There is Peace Here’

Managing Communal Relations in a Town in Central Gujarat

Bibliographic Data

ID12321997
AuthorsCarolyn Heitmeyer (London School of Economics and Political Science, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume4
Issue1
Pages103-120
Publication date2009-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of South Asian Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0973-1741 • E-ISSN: 0973-1733
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/097317410900400107
OpenAlexW2172282082
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited9

This article describes the relations between Hindus and Muslims in a small town in central Gujarat following the massive violence against the Muslim minority community throughout many parts of the state between February and May 2002. While the ‘communal divide’ has become more pronounced following the 2002 attacks in many parts of the state as well as in the town in which the research was conducted, concerted efforts are made by members of both communities as a means of re-imposing a sense of ‘everyday peace’. As such, normative discourses presenting the 2002 violence as an aberration with respect to the state of local communal relations in the town represent a collective strategy of containing the tension and mutual suspicion which remain constant undercurrents in daily life. This article, moreover, explores the ongoing caste– and class-based social networks and interactions underlying public declarations of ‘everyday peace’ which have played a central role in, if not averting violence altogether, discouraging the development of further communal segregation and division in the aftermath of the 2002 attacks in the town

Caste · Criminology · Everyday life · Normative · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · State (computer science · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Gender Studies · Law · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · South Asian Studies and Conflicts

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub