Performing the Party. National Holiday Events and Politics at a Public University Campus in Bangladesh

Based on 15 months of ethnographic research between 2016 and 2019, this article explores the campus as a core site for the (re-)production of Bangladesh’s ruling party’s hegemony and domination. While previous research emphasizes the pragmatic and violent nature of student politics, this article exp...

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Main Author: Mascha Schulz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud 2020-07-01
Series:South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/6508
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author Mascha Schulz
author_facet Mascha Schulz
author_sort Mascha Schulz
collection DOAJ
description Based on 15 months of ethnographic research between 2016 and 2019, this article explores the campus as a core site for the (re-)production of Bangladesh’s ruling party’s hegemony and domination. While previous research emphasizes the pragmatic and violent nature of student politics, this article explores the role of ideological positioning in campus politics, focusing on commemoration events and the significance of certain symbolic national days. Commemoration practices contribute to the reproduction of party narratives and ideologies at the levels of both student politics and the university administration. However, far from just reflecting the official party discourse, individuals organizing or attending these events often have pragmatic perspectives using them strategically for their own micro-political endeavors on campus. The ethnographic exploration of these dynamics elucidates when and how ideological positioning and commitment becomes relevant, as well as how personal convictions intersect with other reasons for engaging in party politics.
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spelling doaj-art-8fbb0836fa524c00b6ee7e628484d0cf2025-08-20T02:21:34ZengCentre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du SudSouth Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal1960-60602020-07-012210.4000/samaj.6508Performing the Party. National Holiday Events and Politics at a Public University Campus in BangladeshMascha SchulzBased on 15 months of ethnographic research between 2016 and 2019, this article explores the campus as a core site for the (re-)production of Bangladesh’s ruling party’s hegemony and domination. While previous research emphasizes the pragmatic and violent nature of student politics, this article explores the role of ideological positioning in campus politics, focusing on commemoration events and the significance of certain symbolic national days. Commemoration practices contribute to the reproduction of party narratives and ideologies at the levels of both student politics and the university administration. However, far from just reflecting the official party discourse, individuals organizing or attending these events often have pragmatic perspectives using them strategically for their own micro-political endeavors on campus. The ethnographic exploration of these dynamics elucidates when and how ideological positioning and commitment becomes relevant, as well as how personal convictions intersect with other reasons for engaging in party politics.https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/6508Bangladeshstudent politicsideological commitmentcommemorationNational dayuniversity campus
spellingShingle Mascha Schulz
Performing the Party. National Holiday Events and Politics at a Public University Campus in Bangladesh
South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
Bangladesh
student politics
ideological commitment
commemoration
National day
university campus
title Performing the Party. National Holiday Events and Politics at a Public University Campus in Bangladesh
title_full Performing the Party. National Holiday Events and Politics at a Public University Campus in Bangladesh
title_fullStr Performing the Party. National Holiday Events and Politics at a Public University Campus in Bangladesh
title_full_unstemmed Performing the Party. National Holiday Events and Politics at a Public University Campus in Bangladesh
title_short Performing the Party. National Holiday Events and Politics at a Public University Campus in Bangladesh
title_sort performing the party national holiday events and politics at a public university campus in bangladesh
topic Bangladesh
student politics
ideological commitment
commemoration
National day
university campus
url https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/6508
work_keys_str_mv AT maschaschulz performingthepartynationalholidayeventsandpoliticsatapublicuniversitycampusinbangladesh