The Event and Democracy

Chapter 1 examines the significance of India’s constitution as both a democracy and a republic and the force of B. R. Ambedkar’s ideas on the necessity for “democracy in social life” alongside the institutions of formal democracy. It is the first study that draws attention to India’s credentials as a republic as a way of understanding its democracy. The chapter introduces the site of this study and the linkages between agrarian and democratic values. Methodologically, it shows the importance of using the approaches of the Manchester School in India (hitherto unexplored) and the value this adds to our definition of what constitutes “the political.” Here, “the political” contains both agonistic and competitive tendencies on the one hand, but also reparative and cooperative impulsions. The methodology of this book, of studying electoral and non-electoral social life alongside each other, and the four key “events” of the book are also explained.