Understanding Fascism – Writings on Caste, Class and the State

Understanding Fascism: Writings on Caste, Class and the State

Curated and Introduced by V. Geetha

The book will be released on 08 October 2023 at the ‘Remembering Balagopal -14th Memorial Meeting’; Sundarayya Vignana Kendram; Baghlingampally, Hyderabad

So proud to announce the fourth book from SouthSide Books! Please order from https://www.southsidebooks.in/…/understanding-fascism… (also available on flipkart, amazon and www.hyderabadbooktrust.com).

Here is what our prominent writers and activists have to say about the book:

ARUNDHATI ROY

In these essays, some published as far back as 1985, Balagopal writes about how in India, the alchemy between caste, class and the State creates a uniquely Indian alloy of fascism. Reading them gives the impression that he was standing on top of a tall tower with a powerful pair of binoculars which enabled him to see what nobody else could. In truth there was no tower, and no binoculars, just an extremely fine, courageous, and honest mind, looking around at what others turn away from. There’s really nobody like him.

UMAR KHALID

Attentive students often turn into most effective teachers. K. Balagopal is one of the most influential teachers to generational scholars who are trying to grapple with the notions of justice, equality or the nuances of class-struggle in a South Asian context. Balagopal is a visionary who was much ahead of his time and his relevance continues undeterred. He could become such a prodigious teacher, because he himself was such an attentive student in his own lifetime. He listened so patiently and relentlessly kept learning and unlearning from struggles on the ground. He listened to the people, to unspoken history, the insects on the blades of grass, the soil that erodes, the memory that is fading. He preserved knowledge obtained from grassroots and sharpened that with his own prolific insight. And that makes his writings as well as this collection, so precious and timeless. A must read for everyone who dreams of a better, just tomorrow.

ANAND TELTUMBDE

Fascism is essentially a hegemonic ideology of corporatist order under an autocratic leader imposed by propaganda and vigilante violence. It is inherent in brahminism. It remained subdued under alien rule, particularly under the British who instituted western liberalism. But as the crisis intensified, it resurged in a menacing form. The main factor behind its current success is hindutvaization of the most populous Shudra castes to create the Bajrang Dal. At the root of all this lies hatred for the rising Dalits, who provided the crisis ridden populace its self-worth. Muslims, largely coming from the Dalit stock, serve as a strategic proxy. This caste/class-centric analysis of fascism is lost to many studies. It’s only Balagopal who could fathom the depths of this dynamic in the Indian countryside. It is therefore that his writings have the prescient quality even after decades. A must-read collection to all those who want to understand the making of Modi’s fascist state and the uncivil society that is its prop.

AAKAR PATEL

Balagopal is the most important Indian intellectual of our time. His observations and penetration into our society is unrivalled. This is the text to help us understand what Hindutva is, what it does and where it is leading India.