Department of Political Science, University of Delhi

Master of Arts in Political Science

Semester I

PS-C 104: Themes in Indian Political Thought

Credits: 5 Duration: 5 hrs./week

Course Objectives:
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the richness and variety of Indian Political
Thought, a tradition that spans centuries if not millennia, culminating in the various present day
understandings of Indian society.

Course Learning Outcomes: The course will provide students a preliminary grasp over some
critical issues animating Indian political thought today and acquaint them with some key debates
within this tradition.

Contents:

Unit I: Perspectives
a. What is Indian in Indian Political Thought?
b. Classical: Vedic and Shramanic
c. Syncretic, Islamic, Reformist
d. Tradition and Modernity Debate
e. Contemporary Theories: Liberal, Marxist, Gandhian, Socialist, Hindutva, Dalit-
Bahujan

Unit II: Theories and Practices of Knowledge

a. Indological and Orientalist
b. Post-Colonial

Unit III: State and Community

a. The monarchical, colonial and postcolonial state
b. Janapada, Sangha, Jati, Quam
c. Community and Civil Society

Unit IV: Nationalism in Indian Political Thought

a. Cultural, Religious and Economic Nationalism
b. Critiques of Nationalism

Suggested Readings:

A. K. Ramanujan (2001) Is there an Indian Way of Thinking? An informal essay. In The Collected
essay of A. K. Ramanujan, gen. ed. Vinay Dharwadker, 34-51, Oxford, New Delhi.

Aloysius G, Nationalism without a Nation in India, OUP, Delhi, 1998.

46 | P a g e