Academic contribution
In anticipation of the upcoming Indian National Elections in 2009, this conference on ‘experiencing the state’ arrives at a potentially significant political juncture. It represents a moment for reflection on the impact that the transition of governments, from the NDA to the UPA – left coalition and associated processes of growth and neo liberalisation has had on India’s marginalised populations and possibilities for citizenship. In the context of the UPA- left coalition rule, a range of developmental and social policies have been re-assessed, or even formulated anew. Including for instance, the Sachar committee report, SEZs, RTI, NREGA, and Tribal Rights Act, policies on reservations amongst others. Under the conditions of neoliberalism and developmentalism these policies differentially impact sections of India’s society. It is therefore essential to discuss the short, medium and long term effects of policies on marginalised groups without forgetting the capacity for agency these groups also engender in shaping the trajectory of such policies.
As the Indian ‘state’ redefines its economic and social agenda, facets of its identity, as well as its relations with ‘society’ are also being reconfigured and renegotiated. This conference contributes to a conceptual re-examination of the idea of the ‘state’ as a conflation of various players and interest groups within a polity. It emphasises the need to understand the everyday operations of a political system as a ‘developmental state’ from the perspective of how the actions of this ‘state’ are differentially received, experienced and reacted to by the diverse spectrums of marginalised communities.
The interface between the state and society is progressively understood as a complex and ‘messy’ site of interactions which occur to differing extents between state agencies and various sections of society. Critically, the influences of state agencies do not operate within a vacuum, but are shaped and challenged by the society with which it interacts (Fuller and Benei 2003). At the margins of mainstream society; ethnic minorities, tribal groups, displaced people, the poor, linguistic minorities, disabled, gays, unemployed, women and exiled groups have typically struggled to represent their voices at the state level, have their needs recognised and their livelihood requirements met in everyday society. In looking at identity and representation, the concept of ‘civil society’ comes under scrutiny, so as to include the roles and interactions of a spectrum of political actors (including political parties, trade unions etc) on the issues of mobilisation and marginalisation.
This conference will explore the processes, interactions and impacts of primarily developmental state agencies on these marginalised groups, critically considering not only how marginalised groups are included and occluded in state political processes, but the extent to which their responses to state actions feed reiteratively into the political process. The interaction between the ‘state’ and ‘society’ is examined through the more comprehensive and embodied lens of ‘experience’. This productively critiques Corbridge et al.’s (2005) ocular exploration of the state by seeking to examine the role that experience plays in contextualising and shaping individual and collective identity and agency. In this way ‘experience’ is critically shaped by individual and collective perceptions (perceived reality) and discourses (group perceptions and beliefs about reality) which directly inform the nature of engagement, agency and action (lived reality).
In anticipation of the upcoming Indian National Elections in 2009, this conference on ‘experiencing the state’ arrives at a potentially significant political juncture. It represents a moment for reflection on the impact that the transition of governments, from the NDA to the UPA – left coalition and associated processes of growth and neo liberalisation has had on India’s marginalised populations and possibilities for citizenship. In the context of the UPA- left coalition rule, a range of developmental and social policies have been re-assessed, or even formulated anew. Including for instance, the Sachar committee report, SEZs, RTI, NREGA, and Tribal Rights Act, policies on reservations amongst others. Under the conditions of neoliberalism and developmentalism these policies differentially impact sections of India’s society. It is therefore essential to discuss the short, medium and long term effects of policies on marginalised groups without forgetting the capacity for agency these groups also engender in shaping the trajectory of such policies.
As the Indian ‘state’ redefines its economic and social agenda, facets of its identity, as well as its relations with ‘society’ are also being reconfigured and renegotiated. This conference contributes to a conceptual re-examination of the idea of the ‘state’ as a conflation of various players and interest groups within a polity. It emphasises the need to understand the everyday operations of a political system as a ‘developmental state’ from the perspective of how the actions of this ‘state’ are differentially received, experienced and reacted to by the diverse spectrums of marginalised communities.
The interface between the state and society is progressively understood as a complex and ‘messy’ site of interactions which occur to differing extents between state agencies and various sections of society. Critically, the influences of state agencies do not operate within a vacuum, but are shaped and challenged by the society with which it interacts (Fuller and Benei 2003). At the margins of mainstream society; ethnic minorities, tribal groups, displaced people, the poor, linguistic minorities, disabled, gays, unemployed, women and exiled groups have typically struggled to represent their voices at the state level, have their needs recognised and their livelihood requirements met in everyday society. In looking at identity and representation, the concept of ‘civil society’ comes under scrutiny, so as to include the roles and interactions of a spectrum of political actors (including political parties, trade unions etc) on the issues of mobilisation and marginalisation.
This conference will explore the processes, interactions and impacts of primarily developmental state agencies on these marginalised groups, critically considering not only how marginalised groups are included and occluded in state political processes, but the extent to which their responses to state actions feed reiteratively into the political process. The interaction between the ‘state’ and ‘society’ is examined through the more comprehensive and embodied lens of ‘experience’. This productively critiques Corbridge et al.’s (2005) ocular exploration of the state by seeking to examine the role that experience plays in contextualising and shaping individual and collective identity and agency. In this way ‘experience’ is critically shaped by individual and collective perceptions (perceived reality) and discourses (group perceptions and beliefs about reality) which directly inform the nature of engagement, agency and action (lived reality).
