About the Speaker:
Nandini Deo is an Assistant Professor in the department of Political Science at Lehigh University. She is co-author of The Politics of Collective Advocacy in India with Duncan McDuie Ra. Her forthcoming book, Mobilizing Religion and Gender in India: The Role of Activism, will be published this winter by Routledge.
About the Lecture:
Based on Professor Deo’s forthcoming book, this lecture will analyze the rise and fall of hindutva and feminist politics in India. By looking at the actors involved, the mobilization strategies deployed, and the organizational structure of the campaigns, Professor Deo suggests that these two events can be understood using similar approaches. The ideologies and grievances that inform the particular events are less important than the long-term strategies of the activists who embody them. This is in contrast to most accounts that either overemphasize the grievance itself as a catalyst for mobilization or point to the adoption of ideological blinders as a method for coping with contemporary crises. Ideas matter, but only in some ways. This lecture discusses both campaigns separately to identify the strategies used to mobilize support for them.