9781800085794
9781800085800
Distributed for UCL Press
Fake Gods and False History
Being Indian in a Contested Mumbai Neighbourhood
A narrative of a central Mumbai neighborhood’s divided community.
In an age where history is a global battleground and fake news proliferates, culture wars are being waged across India over its future—majoritarian or inclusive, neoliberal or socialist, religious or secular?
Fake Gods and False History takes us to the BDD Chawls, a central Mumbai neighborhood of tenement blocks (chawls) on the brink of a controversial redevelopment. It reveals how contested narratives of Indian history play out in the daily life of this divided neighborhood and how the legacies of certain godlike but very human historical figures, such as Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji, are invoked by different communities. Jonathan Galton draws on research conducted among the formerly untouchable Dalit Buddhist community, who are staunchly opposed to the redevelopment plans and deeply critical of the religious nationalism they perceive in their Hindu neighbors. We also meet young male migrants living in village-linked dormitory rooms called Gramastha Mandals, trapped in a liminal space between urban and rural.
Throughout the book, which is woven through with candid reflections on methodology and research ethics, readers are challenged to draw connections with their own experiences of history impinging on their lives. A story that might initially seem parochial will thus resonate with a diverse global audience.
In an age where history is a global battleground and fake news proliferates, culture wars are being waged across India over its future—majoritarian or inclusive, neoliberal or socialist, religious or secular?
Fake Gods and False History takes us to the BDD Chawls, a central Mumbai neighborhood of tenement blocks (chawls) on the brink of a controversial redevelopment. It reveals how contested narratives of Indian history play out in the daily life of this divided neighborhood and how the legacies of certain godlike but very human historical figures, such as Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji, are invoked by different communities. Jonathan Galton draws on research conducted among the formerly untouchable Dalit Buddhist community, who are staunchly opposed to the redevelopment plans and deeply critical of the religious nationalism they perceive in their Hindu neighbors. We also meet young male migrants living in village-linked dormitory rooms called Gramastha Mandals, trapped in a liminal space between urban and rural.
Throughout the book, which is woven through with candid reflections on methodology and research ethics, readers are challenged to draw connections with their own experiences of history impinging on their lives. A story that might initially seem parochial will thus resonate with a diverse global audience.
Table of Contents
List of figures List of abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction: A neighbourhood on the edge of history 1 ‘Chawlness’: a folk history of (un)locked doors 2 ‘Ganesh is a fake god’: the ambiguous humanity of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar 3 Adrift in history? Living between village and city 4 ‘We are Indians, firstly and lastly’: Buddhist nationalism and the true history of India 5 Village histories, urban futures 6 Shivaji contested: on being Maharashtrian 7 ‘Smiles or fraud?’: when chawlness falls apart Epilogue: A neighbourhood at the end of history? Notes Index