Ghetto and Within : Class, Identity, State and Politics of Mobilisation

Contents: Acknowledgement. 1. Context of the study. 2. Secularism, nationalism and the problematic of religious identity formation. 3. Identity formation and the class question. 4. Identity politics and ghettoisation. 5. Why study the ghettos: some methodological considerations. 6. Identity formation and the ghetto: reflections from the field. 7. Collective identity and the class politics--beyond the appearances in a ghetto. References. Appendix.

"This work is an effort to understand and explore the linkages between the process of ghettoisation, identity formation and the political economy of capitalism. Through fieldwork in the city of Delhi it looks at how a particular form of identity politics sustains the process of ghettoisation of a community and creates a situation which downplays the need for a class based mobilisation. It argues that identity politics need to be seen in conjunction with the way class formation and class politics within a particular community unfolds itself. This framework allows us to not only understand the larger issues such as that of communal politics but also provides us insights into the way differential perceptions about \'violence\' are forged within a community. It seeks to explore how class antagonism becomes a non-issue because the social identity dominates the discourse." (jacket)