West Bengal, a state in eastern India has seen a political transformation ending the three and half decade long Left rule in 2011. This change has brought into transformations in party organisations, political economy and nature of political violence. Using multi-site ethnographic research the presentation will focus on the ways in which Bengal politics is transforming itself from party to identity. In doing so the presentation specifically addresses three related issues: a) micro-dynamics of transformation in everyday political practices of the state in the last fifteen years; b) mapping of violence from party to identity with a focus on fluidity of agents and their operationalisation, and c) exploring the potentials for protesting voices against identity politics and related violence consolidated in the form of syncretic Sufi-Pir traditions at several villages.
Key words: ‘Post Left’ Bengal, Political Violence, Identity Politics, Party Society, Invented Traditions
About the lecturer:
Dr. Suman Nath is assistant professor in anthropology at the APJ Abdul Kalam Government College in Kolkata. He has research expertise in both rural and urban settings on cultural factors in development governance, socio-economic and cognitive surveys, social needs and impact assessment with a focus on health, poverty alleviation, participatory water management and local government sectors.