1. "The world's best minority": Parsis and Hindutva's ethnic nationalism in India.
- Author
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Buck, Jesse
- Subjects
- *
HINDUTVA , *PARSEES , *NATIONALISM , *RELIGIOUS minorities , *ETHNIC relations , *HISTORY , *HISTORY of nationalism - Abstract
There is an assumption that nationalist movements which are constituted by an ethnic majority are hostile towards all minorities, so how does one account for such a movement's affection for one minority and hostility for another? In this paper I explore this question using the case study of a Hindu nationalist movement in India called Hindutva which simultaneously expresses hostility towards Muslims and affection for another minority known as the Parsis. I argue in societies that imagine themselves as plural there is a type of nationalist thought premised upon the existence of both exemplary and threatening minorities. An exemplary minority is imagined as loyal and acculturating, illustrating both how a minority should relate to the majority and why other minorities are threatening. While an historical argument enables the distinction between the majority and minorities, a plural hierarchy of minorities is enabled by mythical stories of coexistence and conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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