Ashutosh Varshney
The writer is Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences at Brown University, where he also directs the Center for Contemporary South Asia at the Watson Institute. He is a contributing editor for The Indian Express.
Tue, Feb 23, 2021
A democracy which speaks with one voice, which elevates citizen duties over citizen rights, which privileges obedience over freedom, which uses fear to instil ideological uniformity, which weakens checks on executive power, is a contradiction in terms.
Sat, Jan 09, 2021
Ashutosh Varshney writes: When the history of this period is written, America’s courts might be singled out as the institution that protected the nation’s election integrity.
Wed, Dec 16, 2020
While the economics of the three reforms is not faultless, let us note that some of the proposed steps go in the right direction.
Fri, Nov 06, 2020
Ashutosh Varshney writes: Donald Trump's rise was a negation of egalitarian trends of five decades. He has 48 per cent of popular vote.
Fri, Oct 30, 2020
If Trump is ahead on November 3, legal and political manoeuvres are quite possible. Only a Biden victory that night, not one after the full count, can preempt such possibilities.
Mon, Oct 05, 2020
In Trump’s America, dog whistles have become bull horns. Those groups that wish to preempt a dystopia have a huge task ahead of them. How Trump’s illness will affect the emerging lines of the political battle is unpredictable at this stage.
Thu, Aug 20, 2020
The logic of demography and identity, an inescapable part of democratic politics, shows why the Kamala Harris candidacy is generating excitement. It is aimed at a multiracial America. It is a 21st century American reality Trump is trying to suppress.
Mon, Jul 06, 2020
After the mid 20th century, a democracy is not a proper democracy unless it safeguards minorities. And if the minorities are also poor, the protection becomes even more necessary.
Wed, Jun 03, 2020
In a country claiming to be the first in the world to be founded on equality, why have black lives been so cheap? Can black Americans ever be treated with equality and dignity, instead of being brutalised?
Mon, May 04, 2020
We should not only expect that labour flows will now be more strictly regulated than before. But also more than ever before in recent decades, Western investors will also have to factor in political risks in their investment decision-making.
Mon, Mar 02, 2020
India’s citizenry is well and truly into a battle for constitutional values, which must be fought, most of all, with non-violent determination and vigour.
Tue, Jan 28, 2020
Centre faces classic dilemma civil disobedience unfailingly poses: Whether or not it cracks down, protests will grow
Mon, Dec 16, 2019
A fusion of law and exclusivist ideology is in the making. Brute arithmetic is being used for majoritarian ends.
Mon, Dec 09, 2019
Political power is bringing about an ideological re-orientation in the players which may or may not endure
Thu, Nov 14, 2019
If Hindu consolidation goes further, Muslims will become electorally even more irrelevant. We can’t still be sure this would happen. But even if Hindu electoral consolidation remains at the current level, India’s Muslims would need the judiciary’s counter-majoritarianism to safeguard their interests.
Sat, Oct 05, 2019
Indian Americans are perhaps not more than 4,00,000 in number, but if Texas becomes a “swing” or “battleground” state, ready for a political flip, even such small numbers might ultimately matter.
Sat, Aug 17, 2019
The change in Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional status is democratic only in one sense — it had a parliamentary majority. But democracy is much more than that.
Sat, Aug 03, 2019
Modi, Trump and Bolsonaro are great election winners, but their stance on civil liberties is seen as questionable.
Mon, May 27, 2019
Are we on the path to a Hindu Rashtra? Much will depend on how the electoral verdict is read by the victor
Thu, May 16, 2019
Almost as a cliché, but a true one, and not trivially so, human warmth and courtesy, as in so many parts of India, make up for the harsh landscape of East UP.
Thu, May 16, 2019
In Uttar Pradesh, one can speak of two sub-waves, one among the upper castes, and another sweeping through the Dalit-Muslim-Yadav communities. The BJP is the primary beneficiary of the former, and the SP-BSP-RLD Mahagathbandhan of the latter.
Sat, Apr 06, 2019
There is large support for anti-elitist politics in India, but it is not uniformly spread out.
Thu, Feb 28, 2019
The size of the middle class, timing of the current India-Pakistan clashes, and the nature of the regime in Delhi will shape the narrative in days to come.
Tue, Jan 22, 2019
Among urban poor, demonetisation has taken an untold toll. Government schemes are a mixed blessing
Fri, Dec 14, 2018
BJP has work to do to take back narrative — assembly results raise questions on governance record, temple