Hindutva in Western societies: Entanglements and paradoxes

The authors’ main focus here is on analysing the ways in which the Indian diaspora has exhibited agency in repurposing the ‘Hindutva’ idea of India for Western societies. They look at how the Indian diaspora actively facilitates both the global legitimisation of Hindutva policies under Modi’s leadership in India, and also performatively creates a more homogeneous identity for the Indian diaspora. They foreground the role of youth in university spaces; the epistemic contestations against recognition of caste as a protected characteristic in anti-discrimination legislation; and the use of spectacle, technology and spirituality as key resources for diasporic Hindutva interventions in political spaces in the UK and the USA. Finally, they highlight the paradoxical politics of two prominent right-wing female political leaders of Indian diasporic origin in the West to argue how these women have embodied a racialised discourse intertwined with cultural nationalism, as a way of exercising power and influence.