Demography and Democracy deals with different aspects of hegemony, nationalism, criteria for citizenship and democracy. In the process this book examines complexities of civil society involving culture, class, politics and the relations between civil society and the state. Nationalism in plural terms, decolonisation, as well as analysis of ideology, including contemporary political ideologies, are the overarching themes of this book. The author explores the complexities of modern-day nationalisms from the perspective of marxist anti-colonial feminism. Focusing on ethnic nationalism and the racialised nature of imperialism of our time, the volume draws on examples from India, Israel, United States and its allies. Cultural political identities of the Hindu right, Zionism and other religious fundamentalisms are discussed in detail.

The author explores the connections between ideology and politics across regional national spaces. She shows the overlapping features between Hindutva in India and Zionism in Israel. This involves an examination of the constitution of cultural/ethnic identities in terms of the construction of the self and ‘the other’. The essays also carry on a sustained analysis of how patriarchy provides a taken-for-granted mediation through which the self and ‘other’ relationships are constituted.

The volume will be useful to students and scholars of sociology, political science, women’s studies and history, as well as those interested in contemporary South Asia.