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The Politics of Forgetting: Class Politics, State Power and the Restructuring of Urban Space in India

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  • Leela Fernandes

    (Department of Political Science, Rutgers University, 89 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA, lfernand@rci.rutgers.edu)

Abstract

Policies of economic liberalisation have been accompanied by discourses on the rise of the new middle class in India. The newness of this Indian middle class is marked by changing consumption practices and lifestyles. The visibility of the urban middle classes sets into motion a politics of forgetting with regard to social groups that are marginalised by India's policies of liberalisation. The politics of forgetting refers to a political-discursive process in which specific marginalised social groups are rendered invisible within the dominant national political culture. Such dynamics unfold through the spatial reconfiguration of class inequalities. Both middle-class groups and the state engage in a politics of forgetting that displaces the poor and working classes from such spaces. The result is the production of an exclusionary form of cultural citizenship which is, in turn, contested by these marginalised socioeconomic groups. The article draws on original qualitative field research conducted in Mumbai (Bombay).

Suggested Citation

  • Leela Fernandes, 2004. "The Politics of Forgetting: Class Politics, State Power and the Restructuring of Urban Space in India," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 41(12), pages 2415-2430, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:41:y:2004:i:12:p:2415-2430
    DOI: 10.1080/00420980412331297609
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mitchell, Timothy, 1991. "The Limits of the State: Beyond Statist Approaches and their Critics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 85(1), pages 77-96, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Shirgaokar, Manish, 2014. "Employment centers and travel behavior: exploring the work commute of Mumbai’s rapidly motorizing middle class," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 249-258.
    2. Llerena Guiu Searle, 2014. "Conflict and Commensuration: Contested Market Making in India's Private Real Estate Development Sector," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 60-78, January.
    3. Natasha Cornea & Anna Zimmer & René Véron, 2016. "Ponds, Power and Institutions: The Everyday Governance of Accessing Urban Water Bodies in a Small Bengali City," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 395-409, March.
    4. Allison Truitt, 2018. "Nationalizing gold: The Vietnamese SJC gold bar and the Indian Gold Coin," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 224-234, June.
    5. Shah, Arpit & Garg, Amit, 2017. "Urban commons service generation, delivery, and management: A conceptual framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 280-287.

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