Popular Democracy and the Politics of Caste

Satendra Kumar is a social anthropologist and senior researcher at the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies, University of Zurich, Switzerland. He received his Ph.D. from Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India. He works across the fields of sociology and anthropology of caste, class, agrarian political economy, and political anthropology. His research investigates how marginalized groups understand and engage with politics and the state in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, North India. He has been awarded the British Academy Fellowship at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences, UK. He has also been a Visiting Fellow at John Hopkins University, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, Bielefeld University, Germany, University of California, Berkeley, and Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS). He has also taught at Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, and Allahabad University, Prayagraj. He is currently Co-editor, Book Reviews Section at the Journal of Peasant Studies (JPS). His recent publications include Badalte Gaon, Badalta Dehat: Nayi Samajikta ka Uday (2018).

Introduction: Caste View of Democracy 1. The Rise of Caste and Popular Democracy in North India 2. Caste and Region: Gujjars in Western Uttar Pradesh 3. Myth, Heroes and Hi(stories): Re-imagining of Gujjar Community 4. Rise of Shri Devnarayan Bhagvan: From Lineage Deities to Caste Deity 5. Hero-Gods, Kings and ‘Rebels’ in the Making of Gujjar Political Culture 6. ‘We are a Martial Caste’: Gujjars’ Understanding of Democracy Conclusion: Caste and the Anthropology of Democracy