Ashutosh Varshney
The writer is Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences at Brown University, where he also directs the India Initiative at the Watson Institute. He is a contributing editor for The Indian Express.
Articles By Ashutosh Varshney
National security will compete with unemployment, farm distress as a critical election issue
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.
View from city’s margins
Among urban poor, demonetisation has taken an untold toll. Government schemes are a mixed blessing
Taming hubris
BJP has work to do to take back narrative — assembly results raise questions on governance record, temple
Midterm elections: A bruised Trump
The next two years of his presidency have now run into democratically created counter-power.
A new RSS?
It’s unlikely, given the deep tension between RSS philosophy and individual freedoms and rights.
‘A battle between Hindutva and Hinduism is coming’
In a wide-ranging conversation, Walter Andersen speaks of the changing nature of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, how it was influenced by its different sarsangchalaks and the challenges that lie ahead of the organisation
Grime Beneath the Glitter
James Crabtree argues that India’s living out the same gilded age that America did in the 1800s — where corruption swirls under a shiny surface.
Is China meritocratic?
Its examination system is famous for its rigour, but its quota system gives preference to the privileged
Why did China agree to Wuhan?
Anything which arrests India’s potential drift towards the US and its allies is good for China.
Liberals and nationalism
They disapprove of Hindu nationalism, but support the constitutionally consecrated view of the nation
Denying Nehru his due
Were ancient Indian polities democratic, democracy thus representing India’s enduring culture? And what was Jawahar Lal Nehru’s role in institutionalising democracy?
What Gujarat means
If the Congress needs to worry about its urban base, the BJP has to work on a rural message
Globalisation in retreat
It is being challenged by a nationalist politics. But a nationalist economics is unlikely to take its place
Is Narendra Modi a populist?
The old narrative about India’s Prime Minister is not dead, but a new one is emerging
More accountant, less visionary
PM’s large narratives — corruption, growth— invite questions. His neglect of communal peace is notable
The Nitish echo
Nitish Kumar's pragmatic choice reinforces a fraught idea — of Hindu consolidation and Muslim peripherality
Crime and context
Lynchings draw upon the master narrative of cow protection promoted by the current political elites
The Yogi gamble
Adityanath’s elevation as UP CM is a move of radical novelty — and political risk
A PM like Indira Gandhi
Like her, Modi has established his dominance. But can he move beyond her legacy, to rule by persuasion?
When the state looks away
Gujarat 2002, like Delhi 1984, is a case of state culpability. One was ideological, the other strategic.
