The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India's Future by Martha C. Nussbaum

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Synopsis

While America is focused on religious militancy and terrorism in the Middle East, democracy has been under siege from religious extremism in another critical part of the world. As Martha Nussbaum reveals in this penetrating look at India today, the forces of the Hindu right pose a disturbing threat to its democratic traditions and secular state.

Since long before the 2002 Gujarat riots—in which nearly two thousand Muslims were killed by Hindu extremists—the power of the Hindu right has been growing, threatening India's hard-won constitutional practices of democracy, tolerance, and religious pluralism. Led politically by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindu right has sought the subordination of other religious groups and has directed particular vitriol against Muslims, who are cast as devils in need of purging. The Hindu right seeks to return to a "pure" India, unsullied by alien polluters of other faiths, yet the BJP's defeat in recent elections demonstrates the power that India's pluralism continues to wield. The future, however, is far from secure, and Hindu extremism and exclusivity remain a troubling obstacle to harmony in South Asia.

Nussbaum's long-standing professional relationship with India makes her an excellent guide to its recent history. Ultimately she argues that the greatest threat comes not from a clash between civilizations, as some believe, but from a clash within each of us, as we oscillate between self-protective aggression and the ability to live in the world with others. India's story is a cautionary political tale for all democratic states striving to act responsibly in an increasingly dangerous world.

Foreign Affairs

At a time when India is claiming more of the world's attention, the philosopher Nussbaum offers an informatively rich and sophisticated analysis of democracy and religious extremism there. She reveals a deep attachment to Indian society and culture even as she describes the horrors of the genocide in Gujarat, where right-wing Hindus slaughtered some 2,000 Muslims. She moves with ease from sweeping historical themes to the biographical details of individual Indian leaders, giving a sense of how Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were so successful in explaining and managing Indian developments. Nussbaum is particularly good in her analysis of the problems Indians have with interpreting their history and coping with fantasies about cultural purity and India's historic greatness. She rejects the theory of a "clash of civilizations"; more important are the clashes within the minds ofindividual Indians.<

Biography

Martha C. Nussbaum is Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics Department of Philosophy, Law School, and Divinity School at the University of Chicago. She is the author of many books, including Poetic Justice, Love’s Knowledge, and The Fragility of Goodness.