Violence of Democracy

“Violence of Democracy raises urgent, timely, and important questions about democracy, violence, and authoritarianism in postcolonial democracies. Ruchi Chaturvedi examines the nature of modern democracy through a dense, historically engaged, and ethnographically rich exploration of the political lives of young men in North Kerala.” - Ritty A. Lukose, author of Liberalization’s Children: Gender, Youth, and Consumer Citizenship in Globalizing India

“Ruchi Chaturvedi’s Violence of Democracy is a fascinating ethnography of party politics and violence in North Kerala that rethinks fundamental issues about democratic competition and mobilization. This original and insightful analysis of the nature and sources of political violence in modern democracies makes a pathbreaking contribution to the study of postcolonial societies.” - Karuna Mantena, author of Alibis of Empire: Henry Maine and the Ends of Liberal Imperialism

"The Violence of Democracy offers excellent insights on the historical mechanisms of interparty conflict and violence in Kerala and thought-provoking analysis of modern democracy and its pitfalls. Indeed, The Violence of Democracy is a positively unusual book that ... brings together theoretical traditions that have evolved from the historical intersections of India, the West, and Africa into a radical critique of modern democracy that is of universal—but never universalist—resonance." - Luisa Steur, American Ethnologist

"The book has achieved a commendable feat by addressing a significant gap in the existing body of literature on Indian politics, particularly in studying the RSS’s functioning at the micro-level. ... By focusing on the complex intersectionality of caste, class, gender, and power struggle, the book elucidates the deeper societal manipulations. ... Its clear language and theoretical insights would be valuable to students and academics seeking to understand nuanced dynamics of Kerala and broader Indian politics." - Biswajit Mohanty, Studies in Indian Politics

"Violence of Democracy is an ambitious and empirically grounded account of a localized phenomenon with broad relevance for the study of violence, democratic process, and party politics. Its emphasis on violence as a part of the 'normal' functioning of democracy is urgent and timely, given the authoritarian political circumstances that increasingly characterize not just India but much of the democratic world today." - Samantha Agarwal, American Journal of Sociology

"Through a detailed ethnographic study and archival work, Chaturvedi traces political violence to a matrix of antagonistic politics, aggressive masculinity combined with disbursing care and solidarity, and a criminal justice framework that does not address transformative justice." - Ravi Arvind Palat, Journal of Asian and African Studies

"Chaturvedi has written an empirically rich account of political violence in Kannur, with the judiciary chapters offering particularly valuable insights into understanding political culture and the limits of legal remedies in majoritarian contexts." - Harikrishnan Sasikumar, Journal of Development Studies