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BOOK REVIEW

Adding Meaning to ‘Democracy’ academic engagements, activism, and


interventions.
This book is no doubt extremely rele-
vant in today’s time when autocratic ten-
Shruti Jain dencies within the democracy are not
only gaining more legitimacy but are being

T
hus far we have demanded “school- Claiming India from Below: Activism and celebrated. Civil society is increasingly
ing” with the belief that it auto- Democratic Transformation edited by Vipul Mudgal, being attacked and delegitimised with
Oxon and New York: Routledge, 2016; pp xxi + 329, `995.
matically leads to “learning,” points “anti-development” and “anti-national”
out Rukmini Banerjee in her article tags. Financial support to many non-
in the book Claiming India from Below: grounded researchers, academicians and governmental organisations (NGOs) has
Activism and Democratic Transformation. practitioners engaged in interventions been curtailed for not having espoused
Banerjee shows how this realisation in that could bring back this essence. The the vision of “development” as endorsed
itself is important, and that what is lack- focus of the book is on what can be done, by the government. The autonomy of
ing is in fact “learning” and not schooling. on interventions that are feasible and universities and academic institutions
This realisation then could become the workable, incorporating real-life experi- has been violated continuously. The hos-
basis of community intervention and initi- ences and “tangible reflections.” tility towards and targeting of any dis-
atives to make “sarkari” schools as “our” This book continues the legacy of the cerning voice is quite evident. The polari-
schools. This, in my opinion, captures the work of the Centre for the Study of Devel- sation of people on caste and religious
spirit of this book, to figure out what is oping Societies (CSDS) on alternatives lines has sharpened.
lacking and to add that meaning to the and participatory democracy and takes In a nuanced introduction, Vipul Mudgal
democratic structures through community a step forward. It has 18 contributions points out how even the “charade of grass-
participation, so that they become “ours,” divided under the three overlapping roots consultation” through institutions
public in the true sense of the word. themes of “Voices from below: Field like the Planning Commission has been
Democracy and development, unfor- notes from India unheard”; “Alterna- given up (p 5). The day-to-day engage-
tunately, have come to sound like words tives from below: Participation for ment with governance is becoming more
that have lost their meaning; as they transformation”; and “Politics from below: virtual and distanced, excluding many,
remain oblivious of, apathetic to and Activism for interventions.” These con- especially the already marginalised com-
arrogant towards the ordinary people, tributions, which are a result of a series munities. Such is the politics of knowledge
their wisdom, and dignity. Often the of dialogues organised over two years that the policy discourses get hijacked
processes that unfold in the name of at CSDS, are lucid and have a flow that by the policywalas, the experts and the
democracy remain contrary to its essence. makes the book accessible to most, to bureaucrats along with the policy-
It is an achievement of this book to bring both scholars and general readers, as it researchwalas, the thriving consultants.
together the voices of social movements, presents rich insights of years of sustained This “elite capture” of important policies
Economic & Political Weekly EPW OCTOBER 20, 2018 vol lIiI no 42 23
BOOK REVIEW

and “political or legislative wisdom” due to its expansion and increased parti- surveys, describes the political attitude of
appears to be “brahminical and techno- cipation of panchayati raj institutions the slum dwellers. While they accept gifts
managerial” (p 3). The allocation of re- (PRIs). He makes a case for equal learn- and favours from all political parties,
sources is getting captured by private ing opportunities to enable the poor to the casting of votes is not a result of any
interests. Mudgal highlights the consist- access education and job opportunities obligation but shows an agency, which,
ent paradox of democracy: that those in a scenario that favours those with however, remains limited only to voting.
with highest stakes in the democracy high sociocultural capital. In addition, as Trilochan Sastry elabo-
have the least say, despite their increas- The other three contributions in this rates, more often than not, it is not an
ing participation in the electoral process. section highlight how the ideas of deve- informed choice that they make, and the
The participation of these marginalised lopment and democracy are shaped chances of victory of candidates with
groups in the democracy is by design amidst social conflicts, and how these wealth, illicit power and criminal back-
“discursive and subjective rather than conflicts emerge when the people are ground remain high. In addition, the
systematic or institutional” (p 5). denied their democratic rights over “forgetting” of electoral promises is also
Rajeev Bhargava in the foreword to natural resources. Drawing on their field due to the huge investment of corporate
this book terms this phase of Indian demo- engagement in Jungle Mahal area of money in elections. Atishi Marlena,
cracy as the third phase of legitimation Santhal Pargana, Arindam Banerjee and Prashant Bhushan and Reena Gupta pre-
crisis (the first phase being the crisis of Animesh Ghosh stress on strengthening sent a case for institutionalised mecha-
procedural legitimacy of elections and of PRIs in this area as it struggles with nisms of “direct democracy,” that is, the
second phase that of social legitimacy poverty and Maoist and state violence. citizen-initiated referendums or legisla-
crisis wherein aspiration of representa- Legislations like Panchayats (Extension tions or constitutional amendments, to aid
tion by “own” people consequently led to to Scheduled Areas) Act have limited electoral democracy, decrease corporate
a sense of betrayal). The present phase impact in the tribal areas with rich min- influence and increase the people’s say in
of the crisis is that of moral legitimacy, eral resources, as the state maintains its decision-making that impacts their lives.
which according to Bhargava, rekindles centralising tendency and the grip over For example, most people do not have
two contradictory impulses: impulses the natural resources. Ajay Dandekar access to safe drinking water in India.
that favour autocratic leadership, as well and Felix Padel in their respective essays The citizens of Uruguay realising the im-
as the participatory impulses. While this insist that preserving the right of locals portance of this basic necessity, voted for
book builds a case to check the increas- over natural resources is the way to ad- an initiative that demanded that access
ing anti-democratic impulses, its main dress the polarisation between people to drinking water be enshrined in their
concern remains exploration of spaces and the state apparatus and its policies constitution as a human right and all
and structures that can increase the ca- in such areas. For this, a new paradigm resources of water extraction, production
pacities of actual participation and inter- of development is required, which does and commercialisation be managed on
vention of the ordinary people in the not consider displacement and disposses- principles of sustainability by the state
sphere of democracy and policymaking. sion as inevitable side effects. Dandekar with the people’s participation (p 315).
illustrates how even after the introduc-
Vulnerability and Transformation tion of new forest acts, seeking to over- Communication as a Right
The first section of the book, “Voices from turn the colonial policy of timber extrac- An important concern of one section of
Below,” highlights the role of civil society tion, the same demands of the economy articles in this book is to enable the
organisations in building social capital continue to be made in a “democratic spread of democracy through the diffu-
of groups that are structurally rendered manner,” “thus ensuring that the demo- sion of communication technologies, in
vulnerable, like those of migrants and cratic process was stymied” (p 78) and information and in financial services.
tribals. Amrita Sharma and Rajeev has been infused with regressive con- Mudgal proposes “citizenship communi-
Khandelwal address the crucial issue of tent. The observations of these authors cation” as a new paradigm in the place
the lack of support structures for migrants have been given new meaning by the re- of development communication that
and describe how their organisation is cent movement of Pathalgadi, when the aided imperialist agendas. He emphasis-
attempting to build collective structures Adivasi villages in Jharkhand declared es that communication be recognised as
of migrants to provide them with a voice. their gram sabhas as the real constitu- a right, embodied in the form of right to
Soumaya Kidambi and Akansha Yadav tional body and a basis for self-rule, information (RTI), public hearings, and
build a case for the institutionalisation while banning the exploitative outsiders social audits, to ensure transparency and
of social audits for MGNREGS, so that to emphasise their right over the jal,
the poor could not only monitor the jungle, jameen (water, forest, land).
delivery of services by the government This book, while acknowledging the available at
departments but also oppose the capture limitations of elections, suggests the Gyan Deep
of benefits by the powerful few. Sanjeer instruments to channel people’s voices Near Firayalal Chowk, Ranchi 834 001,
Alam questions the fictitious sense of the in impacting transformations. Sanjay Jharkhand
Ph: 2205640 (0651)
democratisation of the schooling system, Kumar, on the basis of extensive field
24 OCTOBER 20, 2018 vol lIiI no 42 EPW Economic & Political Weekly
BOOK REVIEW

accountability of governance and to en- through screen readers and excessive in the resistance against the appropria-
able politicisation of people. In addition, indulgence can “trap them within an tion of the legacy of progressive thought
there are tools like activity mapping, identity, which is tied to nothing but the and peoples’ struggles, one has to be
which can enable participation and com- image,” and does not come “without a wary of political parties and NGOs that
munication at each level of governance drain of an inner self” (p 203). are not only hijacking these movements
and between different government depart- but are generating knowledge to lever-
ments and citizens, as Vincy Davis de- Activism and Participation age corporate interests.
scribes. Ram Bhatt persuades the reader Mihir Shah in his essay correctly pins it While “claiming India” through activ-
to also stake a right on “spectrum,” and down both theoretically and empirically, ism and participation, this book indicates
to see it as a common resource and an is- when he says that the desired transfor- the different meanings that activism
sue of “public interest,” not to be left out mations in the sphere of democracy re- and participation tend to assume. Activ-
of the purview of citizen’s rights by leav- quire day-to-day struggle and working ism is as much about protesting and mo-
ing it as a technical matter. Devi Leena out of feasible tasks by the civil society bilising people, as it is about making
Bose and Susan Koshy take this concern and a pragmatic engagement with the ground for action, questioning existing
forward by showing the social value of state. These tasks could include social knowledge systems and thinking of cul-
spectrum in the form of community radio, audits, maintenance of water systems by tures other than those that have been
especially when information is to be the local people, running of government designated as “normal” and given. It is
delivered to the “last-mile” in local lan- schemes like the mid-day meal by the about building a “counter-expertise” to
guage with local emphasis, in critical active involvement of parents and com- counter the claims of the “experts.”
conditions like that of the floods in munity, peoples’ use of the RTI to stake The important question that a book
Uttarakhand and the Kosi river basin in a claim on other rights, and through such as this leaves us with is how to tackle
Bihar and Nepal. all these, challenging the dominant the contradictions within which we live.
A unique feature of this book is discourse and practices. He argues (as Even as social media provides a platform
insightful and eloquent essays like that Mathew Titus also does in his essay) for for the dissenting voices, it has also be-
of Hemachandran Karah, which is a joy the importance of building “powerful come a medium for broadcasting sectari-
to read. Karah questions the discrimina- corporate institutions of the poor” to an propaganda. The WhatsApp-inspired
tion within our knowledge and cultural compete in the market, which he be- lynchings, the growing number of trolls,
systems. He dismantles the discrimina- lieves will be better than “predatory activ- attempts at controlling virtual partici-
tory frameworks that are founded on the ities of exploitative Microfinance Institu- pation and boasting of election results
binary between ability and disability. tions” (p 287). However, more impor- on the basis of media images, are throw-
This binary forms the foundation of the tantly, he highlights how civil society ing up new challenges to the society.
negative emotional and sensory presup- organisations, instead of encouraging Even as more and more seemingly dem-
positions about disability, be it a sensory people’s dependence upon them, should ocratic spaces open up to newer infor-
or cognitive disability. For example, as see their role as that of “cascading redun- mation and communication technologies,
the academic research puts a premium dancy,” of making oneself redundant over the spectre of capital is also spreading to
on observation and excludes visually time as citizens become more capable to areas that were hitherto left untouched.
challenged people from academic jobs in engage for their rights and entitlements. It is paradoxical that few NGOs depend
fields involving empirical work, it ignores The book also offers the reader with on the state for existence. Their workers
the fact that “an observer’s agency is much the voice of committed activists like at times become mere cadres of the
bigger than an ocular equipment of the Aruna Roy, who have been involved in political parties. Often when corporate
eyes” (p 206). Significantly, he suggests social movements over long decades. money enters NGOs, they end up becom-
how research in Indian Sign Language Roy in her article shares the history of ing rationalising machines that advocate
could open up newer thinking about the the struggle that led to coming into be- developmental projects at any cost. Such
oral and visual phenomenon to break ing of the RTI law, so that people evolved organisations at times even present
new ground in fields like that of the a system “where accountability is trans- themselves as activist groups, but wit-
philosophy of language, communication lated into a question asked and an an- tingly or unwittingly end up weakening
studies, acoustemology, visual aesthet- swer extracted, to ensure credibility and organic social movements. Given these
ics and body studies (p 199). integrity” (p 264). It is important to realities, how capable will these organi-
While few articles in this book cele- know this history, this struggle of the sations be in “biting the hand that feeds
brate the democratising of society by in- poor peasants and workers of Rajasthan, them,” as Mudgal speculates (p 16), is a
creased influence of communication tech- lest the hard-won law gets appropriated question we are left with.
nologies, Karah underlines the struggles by the middle class, who then wish to tutor
in a spectacle-seeking mediated society. the poor to use it (p 272). She underlines Shruti Jain (shrutijnu09@gmail.com) is
Remaining outside of the images “reduces the centrality of corporate money in the an assistant professor with the Centre for
blind people’s real-life chances.” It creates debate about corruption and govern- Development Practice and Research,
isolation. However, accessing the images ance. Her reminders are important, as, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Patna.

Economic & Political Weekly EPW OCTOBER 20, 2018 vol lIiI no 42 25

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