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Politics and government in the “Hindi heartland” India: reading Raag Darbari
India Review ( IF 0.938 ) Pub Date : 2021-09-16 , DOI: 10.1080/14736489.2021.1958584
Ashutosh Kumar 1
Affiliation  

ABSTRACT

The paper reflects on how feudal, caste-ridden and corruption-infested rural India had its first brush with the newly introduced democratic and governmental administrative institutions, culture and practices, much of the latter inherited from the late colonial times. It does it by visiting Shivpalganj, a fictious village in the “Hindi heartland” region, as depicted in the celebrated novel Raag Darbari, published more than five decades ago. Reading the satirical text shows vividly how the institutions were subverted by the local politics that was infested by factionalism, corruption and patronage. It also exposes the misconception that the bureaucratic “system” inherited from the British raj could be “adapted” for very different purpose of facilitating development and welfare than for what it was set up originally. The essay argues that despite significant social, political and economic transitions that have taken place over the last five decades, one finds a great degree of similarity in the way the “system” continues to work in the region which still in many ways represents “most of India.” It looks into the possible explanations for the continuity and change, if any.



中文翻译:

印度“印地语中心地带”的政治和政府:阅读 Raag Darbari

摘要

这篇论文反映了封建、种姓和腐败横行的印度农村是如何与新引入的民主和政府行政机构、文化和实践发生的第一次接触,后者大部分是从殖民时代晚期继承而来的。它通过访问位于“印地语中心地带”地区的虚构村庄 Shivpalganj 来实现,如著名小说Raag Darbari 所述,发表于五年多前。阅读讽刺文字生动地展示了制度是如何被派系主义、腐败和庇护所侵扰的地方政治所颠覆的。它还揭示了一种误解,即从英国拉吉继承的官僚“制度”可以“适应”以促进发展和福利,而不是最初建立的目的。这篇文章认为,尽管在过去的 50 年里发生了重大的社会、政治和经济转型,但人们发现该“系统”在该地区继续运作的方式有很大程度的相似性,该地区在许多方面仍然代表了“最印度的。” 它研究了连续性和变化的可能解释(如果有的话)。

更新日期:2021-09-17
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