Majoritarian Nationalisms in South Asia

• In Event: Nationalism, Communalism, and Hindu-Muslim Relations in South Asia

Abstract

This paper proposes a framework to understand the differences between majoritarian nationalisms in South Asia. As in the rest of the world, South Asia has witnessed the increasing electoral success of leaders who have deliberately prioritised the protection and assertion of ‘their’ community at the expense of the ‘other(s)’. This has occurred within formally democratic states. Our framework situates majoritarian nationalism within the wider typology of state nationalisms – through a spectrum of eliminationist nationalism to pluralist nationalism – and applies this to understanding religious majoritarianism, linguistic majoritarianism and territorial majoritarianism in the states of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. We focus on the degree of documentary and decorative recognition given by the state to non-core communities and the cost to the non-core communities of being ‘included’ within this strategy. This enables us to distinguish different types of majoritarian nationalism. This will enrich our understanding of a global phenomenon.

Authors

• Katharine Adeney, University of Nottingham

• Wilfried Swenden, University of Edinburgh