Hindu nationalism and fascism in western india, 1920-1939
HINDUTVA-FASCISM proposes a new study of the transnational links between emerging Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) and contemporary European fascism in the 1920s-30s. Comprehending Hindutva as a form of populist extremism, through examining these thinks the project aims at a better understanding of the transnational nature of the radical populist right in the interwar period; and through this it seeks a better understanding of the radical right in comparative and historical perspective, and of global fascism as a concept. This project speaks to areas of vital current concern for the European Union. It reflects the Horizon 2020 Work Programme’s response to the challenge of fostering ‘inclusive, innovative and reflective societies’, itself a response to the remarkable growth in populist movements in Europe and globally in recent years.
It refers in particular to the European Union policy on 'Racism and Xenophobia’ under its strategic priority of Justice and Fundamental Rights. The relationship between Hindutva and fascism, which emerged at the same time, has been subject to recent work, not least because of its timeliness to India’s own politics, and rise to power of the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2014. But this work lacks a focus on the geographical and cultural area which gave birth to Hindutva: Maharashtra, its western Indian heartland, which gave rise to its major institutions and founding ideologues.
HINDUTVA-FASCISM fills this major gap in knowledge exhibited in the current state-of-the-art, proposing a vernacular study to offer in-depth insights on this relationship in Hindutva’s birthplace for the first time, and which the Experienced Researcher is expertly placed to undertake. The project is also innovative in blending regional and linguistic expertise with an interdisciplinary study of other aspects of vernacular culture to form a totalizing, holistic understanding of its regional political culture in the 1920s-1930s.