- Saktigarh (Near Chips Factory), Birati, Kolkata - 51
Suman Nath
Haldia Government College, Anthropology, Faculty Member
- Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Public Policy and Management, Department MemberUniversity of Calcutta, Anthropology, Graduate Studentadd
- Consciousness, Anthropology, Politics, Development, Governance, Water Issues, and 19 morePhenomenology, Qualitative Research, Health Issues, Institutional Theory, Phenomenology (Research Methodology), Political Content, Agriculture, Community Development, Cancer, Local Government and Local Development, Death Studies, Happiness and Well Being, Health Care, Subjective Well-Being, Decentralisation processes and development issues, Panchayati Raj, Participatory Planning, Death and dying, and Local Governance & Participatory Planningedit
The article theorises tribal everyday life and politics of ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. The state in India that witnesses a political change with the end of world's longest democratically elected Left regime
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This article explores ethnographically the manufacturing of religious polarisation and violence in West Bengal, India. Since 2014, India has experienced a rise in religion-based identity conflict. Although West Bengal experienced riots... more
This article explores ethnographically the manufacturing of religious polarisation and violence in West Bengal, India. Since
2014, India has experienced a rise in religion-based identity conflict. Although West Bengal experienced riots during the parti-
tion of India, it remained unaffected during the subsequent three decades of Left rule. More recently, however, secular demo-
cratic forces have been marginalised and riot-like conflicts have emerged. We argue that identity consolidation in West Bengal
is part of an increasing trend of religious polarisation in the country. To bridge the gap between scholarly discussions on the
concepts of secularism and communalisation, the paper presents micro-narratives illuminating the background of religious po-
larisation and violence. We provide ethnographic details of the mechanisms by which religious identities are consolidated. With
a case-based approach, this article unearths the mechanisms of identity-based polarisation, and its politicisation in a region
which has not experienced this level of violence for several decades.
2014, India has experienced a rise in religion-based identity conflict. Although West Bengal experienced riots during the parti-
tion of India, it remained unaffected during the subsequent three decades of Left rule. More recently, however, secular demo-
cratic forces have been marginalised and riot-like conflicts have emerged. We argue that identity consolidation in West Bengal
is part of an increasing trend of religious polarisation in the country. To bridge the gap between scholarly discussions on the
concepts of secularism and communalisation, the paper presents micro-narratives illuminating the background of religious po-
larisation and violence. We provide ethnographic details of the mechanisms by which religious identities are consolidated. With
a case-based approach, this article unearths the mechanisms of identity-based polarisation, and its politicisation in a region
which has not experienced this level of violence for several decades.
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Discusses the political change in West Bengal through the lens of local governance.
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A popular article discusses water politics in farming sector in India
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The assembly elections in West Bengal in 2016 were historic not only because the Trinamool Congress was given a second chance with a massive mandate, but also because, for the first time in decades, a single political party managed to win... more
The assembly elections in West Bengal in 2016 were historic not only because the Trinamool Congress was given a second chance with a massive mandate, but also because, for the first time in decades, a single political party managed to win the election. Moreover, the TMC secured victory in most of the traditional left bastions, making the Left Front virtually insignificant in state politics. While populist and direct-benefit schemes are most prominently seen as the reasons behind the party’s success, there also exist the hitherto unaddressed alternatives to the Left Front government’s systematic development of “party society.” The promotion of traditional cultural expressions conceptualised as “cultural misrecognition” helped the TMC sustain its control and also attracted votes of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of the state who traditionally constituted the support base of the left.
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Doing research on cancer patients often involves painful journeys through the processes of involvement and detachment with research settings and participants. It is a self-transforming event to see close cared for people die. Yet... more
Doing research on cancer patients often involves painful journeys through the processes of involvement and detachment with research settings and participants. It is a self-transforming event to see close cared for people die. Yet frequently these experiences remain unreported in academic writing. The present article attempts to depict the narratives of attachment in the context of terminal illness and detachment as a consequence of death of the research participant, Jabbar, to reflect on such a journey. It focuses on the formation of a relationship beyond the boundaries of the purposes of research to reflect on two related issues, first, the nature of attachments and relationship building that goes in parallel to the formal dimensions of the research and second, emotions, self-transformation and contextual embeddedness of doing research with terminally ill cancer patients.
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Focuses on the political economy of potato cultivation and recent government initiatives.
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This article published in a popular Bengali daily discusses the reasons for which despite of increasing budgetary allotment to farming small and marginal farmers fail to come out of the traps of middlemen and local elites.
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Trinamool Congress’s decisive second term in West Bengal in 2016, even after serious corruption charges were levied on the party, makes it clear that corruption is not as important as was thought by the opposition. It is argued that... more
Trinamool Congress’s decisive second term in West Bengal in 2016, even after serious corruption charges were levied on the party, makes it clear that corruption is not as important as was thought by the opposition. It is argued that corruption is conceived as a “necessary evil,” linked with quick and tangible delivery of public services. The recent rise of Bharatiya Janata Party, parallel to religious polarisation in the state, indicates a shrinking political space for non-BJP opposition in West Bengal.
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This article is based on newspaper references which I did during my IIMC (Indian Institute of Management Calcutta) years. I wanted to do some serious research and was preparing a proposal for the same. However, like many of my unfinished... more
This article is based on newspaper references which I did during my IIMC (Indian Institute of Management Calcutta) years. I wanted to do some serious research and was preparing a proposal for the same. However, like many of my unfinished projects this too so far not been done. I am sharing this with a sincere hope that someone else might find this useful for his/her research. The language might be crude partly because it was always a rough draft I was preparing beside my busy preoccupations with other projects at the Institute and partly because I don't write well. For which I sincerely apologize. However, the facts are cross referenced with many links for you to take up your own project. I thank Prof. Bhaskar Chakrabarti and Prof. Raghabendra Chattopadhyay several discussions on these issues. I am grateful to the library staff of Bidnah Chandra Ray Libary of IIMC and National Library, Kolkata. Additionally I thank Mr. Lyngwa and Mr. Lyngdow of the Ministry of Water Resources, Sikkim for providing me valuable inputs during the inception of this research and for those lovely Darjeeling tea at Gangtok.
