GOV 262 CONTEMPORARY INDIAN POLITICS

An examination of the successes and challenges of contemporary Indian political institutions. The course begins with an overview of Indian political development from the end of World War I to the end of the Cold War, and moves to developments in Indian politics over the last three decades, a period marked by increasing urbanization, economic liberalization, financial globalization, and the ascendance of rightwing Hindu authoritarianism. The course considers the qualities and consequences of such changes in historical and comparative context, paying special attention to distributive justice: how political and economic gains have been distributed, and how well ordinary Indian citizens and members of marginalized groups have fared.