- New Arrivals
Fiction- Historical FictionCrime & ThrillersMysteryScience-FictionFantasyPoetryRomanceChildren’s BooksYoung Adult
- Biographies & MemoirsHistoryCurrent AffairsTech & ScienceBusinessSelf-DevelopmentTravelThe ArtsFood & WineReligion & SpiritualitySportsHumor
Children’s BooksListsGift CardsWhat To ReadMy ListsGames- About & Help
- About Tertulia
- Membership & Co-Ownership
- Shipping & Delivery
- Orders & Payments
- Contact Support
- Send App Feedback
- Follow us
- Download the app
The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Elusive Democracy: Dalit Politics, Elections, and the Contradictions of Representation
Today, India is widely celebrated as the world's largest democracy. However, not all groups experience India's political institutions the same way. This book draws on extensive interviews with longtime Dalit (ex-Untouchable) activists and original archives of party documents to explore the democratic transformation of one of India's most prominent Dalit-led parties, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK; Liberation Panthers Party). Through a historical and ethnographic account of the VCK's transition from boycotts to ballots, this book provides a novel perspective on India's democratic trajectory, as well as its limits. Whereas VCK leaders initially viewed elections as an instrument to spur development and contest power asymmetries, they would come to recognize that democratic institutions can equally function as a means of containment, and control. The research shows how democratic politics opened new space for Dalit political advancement while simultaneously imposing unique constraints on these leaders that would reconfigure very nature of their politics.
Book Details
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press
- Publish Date: Aug 31st, 2025
- Pages: 220
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 0.00in - 0.00in - 0.00in - 0.00lb
- EAN: 9781009567251
- Categories: • World - General
About the Author
Collins, Michael: - Michael Collins holds a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Modern Indian Studies at the University of Göttingen. His research draws on archival research and extensive fieldwork in India that was supported by the American Institute for Indian Studies, French Institute of Pondicherry, US Library of Congress, and a Fulbright Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Award.
More books by Michael Collins
