Events

Dr. Anshuman Behera

Dr. Anshuman Behera is an Associate Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru. His research and teaching interests are in Democracy, Development and Governance, Political violence, political theory, political process in South Asia, and Conflict Studies. Two of his upcoming books are: Negotiating Development at the Margins: Natural Resources, Conflicts, and People’s Movements in Odisha and Maoist Insurgency, State and People: Overlooked Issues and Unaddressed Grievances (Both are published by Routledge, London).

Abstract

Fraternity, an understudied area (academically and otherwise), is often understood through an idealist framework. On the contrary, the Indian constitution engages ‘Fraternity’ in close connection with ‘Liberty’ and ‘Equality’. With the rise of majoritarian politics leading to growing vertical solidarity and ethnic conflicts in India, the essence of fraternity seems to have diluted substantially in recent years. Citing the reference to the ongoing ethnic strife between the Kukis and the Meiteis in Manipur, this lecture reasons with the theoretical, constitutional, and legal constructs of fraternity in the Indian context. In doing so, the lecture interrogates the competitive majoritarian politics and growing vertical solidarity among the social groups. This lecture argues that the identity assertions by the social groups are well complemented by the policies of successive governments sustaining the ethnic conflicts in India. At a time when the discourse of politics is seen through electoral gain and loss and consolidated through the inevitability of social divisions, this lecture attempts to make a case for revisiting discussions on 'Fraternity'