In this Book

buy this book Buy This Book in Print
summary

Chronic Hindu-Muslim rioting in India has created a situation in which communal violence is both so normal and so varied in its manifestations that it would seem to defy effective analysis. Paul R. Brass, one of the world’s preeminent experts on South Asia, has tracked more than half a century’s riots in the north Indian city of Aligarh. This book is the culmination of a lifetime’s thinking about the dynamics of institutionalized intergroup violence in northern India, covering the last three decades of British rule as well as the entire post-Independence history of Aligarh.

Brass exposes the mechanisms by which endemic communal violence is deliberately provoked and sustained. He convincingly implicates the police, criminal elements, members of Aligarh’s business community, and many of its leading political actors in the continuous effort to “produce” communal violence. Much like a theatrical production, specific roles are played, with phases for rehearsal, staging, and interpretation. In this way, riots become key historical markers in the struggle for political, economic, and social dominance of one community over another.

In the course of demonstrating how riots have been produced in Aligarh, Brass offers a compelling argument for abandoning or refining a number of widely held views about the supposed causes of communal violence, not just in India but throughout the rest of the world. An important addition to the literature on Indian and South Asian politics, this book is also an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the interplay of nationalism, ethnicity, religion, and collective violence, wherever it occurs.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Frontmatter
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-viii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Abbreviations Used in This Book
  2. pp. ix-x
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Maps, Figures, and Tables
  2. pp. xi-xiv
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Preface and Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xv-xix
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part I: Introduction
  1. 1. Explaining Communal Violence
  2. pp. 5-40
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part II: Communal Riots in India and Aligarh
  1. 2. Aligarh: Politics, Population, and Social Organization
  2. pp. 43-59
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 3. Hindu-Muslim Violence in India and Aligarh
  2. pp. 60-115
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 4. The Great Aligarh Riots of December 1990 and January 1991
  2. pp. 116-131
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 5. The Control of Communal Conflict in Aligarh
  2. pp. 132-146
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part III: Demographics, Social, and Economic Factors in the Production of Riots
  1. 6. The Geography and Demography of Riots
  2. pp. 149-198
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 7. The Economics of Riots: Economic Competition and Victimization
  2. pp. 199-216
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part IV: Riots and the Political Process
  1. 8. Riots and Elections
  2. pp. 219-239
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 9. The Practice of Communal Politics
  2. pp. 240-261
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 10. Communalization and Polarization: Selected Constituency-Wise Results for Aligarh Elections
  2. pp. 262-285
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 11. Communal Solidarity and Division at the Local Level
  2. pp. 286-295
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 12. The Decline of Communal Violence and the Transformation of Electoral Competition
  2. pp. 296-302
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part V: The Process of Blame Displacement
  1. 13. Riot Interpretation, Blame Displacement, and the Communal Discourse
  2. pp. 305-327
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 14. Police Views of Hindu-Muslim Violence
  2. pp. 328-343
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 15. The Role of the Media
  2. pp. 344-352
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part VI: Conclusion
  1. 16. The Persistence of Hindu-Muslim Violence: The Dynamics of Riot Production
  2. pp. 355-384
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Postscript : Aligarh and Gujarat
  2. pp. 385-392
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendices
  2. pp. 393-412
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Notes
  2. pp. 413-462
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Index
  2. pp. 463-474
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Index to "Mohallas"
  2. pp. 475-476
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.