Book Review: Kanchan Chandra. (Ed.), Democratic Dynasties: State, Party and Family in Contemporary Indian Politics
| DOI | 10.1177/2321023017727988 |
| Published date | 01 December 2017 |
| Author | Ritambhara Malaviya |
| Date | 01 December 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
While the book is replete with extensive ethnographic description and nuanced analysis, it makes one
wonder about the efficacy and nature of political mediation by women in non-urban environments.
If cities are the constituency of Shiv Sena’s politics, perhaps its logic needs to be fleshed out vis-à-vis
rural politics. Is the trope of ‘dashing’ equally tenable in a rural setting, or is it connected to urban
mobility? Even when Bedi discusses public spectacles and visibility as major mechanisms of garnering
political legitimacy by Shiv Sena women, some popular cultural events of the state like Ganesh Utsav
are conspicuously absent from the narrative. Does this absence indicate towards the varied layers of
performativity and public space in Maharashtra’s urban politics?
By bringing into focus de-industrialized urban neighbourhoods and rising tide of informality in
politics and economy, the book makes a significant contribution not only in the field of anthropological
studies of politics in contemporary India but also in research emerging on urban space and gender.
Garima Dhabhai
Presidency University, Kolkata, India
E-mail: garimadhabai@gmail.com
Kanchan Chandra. (Ed.), Democratic Dynasties: State, Party and Family in Contemporary Indian Politics. New
Delhi: Cambridge University Press. 2016. 279 pages. `495.
DOI: 10.1177/2321023017727988
In the evolution of the study of Indian politics, several ideas that argued against common sense under-
standing subsequently became the common sense in this field. One was the Rudolphs’ idea of ‘the
modernity of tradition’ and the other was Rajni Kothari’s ‘Congress system’. In a similar vein, Democratic
Dynasties: State, Party and Family in Contemporary Indian Politics sets for itself the very ambitious
target of turning our understanding of dynastic politics upside down. Political dynasties, so far, were
described as being antithetical to democracy. They were seen as a hangover from the feudal past. This
book, however, argues that, ‘dynastic politics in India is fundamentally shaped by modern democratic
institutions […] This institutionally shaped form of dynastic politics, paradoxically, reinforces some
aspects of democracy while subverting others’...
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