movement in India: The First Phase (September 1919-August 1920). Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. (1/2), 37-53.
• Jalal, A. and Bose, S. (1997) Modern South Asia: History, Culture, and Political Economy. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 109-119

Week 8

The Challenge of Communalism

• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘The Rise and Growth of Communalism’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books
• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘Communalism, The Liberal Phase’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books
• Bandopadhyay, S. (2004) ‘Muslim politics and foundation of the Muslim League’ in From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. New Delhi: Orient Longman, pp 262-278
• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘Jinnah, Golwalkar and Extreme Communalism’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books

Module III (4 Weeks)

This module will focus upon the conclusive phase of nationalist politics against colonial control. Partition of India and the transfer of power will be the two key themes discussed in this module. This module will also towards the end take stock of the entire nationalist politics in India, review its strategies and will conclude with discussions that contextualize the onset of postcolonial politics in India.

Partition

Transfer of power/ Independence

Partition

Week 9 and Week 10

• Butalia, Urvashi. (2000) The Other side of Silence: Voices from Partition of India, Durham: Duke University Press, pp 1-20 and 85-136
• Menon Ritu and Kamla BHasin. (1998). Borders & Boundaries: Women in India’s Partition. New Jersey: Rutgers University press, Pp 1-30
• Pandey, Gyanendra, (2001) ‘The Three Partitions of 1947’ in Remembering Partition: Violence, Nationalism and History in India, NY: CUP, pp21 44
• Bandopadhyay, S. (2004) From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. New Delhi: Orient Longman, pp. 405-438.
• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘Freedom and Partition’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books

Transfer of Power/Independence

Week 11 and Week 12

• V.P Menon, The Transfer of Power in India, Princeton University Press, Orient Longman, 1957. (Various extracts) pp318-350, 371-403, 417-435
• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘The Long-term Strategy of National Movement’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books
• Chandra Bipan (Eds.), ‘The Indian National Movement: The Ideological Dimension’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books
• Jalal, A. and Bose, S. (1997) Modern South Asia: History, Culture, and Political Economy. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp.135-166.

Further reading for the module:

• Bandopadhyay, S. (2004) From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. New Delhi: Orient Longman, pp. 405-423 (Quit India Movement, pp 184- 226 (Emergence of Indian Nationalism)
• Sarkar, S. (1983) Modern India (1885-1947). New Delhi: Macmillan. 135-146
• Jalal, A. and Bose, S. (1997) Modern South Asia: History, Culture, and Political Economy. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 109-119; 128-134.
• Bandopadhyaya, S. (2004) From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. New Delhi: Orient Longman, pp. 342-357; 369-381
• Chandra, Bipan (Eds.), ‘The Quit India Movement and the INA’ in India’s Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin Books

Assessment Details with weights:

• Take home assignment (or class tests): 20
• Mid-term exam: 30
• End-term exam: 40
• Class participation: 10

Reading List:

Provided above with the module descriptions .