Power and Politics in Contemporary India: A Sociological View

Lectures

Week 1

1. What is Political Sociology? Scope and Key Concerns Video
2. Classical Origins: Karl Marx Video
3. Classical Origins: Max Weber Video
4. Marx, Weber and Conservation Practice Video
5. Power Elites and Reproduction of Inequality Video

Week 2

6. Bourdieu and Reproduction of Classes Video
7. Antonio Gramsci and Hegemony Video
8. Foucault and Governmentality Video
9. Steven Lukes and Three Dimensions of Power Video
10. Ranajit Guha: Dominance without Hegemony and General Configuration of Power Video

Week 3

11. Nature of State: Louis Althusser and Ideological State Apparatus Video
12. Nature of State: Miliband-Poulantzas Debate Video
13. Sudipta Kaviraj: Critique of Passive Revolution in India Video
14. Pranab Bardhan: India’s Ruling Elites and Development Politics Video
15. Partha Chatterjee: Civil and Political Society Video

Week 4

16. Nations and Nationalism: Anthony Smith Video
17. Nations and Nationalism: Benedict Anderson Video
18. Nations and Nationalism: Partha Chatterjee Video
19. Nations and Nationalism: G. Aloysius Video
20. Citizenship and Social Class: T.H. Marshall Video

Week 5

21. Kinship and Political Authority in South Asia Video
22. Political Articulations of Caste: From Hierarchy to Mobilisation Video
23. Intersections of Caste and Democracy Video
24. Community, Identity, and Moral Economies Video
25. Case Study: Dalit-Bahujan Politics and Assertion Video

Week 6

26. Class, Hegemony , and Political Mobilisation Video
27. Political Sociology of Agrarian Chnage and Land Video
28. Urban Informality and Class Politics Video
29. Labor, Precarity, and Informal Worker's Movements Video
30. Political Lives of Labour in India Video

Week 7

31. Ethnicity, Community, and State Recognition Video
32. Sociology of Communalism and Secularism Video
33. Religion, Morality, and the Political Field Video
34. Political Rituals and Symbolism Video
35. Subnationalism: Separate Koshal Statehood Movement in India Video

Week 8

36. Classical and New Social Movement Theories Video
37. Political Process Model and Resource Mobilisation Video
38. Subaltern Movements: Adivasi, Dalit, Women Video
39. Urban Protests and Anti-State Mobilisations Video
40. Case Study: Chipko Movement Video

Week 9

41. Sociology of Development and Post-development Critique Video
42. From Government to Governance: Neoliberal Transitions Video
43. The Role of NGOs and Donor-Driven Agendas Video
44. The State, Welfare, and Targeted Governance Video
45. Case Study: The Rise of Self-help Groups and Micro-politics: Kudumbashree, Kerala Video

Week 10

46. Legal Pluralism and the Sociology of Law Video
47. Rights-based Mobilisation and Judicial Politics Video
48. Courts as Sites of Negotiation and Performance Video
49. Customary Law, Gender, and the State Video
50. Case Study: PIL, Judicial Activism, and Chilika Bachao Andolan Video

Week 11

51. Political Communication and Public Discourse Video
52. Visual Politics: Symbols, Posters, and Performances Video
53. Popular Culture and the Construction of the Political Video
54. Media, Surveillance, and the Manufacturing of Consent Video
55. Case Study: Human-Elephnat Conflict in Media Video

Week 12

56. Politics of the Margins and Hidden Transcripts (James Scott) Video
57. Gender and Political Sociology: Beyond Representation Video
58. The Political in the Everyday: Affect, Emotion, and Intimacy Video
59. Decolonising Political Sociology: Southern and Indigenous Epistemologies Video
60. Final Synthesis: What is the Political Today? Video