IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/indpol/v11y2023i1p102-117.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Hindu Nationalism and Right-wing Ecology: RSS, Modi and Motherland Post-2014

Author

Listed:
  • Mukul Sharma

Abstract

This article analyses the environmental politics of Hindu nationalism in India after 2014, which is deeply enmeshed with aggressive nationalism. Taking as its case study articles, newspaper reports and visuals published in the Organiser , a leading magazine of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), it focuses on four ubiquitous environmental themes—imagination of a great Hindu motherland; icons of mother embodied in river and animal; climate change and renewable energy and the idealization of Prime Minister Modi as an environmental saviour—that are visible in its pages. Through these themes, India is projected as a great ancient ecological Hindu nation while hatred and violence are directed against ‘polluted’ Muslims. The ascendancy of Hindu nationalists to power since 2014 has indeed resulted in radical changes which have signalled multiple governmental ‘green’ initiatives and brought climate change and renewable energy to the centre stage. However, and as this article illustrates, these are couched in an optic of purity and pollution, as well as caste and religion, on the one hand, and mobilization of corporations and mega ‘clean’ industrial projects, on the other, which are propagated in the name of people, development and environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Mukul Sharma, 2023. "Hindu Nationalism and Right-wing Ecology: RSS, Modi and Motherland Post-2014," Studies in Indian Politics, , vol. 11(1), pages 102-117, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:indpol:v:11:y:2023:i:1:p:102-117
    DOI: 10.1177/23210230231166197
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23210230231166197
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/23210230231166197?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kirsti M. Jylhä & Pontus Strimling & Jens Rydgren, 2020. "Climate Change Denial among Radical Right-Wing Supporters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-15, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Erik Persson & Åsa Knaggård & Kerstin Eriksson, 2021. "Public Perceptions concerning Responsibility for Climate Change Adaptation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-23, November.
    2. Piotr Żuk & Paweł Żuk, 2021. "On the Socio-Cultural Determinants of Polish Entrepreneurs’ Attitudes towards the Development of Renewable Energy: Business, Climate Skepticism Ideology and Climate Change," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Olve Krange & Bjørn P. Kaltenborn & Martin Hultman, 2021. "“Don’t confuse me with facts”—how right wing populism affects trust in agencies advocating anthropogenic climate change as a reality," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Cristina Gómez-Román & Maria Luisa Lima & Gloria Seoane & Mónica Alzate & Marcos Dono & José-Manuel Sabucedo, 2020. "Testing Common Knowledge: Are Northern Europeans and Millennials More Concerned about the Environment?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Heidi Toivonen, 2022. "Themes of climate change agency: a qualitative study on how people construct agency in relation to climate change," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:indpol:v:11:y:2023:i:1:p:102-117. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.