ABSTRACT

Gujarat is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home State and training ground. His Gujarat Model is projected as growth and development oriented. This article shows the actual Gujarat Model as top-down, favouring big business and undergirded by violent Hindu nationalism. The cult of the strongman leader – directly attuned to his people and above the corruption of politics as usual – rounds off Gujarat’s authoritarian populist playbook. While the antecedents of this playbook are found in recent history, natural and political crises entrenched the Gujarat Model. The leader and his New Gujarat have since been popularised across scale, including nationally. Moving in the opposite direction, the article traces aggressively promoted business and violently repressed dissent in a sub-sub-national district of Gujarat. It then turns to the district’s village hinterland, focusing on those who witness and occasionally participate in the Gujarat Model’s politics and economics. Here the article finds capitalist development built on precarious labour and jobless growth. It also observes the much-feted Hindu nation riven by contradictions of caste, class, region and gender. Despite such cracks, deepening state authoritarianism, and the populist connect with a larger-than-life leader endure – for now – in the absence of substantive alternatives.

摘要

古吉拉特邦是印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪的家乡和训练场。他的古吉拉特模型被预测为以增长和发展为导向。本文展示了自上而下的实际古吉拉特模式，有利于大企业，并以暴力的印度教民族主义为基础。对强人领袖的崇拜——像往常一样直接迎合他的人民，超越政治的腐败——完善了古吉拉特邦的威权民粹主义剧本。虽然这本剧本的前身可以在近代历史中找到，但自然和政治危机使古吉拉特邦模式根深蒂固。此后，这位领导人和他的新古吉拉特邦在包括全国在内的范围内得到了广泛的普及。文章朝相反的方向发展，在古吉拉特邦的一个次国家级地区积极促进商业并暴力镇压异议。然后转向该地区的村庄腹地，重点关注那些见证并偶尔参与古吉拉特模式政治和经济的人。本文在这里发现了建立在不稳定的劳动力和失业增长之上的资本主义发展。它还观察到了因种姓、阶级、地区和性别的矛盾而备受追捧的印度教国家。尽管存在这些裂痕，但在没有实质性替代方案的情况下，国家威权主义不断加深，民粹主义者与一位具有传奇色彩的领导人的联系仍然存在——目前。