Ghetto and Within

This work is an effort to understand and explore the linkages between the process of ghettoisation, identity formation and the political economy of capitalism. Through fieldwork in the city of Delhi it looks at how a particular form of identity politics sustains the process of ghettoisation of a community and creates a situation which downplays the need for a class based mobilisation. It argues that identity politics need to be seen in conjunction with the way class formation and class politics within a particular community unfolds itself. This framework allows us to not only understand the larger issues such as that of communal politics but also provides us insights into the way differential perceptions about 'violence' are forged within a community. It seeks to explore how class antagonism becomes a non-issue because the social identity dominates the discourse.

Ravi Kumar is Associate Professor in Department of Sociology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. He worked on 'Dynamics of Identity Formation: The Political Economy of Backward Castes in Bihar' for his doctorate, and has written over a dozen articles on education, communalism and politics. His publications include The Politics of Imperialism and Counterstrategies (co-edited, Delhi: Aakar Books, 2004); The Crisis of Elementary Education in India (edited, New Delhi: Sage, 2006); Global Neoliberalism and Education and its Consequences (co-edited, New York: Routledge, 2009). His specialisation is social movements, identity politics, social theory and sociology of knowledge. He is co-editor of Radical Notes