The new nexus between neoliberalism and majoritarianism has altered the conventional dynamic between the desire for security and the aspiration for freedom, the hope for autonomy and the compulsions of responsibility, the comfort of community and the rights of the individual. Even as the idea of citizenship is hollowed out by neoliberalism, the majoritarianism operating alongside claims to foster a sense of community. Though majoritarianism curbs civil liberties, it does not impose limitations on the freedom to consume. In fact, cultural majoritarianism requires neoliberal reforms precisely because they provide for political practices (that augment majoritarianism by moving away from the language of rights and entitlements; from citizen to consumer) to be redefined.

This chapter analyses Sikkim’s political landscape in the shadow of the 2019 general election, paying special attention to young people’s participation as both voters and political candidates. In Sikkim the 2019 national election was largely overshadowed by state-level assembly elections which culminated with the end of the twenty-five-year term of Chief Minister Pawan K. Chamling of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF). However, celebrations over the defeat of Chamling and the SDF at the hands of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) were marred by local anxieties and anger at the maiden entry of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) into Sikkim’s political landscape through backdoor channels and negotiations with both the SKM and SDF. In this chapter we analyse local discontent by centring the demands and desires of educated young people in Sikkim, situating their concerns within the wider context of the complex relationship between the Himalayan borderlands and ‘mainland’ India.

This chapter examines a crucial period in Kashmir’s electoral history. It investigates the period between 2016 and 2019 – from a game-changing political alliance to the general election – which marked a paradigm shift in voter choices in Kashmir. Given the region’s turbulent past, the 2019 election altered the region’s political future. While the 2019 election turnout itself and voter attitudes reflected the electorate’s anger, betrayal and hurt, the period in the run-up to the election witnessed unprecedented jihadist and civilian violence – events which ultimately culminated in the revocation of the region’s autonomy. This chapter therefore examines the raw voter sentiments of this region which, while theoretically being pivotal to any election, remained inconsequential to Kashmir’s political narrative. Primary data is based on semi-structured interviews that were carried out across south and north Kashmir, during and after the 2019 Pulwama blast and in the run-up to the election. Due to the fear of surveillance, participants’ names have been anonymised where requested. Secondary data in the chapter has been sourced from the Election Commission of India, and the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP). Through this qualitative and quantitative data, the chapter examines comparative voter sentiments through the years, interspersed with its violent history and consideration of why the electorate chose as they did.

Ever since South Asia won its independence from British rule, the former princely state of Kashmir has represented a major source of tension in terms of both relations between India and Pakistan, and India’s own internal political arrangements. This chapter accordingly explores the historical roots of the twenty-first-century political passions that Kashmir continues to generate. By looking at political developments that took place during and after 1947–48, it contextualises the intense present-day challenges that Kashmir still generates for the region and its people.

This chapter explores the consequences of the 2019 parliamentary elections on Muslim politics in India in the wake of the remarkable victory by the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The chapter predicts a gloomy future for the secular polity in general, but affirms Muslim voters’ secular choices in their voting behaviour. Indian Muslims, it argues, are feeling more despondent and marginalised owing to the aggressive pursuit of the BJP’s majoritarian Hindutva agenda. While Muslim parties such as the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) are seeking to present themselves as alternatives, Muslim voters have remained loyal to secular alternatives by voting mostly for various regional secular parties. The chapter discusses the BJP’s strategy of exclusion of Muslim candidates, its polarisation politics and the choices before Indian Muslim voters. It concludes that the pursuit of the majoritarian agenda is going to increase further violence against and exclusion of Muslims – and recognises that the general commitment of Muslims to remain integral to inclusive mainstream politics is still very high, which is why Muslim parties would have no future in Indian democracy.

At the 2019 general election in India, the BJP succeeded in gaining more of the Dalit, Adivasi and OBC vote. This chapter highlights the everyday politics of social oppression and exploitation faced by Dalits and Adivasis in India. India is a society of graded inequalities, with Adivasis and Dalits – who make up 25% of the population – at the bottom of the economic hierarchy. They continue to fare worse than all other groups on all main social and economic standard indicators. The focus here is on how historical relations of oppression of Dalits and Adivasis have been given new life and new meanings in modern India. Contrary to the expectations of the founders of Independent India, caste as a social category and caste-based discrimination have not withered away. Modi’s regime has exacerbated this, but the modern oppression of Dalits and Adivasis was in place well before the BJP came to power: the previous Congress Party-led governments have also been part and parcel of this development.

Extra Help gives you the logic behind the noun endings, vastly reducing the number of endings you need to learn. Extra Material introduces some of the different jobs that the Greek genitive case can do.

This opening discussion sets out the ways in which this book will examine the extreme right. It offers concise definitions of key terms including far right, radical right, extreme right and fascism, and presents an overview of the book’s chapter structure. Finally, it starts to develop the argument that the British extreme right is rooted in British culture and identity, and also that the issues it poses do need to be addressed by politicians, and wider civil society.

In the Extra Help we invite you to think about ‘reading Greek with understanding’ rather than translating. In the Extra Material you will meet the major contexts in which the accusative case can appear.

Although rarely acknowledged, Buddhist monastics are among the most active lawmakers and jurists in Asia, operating sophisticated networks of courts and constitutions while also navigating – and shaping – secular legal systems. This chapter surveys the entanglements of Buddhist monastic law and state law in Sri Lanka while also providing a general overview of Sri Lanka as a multi-religious, multi-legal site. It introduces readers to the key methods and arguments advanced in this book, including arguments about how and why one should analyse legal pluralism ‘as a practice.’

In this chapter, we will examine the Old Testament’s role in religious communities as an authoritative revelation from God – the concept of “scripture” common to the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These texts hardly began as the books that now comprise the Bible; rather, what we will discover is a lengthy, complex development of authoritative texts from oral to written to canon.

This chapter will take us inside the ancient world of the Old Testament’s formation. Words, considered powerful, were painstakingly preserved through centuries in the hands of anonymous authors and editors, scribes and scholars. Texts were collected into books and went through a process of use and standardization by the ancient Israelites, beginning as early as the tenth century bceand lasting through the Babylonian exile and beyond – emerging finally in the canonical form we know today as the Old Testament.