Caste Politics in Bihar: In Historical Continuum. (July 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ankit, Rakesh
• Is Part Of: History and sociology of South Asia. Volume 12:Number 2(2018)
• Page Start: 115
• Page End: 136
• Publication Date: 2018-07
• Subjects: Bihar -- social movement -- Lalu Prasad Yadav; South Asia -- Periodicals; 954.005
• DOI: 10.1177/2230807518767968
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2230-8075

Abstract

Abstract: This article provides a long-term narrative of movements for social change in Bihar, precipitated by the steady rise to political power by the Backward Classes/Castes in the state, since 1989. Locating this moment in a longer momentum of struggle since the 1920s, it probes the antecedents of recent social change in Bihar politics. Contextualising this process within a long recessional, it traces a larger democratic cycle of empowerment going back to the early twentieth century. The article attempts the historicisation of Bihar politics by drawing upon a variety of sources—from official records to newspapers—and supplementing them with relevant secondary literature.