Rochana Bajpai
Biographic Data
| ID | 1263556 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Rochana Bajpai |
| GIVEN NAMES | Rochana |
| FAMILY NAME | Bajpai |
| SIGNATURE | BAJPAI R |
| AFFILIATIONS | SOAS University of London |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8894-0037 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 84 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Winning big
Politicians winning elections with large margins of victory, beyond what is necessary to win electoral contests,what we term “winning big”, is a common, yet under-studied phenomenon across the world. Political economy models suggest that winning big is not an optimal allocation of scarce campaign resources in a SMP/FPTP electoral system. Inductive inquiry shows that incumbent politicians likely to win nevertheless campaign hard, often devoting co…
Mechanisms of democratic authoritarianism
How do we theorize the unexpected global trend of democratic regression? Building upon recent literature on backsliding, we offer a new conceptualization of the notion of democratic authoritarianism, denoting the use of democratic-looking institutions for the expansion of authoritarian forms of power across different regime types, democratic and authoritarian. Whereas existing accounts of autocratization focus overwhelmingly on the executive, we …
Pluralizing Pluralism
Embracing religious belief and societal norms, in addition to state laws and policies, covenantal pluralism has the potential to address key limitations of existing approaches to dealing with religious diversity. Nevertheless, it also shares some of the problems of other ideals. Notably, the demands of covenantal pluralism seem too onerous for most of the world, relying as they do on most of the population recognizing the value of religious plura…
What do descriptive representatives describe? Minority representative claims and the limits of shape-shifting
In contemporary debates on diversity, minorities are characterized mostly in terms of their cultural difference from the majority. Scholars have tended to focus on the role of minority representatives as advocates of their group interests in legislative assemblies. Focussing on election campaigns, this article examines how minority representatives reach out to a mixed electorate, comprising voters of both minority and non-minority backgrounds. Br…
Non-extremist Outbidding
How do parties representing minorities survive and expand at a time of majoritarian nationalism? Influential accounts suggest that the rise of majoritarianism should give rise to corresponding extremist outbidding in minority parties. Through a detailed case study of an Indian Muslim party in an era of Hindu majoritarianism, this article elaborates a new notion of non-extremist outbidding. It argues that outbidding need not imply appeals that are…
From ideas to hegemony
This article proposes a new approach to hegemony, recast as a tool to capture the power of ideas at the systemic level. Hegemony is conceptualized as a condition in which a set of ideas is accepted by political actors with conflicting interests and as the outcome of a process of discursive interaction. Three types of ideational contestation are distinguished—confrontation, configuration and consistency: hegemony emerges as contestation shifts bet…
Minority Rights in Colonial India and the Constituent Assembly
This chapter offers a historical interpretation of the career of group preferential policies from the late nineteenth century through to close of the Constituent Assembly debates. It shows that while group rights in the first half of the twentieth century saw steady expansion, their colonial proportions came to be scaled back eventually. The chapter also argues that the dynamic of containment assumed different degrees and forms in different areas…
Social Justice and Quotas in Government Jobs for Other Backward Classes
This chapter reconstructs arguments for and against the extension of employment quotas to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the 1990 Mandal debate, focusing on the concept of social justice. It shows that in the discourse of the Janata Dal, the older nationalist ideal of equality was redefined, in terms of the formulation of the legitimating vocabulary, by linking equality closely to democracy, and distancing it from national unity. This stren…
From Minority to Backward
That legislative and employment quotas for religious minorities in India were eventually withdrawn from the constitution and quotas for ‘backward classes’ retained, albeit in a weaker form, is entirely consistent with the normative resources for group-differentiated rights in nationalist discourse. As the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly unfolded, the nationalist vocabulary expanded to become the new legitimating framework of the polity,…
Secularism and Muslim Personal Law
This chapter examines the Shah Bano case and considers arguments for and against special provisions for Muslim religious law in India through the prism of secularism. It argues that discursive shifts can be observed in conceptions of secularism in Congress discourse that were conducive to stronger multicultural policies: policy change was accompanied by changes in political justifications regarding group rights. With both equality and freedom-bas…
Conclusion
This book has focused on two critical junctures in the history of the post-Independence Indian state: the late 1940s, which saw a centralization of power, and the late 1980s, which marked a decentring of power. Thus far, scholars have focused on the institutional, social, and economic aspects of this structural change. In a new departure, this book has constructed an account of political change in India in terms of political ideology, focusing on…
Nationalist Discourse and Group Rights
This chapter argues that nationalist discourse on group rights in the Constituent Assembly of India is best understood as comprising a set of interlinked concepts — secularism, democracy, social justice, national unity, and development. In historical terms, it shows that the dominant interpretation of the nationalist vocabulary in this period was opposed to special provisions for minority groups. As these were seen as a threat to national unity, …
Debating Difference
This book is about group rights and liberal democracy in India. It presents the first systematic account of the structure of public reasoning over group rights in India. It critiques both liberal and post-colonial narratives and constructs a framework that combines their insights for an empirical study of the norms of group rights in the country. It suggests that public reason is to be found not just in the thought of extraordinary individuals, b…
Rhetoric as Argument
Social justice is a key concept in the theory and practice of affirmative action. In India, social justice has come to serve as shorthand for affirmative action for disadvantaged groups, mainly lower castes. This paper provides a detailed analytical interpretation of social justice in a landmark legislative debate on quotas in India, namely the 1990 Mandal debate. It unpacks political rhetoric to reveal distinct conceptions of social justice, sho…
The conceptual vocabularies of secularism and minority rights in India
Secularism, one of the main political ideologies of the post-colonial state in India, has been at the centre of scholarly and political debates in recent times. This article seeks to illuminate some aspects of the career of secularism in India through an analysis of two landmark parliamentary debates on minority rights: the Constituent Assembly debates (1946-1949) and the Shah Bano debate (1986). My analysis attempts, first, to challenge a contra…
Debating Difference
This book is about group rights and liberal democracy in India. It presents the first systematic account of the structure of public reasoning over group rights in India. It critiques both liberal and post-colonial narratives and constructs a framework that combines their insights for an empirical study of the norms of group rights in the country. It suggests that public reason is to be found not just in the thought of extraordinary individuals, b…
Mechanisms of democratic authoritarianism
How do we theorize the unexpected global trend of democratic regression? Building upon recent literature on backsliding, we offer a new conceptualization of the notion of democratic authoritarianism, denoting the use of democratic-looking institutions for the expansion of authoritarian forms of power across different regime types, democratic and authoritarian. Whereas existing accounts of autocratization focus overwhelmingly on the executive, we …
The conceptual vocabularies of secularism and minority rights in India
Secularism, one of the main political ideologies of the post-colonial state in India, has been at the centre of scholarly and political debates in recent times. This article seeks to illuminate some aspects of the career of secularism in India through an analysis of two landmark parliamentary debates on minority rights: the Constituent Assembly debates (1946-1949) and the Shah Bano debate (1986). My analysis attempts, first, to challenge a contra…
What do descriptive representatives describe? Minority representative claims and the limits of shape-shifting
In contemporary debates on diversity, minorities are characterized mostly in terms of their cultural difference from the majority. Scholars have tended to focus on the role of minority representatives as advocates of their group interests in legislative assemblies. Focussing on election campaigns, this article examines how minority representatives reach out to a mixed electorate, comprising voters of both minority and non-minority backgrounds. Br…
Rhetoric as Argument
Social justice is a key concept in the theory and practice of affirmative action. In India, social justice has come to serve as shorthand for affirmative action for disadvantaged groups, mainly lower castes. This paper provides a detailed analytical interpretation of social justice in a landmark legislative debate on quotas in India, namely the 1990 Mandal debate. It unpacks political rhetoric to reveal distinct conceptions of social justice, sho…
Non-extremist Outbidding
How do parties representing minorities survive and expand at a time of majoritarian nationalism? Influential accounts suggest that the rise of majoritarianism should give rise to corresponding extremist outbidding in minority parties. Through a detailed case study of an Indian Muslim party in an era of Hindu majoritarianism, this article elaborates a new notion of non-extremist outbidding. It argues that outbidding need not imply appeals that are…
From ideas to hegemony
This article proposes a new approach to hegemony, recast as a tool to capture the power of ideas at the systemic level. Hegemony is conceptualized as a condition in which a set of ideas is accepted by political actors with conflicting interests and as the outcome of a process of discursive interaction. Three types of ideational contestation are distinguished—confrontation, configuration and consistency: hegemony emerges as contestation shifts bet…
Pluralizing Pluralism
Embracing religious belief and societal norms, in addition to state laws and policies, covenantal pluralism has the potential to address key limitations of existing approaches to dealing with religious diversity. Nevertheless, it also shares some of the problems of other ideals. Notably, the demands of covenantal pluralism seem too onerous for most of the world, relying as they do on most of the population recognizing the value of religious plura…
The conceptual vocabularies of secularism and minority rights in India
Secularism, one of the main political ideologies of the post-colonial state in India, has been at the centre of scholarly and political debates in recent times. This article seeks to illuminate some aspects of the career of secularism in India through an analysis of two landmark parliamentary debates on minority rights: the Constituent Assembly debates (1946-1949) and the Shah Bano debate (1986). My analysis attempts, first, to challenge a contra…
Rhetoric as Argument
Social justice is a key concept in the theory and practice of affirmative action. In India, social justice has come to serve as shorthand for affirmative action for disadvantaged groups, mainly lower castes. This paper provides a detailed analytical interpretation of social justice in a landmark legislative debate on quotas in India, namely the 1990 Mandal debate. It unpacks political rhetoric to reveal distinct conceptions of social justice, sho…
Minority Rights in Colonial India and the Constituent Assembly
This chapter offers a historical interpretation of the career of group preferential policies from the late nineteenth century through to close of the Constituent Assembly debates. It shows that while group rights in the first half of the twentieth century saw steady expansion, their colonial proportions came to be scaled back eventually. The chapter also argues that the dynamic of containment assumed different degrees and forms in different areas…
Social Justice and Quotas in Government Jobs for Other Backward Classes
This chapter reconstructs arguments for and against the extension of employment quotas to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the 1990 Mandal debate, focusing on the concept of social justice. It shows that in the discourse of the Janata Dal, the older nationalist ideal of equality was redefined, in terms of the formulation of the legitimating vocabulary, by linking equality closely to democracy, and distancing it from national unity. This stren…
From Minority to Backward
That legislative and employment quotas for religious minorities in India were eventually withdrawn from the constitution and quotas for ‘backward classes’ retained, albeit in a weaker form, is entirely consistent with the normative resources for group-differentiated rights in nationalist discourse. As the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly unfolded, the nationalist vocabulary expanded to become the new legitimating framework of the polity,…
Secularism and Muslim Personal Law
This chapter examines the Shah Bano case and considers arguments for and against special provisions for Muslim religious law in India through the prism of secularism. It argues that discursive shifts can be observed in conceptions of secularism in Congress discourse that were conducive to stronger multicultural policies: policy change was accompanied by changes in political justifications regarding group rights. With both equality and freedom-bas…
Conclusion
This book has focused on two critical junctures in the history of the post-Independence Indian state: the late 1940s, which saw a centralization of power, and the late 1980s, which marked a decentring of power. Thus far, scholars have focused on the institutional, social, and economic aspects of this structural change. In a new departure, this book has constructed an account of political change in India in terms of political ideology, focusing on…
Nationalist Discourse and Group Rights
This chapter argues that nationalist discourse on group rights in the Constituent Assembly of India is best understood as comprising a set of interlinked concepts — secularism, democracy, social justice, national unity, and development. In historical terms, it shows that the dominant interpretation of the nationalist vocabulary in this period was opposed to special provisions for minority groups. As these were seen as a threat to national unity, …
Debating Difference
This book is about group rights and liberal democracy in India. It presents the first systematic account of the structure of public reasoning over group rights in India. It critiques both liberal and post-colonial narratives and constructs a framework that combines their insights for an empirical study of the norms of group rights in the country. It suggests that public reason is to be found not just in the thought of extraordinary individuals, b…
From ideas to hegemony
This article proposes a new approach to hegemony, recast as a tool to capture the power of ideas at the systemic level. Hegemony is conceptualized as a condition in which a set of ideas is accepted by political actors with conflicting interests and as the outcome of a process of discursive interaction. Three types of ideational contestation are distinguished—confrontation, configuration and consistency: hegemony emerges as contestation shifts bet…
Non-extremist Outbidding
How do parties representing minorities survive and expand at a time of majoritarian nationalism? Influential accounts suggest that the rise of majoritarianism should give rise to corresponding extremist outbidding in minority parties. Through a detailed case study of an Indian Muslim party in an era of Hindu majoritarianism, this article elaborates a new notion of non-extremist outbidding. It argues that outbidding need not imply appeals that are…
What do descriptive representatives describe? Minority representative claims and the limits of shape-shifting
In contemporary debates on diversity, minorities are characterized mostly in terms of their cultural difference from the majority. Scholars have tended to focus on the role of minority representatives as advocates of their group interests in legislative assemblies. Focussing on election campaigns, this article examines how minority representatives reach out to a mixed electorate, comprising voters of both minority and non-minority backgrounds. Br…
Winning big
Politicians winning elections with large margins of victory, beyond what is necessary to win electoral contests,what we term “winning big”, is a common, yet under-studied phenomenon across the world. Political economy models suggest that winning big is not an optimal allocation of scarce campaign resources in a SMP/FPTP electoral system. Inductive inquiry shows that incumbent politicians likely to win nevertheless campaign hard, often devoting co…
Mechanisms of democratic authoritarianism
How do we theorize the unexpected global trend of democratic regression? Building upon recent literature on backsliding, we offer a new conceptualization of the notion of democratic authoritarianism, denoting the use of democratic-looking institutions for the expansion of authoritarian forms of power across different regime types, democratic and authoritarian. Whereas existing accounts of autocratization focus overwhelmingly on the executive, we …
Pluralizing Pluralism
Embracing religious belief and societal norms, in addition to state laws and policies, covenantal pluralism has the potential to address key limitations of existing approaches to dealing with religious diversity. Nevertheless, it also shares some of the problems of other ideals. Notably, the demands of covenantal pluralism seem too onerous for most of the world, relying as they do on most of the population recognizing the value of religious plura…
Political science (15 works) · Law (14 works) · Politics (14 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Law (8 works) · Anthropological Studies and Insights (7 works) · Democracy (7 works) · Ideology (7 works) · Political economy (7 works) · Gender Studies (6 works)