Unit information: Populism and Politics in India in 2019/20

Unit name	Populism and Politics in India
Unit code	POLI30035
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Wyatt
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit investigates populist mobilization as a recurrent feature of Indian politics. The Congress Party used nationalist ideas and ideology to justify a strong centre in a weak federal system, which created space for strong national leaders. Regional political movements opposed Congress with alternative populist-nationalist narratives. Political and economic crises from the late 1980s enabled profound changes in India. Religious nationalists attacked the secular ideology of Congress. Congress countered the turn towards identity politics by promoting economic reform. When this failed as a political strategy, Congress implemented populist welfare measures. Opposition movements and parties responded by developing populist discourses centred on allegations of elite corruption. Students will be encouraged to think critically about the populist strategies and ideologies employed by political forces in India. The wider literature on populism will be introduced and insights from Indian cases will be used to assess the usefulness of that literature.

The unit aims are:

• To introduce students to different approaches to studying populism
• To develop a critical understanding of Indian politics
• To help students develop their advanced writing and presentation skills

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:

• demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of the ideas, institutions and practices that define politics of modern India
• demonstrate a clear understanding of key theoretical and comparative literature on populism
• critically assess the extent of, and limits to, populist strategies in the politics of modern India
• interpret populist ideologies and strategies in relation to ‘everyday politics’ in India
• integrate empirical evidence into theoretically and conceptually grounded arguments and comparative assessments of Indian populism

Teaching Information

1 hour lecture and 2 hour seminar per week

Teaching methods will include lectures, Q + A, group discussions, critical readings of written and visual texts, and formative oral presentations.

Assessment Information

Summative essay 1 – 1500 words (25% weighting - assesses learning outcomes 1, 2 and 5)

Summative essay 2 – 2500 words (75% weighting - assesses all learning outcomes)

Reading and References

K. Adeney & A. Wyatt (2010), Contemporary India, Basingstoke: Palgrave.

C. Jaffrelot & L. Tillin (2017), ‘Populism in India’, in C. Rovira Kaltwasser, P. Taggart, P. Ochoa Espejo & P. Ostiguy (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Populism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

C. Rovira Kaltwasser, P. Taggart, P. Ochoa Espejo & P. Ostiguy (eds) (2017), The Oxford Handbook of Populism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

B. Stanley (2008), ‘The Thin Ideology of Populism’, Journal of Political Ideologies, 13(1), 95-110.

N. Subramanian (2007), ‘Populism in India’, SAIS Review, 27/1, pp. 81-91.

A. Wyatt (2013), ‘Populism and Politics in Contemporary Tamil Nadu’, Contemporary South Asia, 21/4, pp.365-381.