The Politics of Land, Consent, and Negotiation: Revisiting the Development-Displacement Narratives from Singur in West Bengal
India’s rapid economic growth has frequently been marred by struggles over land acquisition and displacement. This paper re-examines one such case. In 2006, protests erupted in Singur (a small cluster of villages in West Bengal) against government initiatives to acquire land for a private industrial...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Centre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud
2016-03-01
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| Series: | South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/4103 |
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| author | Ritanjan Das |
| author_facet | Ritanjan Das |
| author_sort | Ritanjan Das |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | India’s rapid economic growth has frequently been marred by struggles over land acquisition and displacement. This paper re-examines one such case. In 2006, protests erupted in Singur (a small cluster of villages in West Bengal) against government initiatives to acquire land for a private industrial project. The protests gathered enough momentum to stall the project, and went on to have a decisive impact on the electoral fortunes of the government, thus attaining a cult status in the country’s development-displacement narratives. This paper presents the Singur story in a new light, arguing that there was a political character to the entire episode, largely ignored by mainstream literature. Based on the idea of the ‘shadow-state’ (Harriss-White 2003), the paper examines the role played by the political managers of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)—CPI(M)—and highlights three themes—choice of land, acquiring consent, and negotiation—to build its narrative. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-12d0372503324d1cb6e834e8069a67a2 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1960-6060 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-03-01 |
| publisher | Centre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud |
| record_format | Article |
| series | South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-12d0372503324d1cb6e834e8069a67a22025-08-20T02:21:17ZengCentre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du SudSouth Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal1960-60602016-03-011310.4000/samaj.4103The Politics of Land, Consent, and Negotiation: Revisiting the Development-Displacement Narratives from Singur in West BengalRitanjan DasIndia’s rapid economic growth has frequently been marred by struggles over land acquisition and displacement. This paper re-examines one such case. In 2006, protests erupted in Singur (a small cluster of villages in West Bengal) against government initiatives to acquire land for a private industrial project. The protests gathered enough momentum to stall the project, and went on to have a decisive impact on the electoral fortunes of the government, thus attaining a cult status in the country’s development-displacement narratives. This paper presents the Singur story in a new light, arguing that there was a political character to the entire episode, largely ignored by mainstream literature. Based on the idea of the ‘shadow-state’ (Harriss-White 2003), the paper examines the role played by the political managers of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)—CPI(M)—and highlights three themes—choice of land, acquiring consent, and negotiation—to build its narrative.https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/4103CPI(M)West BengalSingurland acquisitionshadow-state |
| spellingShingle | Ritanjan Das The Politics of Land, Consent, and Negotiation: Revisiting the Development-Displacement Narratives from Singur in West Bengal South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal CPI(M) West Bengal Singur land acquisition shadow-state |
| title | The Politics of Land, Consent, and Negotiation: Revisiting the Development-Displacement Narratives from Singur in West Bengal |
| title_full | The Politics of Land, Consent, and Negotiation: Revisiting the Development-Displacement Narratives from Singur in West Bengal |
| title_fullStr | The Politics of Land, Consent, and Negotiation: Revisiting the Development-Displacement Narratives from Singur in West Bengal |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Politics of Land, Consent, and Negotiation: Revisiting the Development-Displacement Narratives from Singur in West Bengal |
| title_short | The Politics of Land, Consent, and Negotiation: Revisiting the Development-Displacement Narratives from Singur in West Bengal |
| title_sort | politics of land consent and negotiation revisiting the development displacement narratives from singur in west bengal |
| topic | CPI(M) West Bengal Singur land acquisition shadow-state |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/4103 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ritanjandas thepoliticsoflandconsentandnegotiationrevisitingthedevelopmentdisplacementnarrativesfromsingurinwestbengal AT ritanjandas politicsoflandconsentandnegotiationrevisitingthedevelopmentdisplacementnarrativesfromsingurinwestbengal |