IDEOLOGY AND INTELLECTUALS: THE INDIAN RIGHT-WING CONSERVATIVES  (Hardcover, Rachna Suchinmayee)

The book is a researched brief account of political thought of intellectuals across the ideological spectrum in India as well as the West. The completion of India’s 75 years of independence is an extraordinary juncture to reflect and understand the phenomenon of Right’s ascendency and its underpinnings. Conservatism as a philosophy challenge the liberal tradition of radical ideas and argue for gradual change with continuity and preservation of the past. The ideas and concepts of nationhood, Hindutva and Hinduism and its political character, dynamics of Dharma, identity, culture, and politics, have been debated and scrutinized by various scholars and political actors in the past and continue to influence society and politics today. This comes from the impact of Western ideologies and the influence of Indic civilizational ethos. As a philosophical orientation and an ideology, conservatism today has set the tone of policy debates in India to manage the new world order and human dignity. The ideas articulated by scholars several decades ago and even today becomes more relevant to address diverse issues of the emerging political order across the globe. This collection is an attempt to offer an academic understanding of the nature of conservatism through the lens and ideas of Indian political thinkers drawing parallel with some Western intellectuals to generate an informed insight on the subject.