Centre for Historical Studies
School of Social Sciences
organising a lecture on
Authoritarian Shadows
Indian Independence and the Problem of Democratisation
by
Ravi Ahuja
University of Göttingen
CHS Library, 3pm
2 April, 2018
Abstract: This lecture, first held at the German History Congress in 2016, discusses historical roots of present-day authoritarian tendencies in India. Focusing on the crucial years preceding and following the declaration of Indian Independence the lecture distinguishes three heterogeneous, often competing but sometimes allying potential sources of authoritarianism in India. The religio-nativist Right, law-and-order conservatism and the technocratic dirigisme of "social engineers" and planners differed from each other fundamentally in several aspects. In the early years of Indian parliamentary democracy all of them underwent crucial transformations. They were thus not simply vestiges of an authoritarian colonial past or mere imports of splendid "achievements" of European civilisation. In their renewed form they were the paradoxical product of the very process of democratisation that decolonisation had made possible. However, authoritarianism did not become the defining feature of the post-colonial state, where an uneven yet developable parliamentary democracy could strike deep roots. As long as these shadows remain separated, democratic counterforces can measure up to them. When they merge and reinforce each other, especially when coalitions of the nativist extreme right and conservative authoritarianism are formed, the danger is considerable. The recent past has seen the emergence of such a coalition, but also tensions that may undermine its sustainability.
About the Speaker: Professor.Ravi Ahuja has worked on various aspects of India’s social history from 18th to 20th century including urban history, the history of infrastructure and the social history of war. His research interests have increasingly moved towards contemporary history. Current research projects examine the social history of South Asian seafarers and the political history of labour in the mid-twentieth century. After teaching at the South Asia Institute in Heidelberg and conducting research at the Centre for Modern Oriental Studies in Berlin he joined the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London as Professor of Modern South Asian History. In 2009 he moved to the Centre for Modern Indian Studies at the University of Göttingen as its founding director in 2009, where he continues to chair the research group on Modern Indian History.
