Menon, A. (2022) Debunking Hindutva appropriation of decolonial thought. Interfere: Journal for Critical Thought and Radical Politics, 3. 3. pp. 36-57. ISSN 2634-0909
Abstract
With the increasing popularity of the terms ‘decolonising’ and ‘decolonial’, some movements across the world have co-opted the terms in a move to appear radical, progressive and/or anti-west. In this paper, I highlight this trend in the Hindutva movement and its recent scholarship which presents the far-Right Hindu nationalist movement as decolonial, with a particular focus on J. Sai Deepak’s recent work (2021). I draw out key themes found within this scholarship – invoking an anticolonial sentiment; making the case for a return to Hindu ‘indigeneity’; and invisibilising the exclusion of marginalised groups through othering and sanctioning violence against those perceived as threats. In turn, I provide a critique of this literature by engaging decolonial and postcolonial concepts, emphasising the misappropriation of the concept of ‘indigeneity’, the reinforcement of colonial binaries, the erasure of indigenous feminist literature and ignoring anti-caste scholarship, suggesting that these moves are rooted in a highly selective masculinist reading of decolonial literature. I argue that, because of the above, the Hindutva movement and its literature are not decolonial. Rather, I argue that this reinforcement of colonial binaries and hierarchies supports the coloniality of the Indian nation-state, justifying its violence against minorities. In the final section, I reflect on, and suggest, some decolonial possibilities for the postcolonial nationstate of India.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ |
Keywords: | decolonial theory; Hindutva; India |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Politics and International Relations (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 14 Mar 2024 10:12 |
Last Modified: | 14 Mar 2024 14:00 |
Published Version: | https://interferejournal.org/disrupting-colonialit... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics (CAPPE), University of Brighton |
Refereed: | Yes |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:209837 |
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