Overview

How can inequalities between groups be addressed, while at the same time sustaining common citizenship? Debating Difference offers a new approach to this key question for liberal democracies, demonstrating that argument and debate is crucial for reconciling the demands of group equality and civic unity. India offers a unique case of group-differentiated rights. Using landmark constitutional and legislative debates on minority rights and quotas, Rochana Bajpai develops a model for interpreting post-Independence group rights that hinges on the interplay between five principal normative concepts; secularism, democracy, social justice, national unity, and development. Tracing the shifting meanings of these values over time, this book demonstrates that liberal and democratic concepts are more sophisticated and widely shared in the Indian polity than is commonly believed. The author identifies the limits of Western-centric accounts of multiculturalism. She also establishes the signifi cance of political rhetoric for explanations of policy shifts and political change.

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9780198067504

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Reviews

An empirically rich and methodologically imaginative theorization of Indian debates on the place of group rights in a liberal democracy. The book makes an important contribution to the current debate on multiculturalism and shows how much Western political theory can benefit from expanding its horizon to include creative non-Western experiences. Bhikhu Parekh, Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Westminster and Member, House of Lords Rochana Bajpai has written the definitive book on group-differentiated rights in India. Bajpai makes a powerful case for viewing political rhetoric and political argument as key to the understanding of not just policy outcomes, but even the very sustenance of democratic institutions. Niraja Gopal Jayal, Professor, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University In this bold and clearly argued book, Bajpai analyses the changing place of group rights in Indias sprawling and dynamic political life. Bajpai insists on discussing liberal democratic theory through the richness of Indian political discourse since the 1940s. This book finally puts India in a central position in global debates on group rights and liberal democracy. A brilliant achievement. Thomas Blom Hansen, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies, Stanford University This challenging and sophisticated book constitutes a breakthrough on two levels. It offers a highly novel and complex interpretation of group rights in India and it does so by developing recent methodologies on conceptual analysis and ideologies. Bajpais freshness and originality will change the parameters of academic discourse. Michael Freeden, Professor of Politics, University of Oxford

Author Information

Rochana Bajpai is Lecturer, Department of Politics, SOAS, University of London.

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