Field Notes on Democracy

electronic resource

English language

Published April 11, 2009 by Haymarket Books.

ISBN:
978-1-60846-005-2
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OCLC Number:
659861976

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3 stars (3 reviews)

Combining fierce conviction, deft political analysis, and beautiful writing, this is the essential new book from Arundhati Roy. This series of essays examines the dark side of democracy in contemporary India. It looks closely at how religious majoritarianism, cultural nationalism, and neo-fascism simmer just under the surface of a country that projects itself as the world's largest democracy.Roy writes about how the combination of Hindu Nationalism and India's neo-liberal economic reforms which began their journey together in the early 1990s are now turning India into a police state. She describes the systematic marginalization of religious and ethnic minorities, the rise of terrorism, and the massive scale of displacement and dispossession of the poor by predatory corporations. She also offers a brilliant account of the August 2008 uprising of the people of Kashmir against India's military occupation and an analysis of the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai.

7 editions

Review of 'Field notes on democracy' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A stirring introduction to the politics and society of India. It's hard not to be moved by the two or three key issues Roy focuses on - the corruption and Hindu "Nationalism" especially. But, like many other narratives which preach to the converted, I feel it's probably far too strident in its tone to convince those who disagree to come around to her positions. Perhaps when read individually in their original context as essays and columns, they may have been more appreciated. But in the end, aside from stirring my interest in the issues she raises, there's a sense of dissatisfaction with the lack of resolution.