The attrition of morality: ethics, morality and futures

This article argues that the significant and wide-ranging work that has been carried out in India in compiling oral testimonies of survivors of the genocidal violence against religious minorities after the rise of organised fascist politics in the country, and especially after the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992, has profound implications for the understanding of the experience and workings of all forms of violence, including daily violence. It takes the genocide of Muslim citizens that took place in Gujarat in 2002 as a starting point to develop the concept of attrition of memories. It argues that the contestation around these memories cannot be seen in isolation, and that a method and form of understanding needs to be developed that relates the significance of this event (and the experience and memories of this) to all other memories. It explores the relationship of the attrition of memories to the subversion of ethical principles. It emphasises the importance of oral history in safe-guarding the experience of the survivors of the genocide and in ensuring that the movement for gaining redressal and restitution is continued. It concludes that it is important to understand the ways in which the memories of fascist terror overlay the memories of ordinary, everyday violence

The political ecology of nostalgia

In seeking to counter the grand narrative of capitalist "progress" with an alternative narrative of its own, ecological theory resounds with the clash of disputed histories. Visions of a better, more sustainable ecological future are tied to a variety of interpretations of the past. History is deployed to establish what is possible for humanity, or appealed to as a proof that a way of life which once existed before can — if we so will it — be realized agai

Hindutva in the West: mapping the antinomies of diaspora nationalism

This introduction provides a historical background to Hindu nationalism and examines several theoretical and empirical themes that are important for its analysis both in India and the diaspora. It is argued that there has been a relative neglect within the research �eld of diaspora nationalist movements and the impact they can have on constituting antisecular and absolutist orientations to minorities and majorities both within the diaspora and in the “homeland”. The introduction examines the rise of the Hindutva movement in the 1920s and considers the debates about its relation to ethnic, nationalist, religious, racist and fascist ideologies. We consider how an examination of Hindu nationalism can modify many recent debates on “race” and ethnicity, multiculturalism and “diaspora”. Several themes relating to caste, gender and “Aryanism” are examined. The contents of this Special Issue are contextualized within these debates and a summary of the key themes of the contributions is provided

States of conflict : gender, violence and resistance /

Citizen-soldiers? Class, race, gender, sexuality and the US military / Francine D'AmicoEngendering the state in refugee women's claims for asylum / Heavan CrawleyGender, community, nation: the myth of innocence / Parita MuktaGlobalisation, states and women's agency: possibilities and pitfalls / Susie JacobsIntroduction: states of conflict / Ruth Jacobsen, Susie Jacobs an Jen MarchbankRe-packaging notions of security: a sceptical feminist response to recent efforts / Lee-Anne BroadheadRevealing silence: voices from South Africa / Teboho Maitse and Jen MarchbankShifting relationships and competing discourses in post-Mao China: the all-China women's federation and the People's Republic / Jude HowellTackling violence against women in Brazil: converting international principles into effective local policy / Fiona MacaulayTransforming conflict: some thoughts on a gendered understanding of conflict processes / Judy El-BushraWars against women: sexual violence, sexual politics and the militarised state / Liz KellyWomen and peace in Northern Ireland: a complicated relationship / Ruth Jacobse

Who or what do we care about in the 21st century?

The article explores the importance of Richard Titmuss’s 1970 book, The Gift Relationship. It analyses the substance of the gift relationship, and its steady erosion through the embrace of neoliberalism globally, by seeing how the ‘gift of life’ has become a ‘theft of life’ through the work of Nancy Scheper-Hughes. It sets out the importance of redistribution and recognition to the study of sociology, outlines the lacuna in Honneth and Fraser, and argues that the preciousness of the gift relationship can only be kept alive by scrupulous attention to social structures that nurture this; and by rejecting the death-fetish that is implicitly and explicitly present in scholarship that explores death as resistance (Mbembe). The article calls for an end to the romance with death, and for the work of mourning to be undertaken, without which there can be no going forward into the futures we wish to create

The State Rajput Identity and Women's Agency in 19th and 20th Century Rajasthan

Drawing on historical and ethnographic material on lower-class Rajput women, this paper evaluates the their impact in transforming gender roles and relationships in rural Rajasthan. It focuses on the individual and collective agency of Rajput women and the role of the state in the promotion of gender-specific identities in Rajasthan, India. Overall, it is noted that the Rajputs have had a tremendous influence on the culture, customs and traditions of the people of the state. In terms of the impact of Rajput women, however, it is suggested that they would be in a stronger position to initiate decisions if the community structures that generate prestige and value were more in their favor. Nevertheless, a change in the prestige structure could result in gender conflict, hence, it is complicated with skepticism and reluctance by both sexes. Although the Women's Development Programme has raised an awareness of women's rights, it still remains constrained by state sponsorship. Moreover, while women's agencies are seen to be enhanced by state-level initiatives, middle- and upper-class Rajput women remain constrained by the nature of state and national politics