Lessons from the past for the future: The definition and mobilisation of Hindu nationhood by the Hindu nationalist movement of India
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Khan, Sammyh S.
Svensson, Ted
Jogdand, Yashpal A.
Liu, James H.
Abstract / Description
Guided by a self-categorisation and social-identity framework of identity entrepreneurship (Reicher & Hopkins, 2001), and social representations theory of history (Liu & Hilton, 2005), this paper examines how the Hindu nationalist movement of India defines Hindu nationhood by embedding it in an essentialising historical narrative. The heart of the paper consists of a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) of the ideological manifestos of the Hindu nationalist movement in India, “Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?” (1928) and “We, or Our Nationhood Defined” (1939), written by two of its founding leaders – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, respectively. The texts constitute authoritative attempts to define Hindu nationhood that continue to guide the Hindu nationalist movement today. The derived themes and sub-themes indicate that the definition of Hindu nationhood largely was embedded in a narrative about its historical origins and trajectory, but also its future. More specifically, a ‘golden age’ was invoked to define the origins of Hindu nationhood, whereas a dark age in its historical trajectory was invoked to identify peoples considered to be enemies of Hindu nationhood, and thereby to legitimise their exclusion. Through its selective account of past events and its efforts to utilise this as a cohesive mobilising factor, the emergence and rise of the Hindu nationalist movement elucidate lessons that further our understanding of the rise of right-wing movements around the world today.
Keyword(s)
India Hindu nationalism Indian independence Hindu-Muslim relations entrepreneurs of identity social identity theory self-categorisation theory social representations theoryPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2017-11-13
Journal title
Journal of Social and Political Psychology
Volume
5
Issue
2
Page numbers
477–511
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Khan, S. S., Svensson, T., Jogdand, Y. A., & Liu, J. H. (2017). Lessons from the past for the future: The definition and mobilisation of Hindu nationhood by the Hindu nationalist movement of India. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 5(2), 477–511. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v5i2.736
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Khan, Sammyh S.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Svensson, Ted
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Jogdand, Yashpal A.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Liu, James H.
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-26T12:45:43Z
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Made available on2018-11-26T12:45:43Z
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Date of first publication2017-11-13
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Abstract / DescriptionGuided by a self-categorisation and social-identity framework of identity entrepreneurship (Reicher & Hopkins, 2001), and social representations theory of history (Liu & Hilton, 2005), this paper examines how the Hindu nationalist movement of India defines Hindu nationhood by embedding it in an essentialising historical narrative. The heart of the paper consists of a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) of the ideological manifestos of the Hindu nationalist movement in India, “Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?” (1928) and “We, or Our Nationhood Defined” (1939), written by two of its founding leaders – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, respectively. The texts constitute authoritative attempts to define Hindu nationhood that continue to guide the Hindu nationalist movement today. The derived themes and sub-themes indicate that the definition of Hindu nationhood largely was embedded in a narrative about its historical origins and trajectory, but also its future. More specifically, a ‘golden age’ was invoked to define the origins of Hindu nationhood, whereas a dark age in its historical trajectory was invoked to identify peoples considered to be enemies of Hindu nationhood, and thereby to legitimise their exclusion. Through its selective account of past events and its efforts to utilise this as a cohesive mobilising factor, the emergence and rise of the Hindu nationalist movement elucidate lessons that further our understanding of the rise of right-wing movements around the world today.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationKhan, S. S., Svensson, T., Jogdand, Y. A., & Liu, J. H. (2017). Lessons from the past for the future: The definition and mobilisation of Hindu nationhood by the Hindu nationalist movement of India. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 5(2), 477–511. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v5i2.736en_US
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ISSN2195-3325
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1449
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1823
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v5i2.736
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Keyword(s)Indiaen_US
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Keyword(s)Hindu nationalismen_US
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Keyword(s)Indian independenceen_US
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Keyword(s)Hindu-Muslim relationsen_US
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Keyword(s)entrepreneurs of identityen_US
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Keyword(s)social identity theoryen_US
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Keyword(s)self-categorisation theoryen_US
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Keyword(s)social representations theoryen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleLessons from the past for the future: The definition and mobilisation of Hindu nationhood by the Hindu nationalist movement of Indiaen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue2
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Journal titleJournal of Social and Political Psychology
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Page numbers477–511
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Volume5
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record