[Linganth] Lisa Mitchell discusses Hailing the State

[Ilana Gershon]

Dear Colleagues,
Today on the CaMP blog, Lisa Mitchell answers my questions about her new
book, *Hailing the State: Indian Democracy Between Elections*.

www.campanthropology.org

Best,
Ilana

Press blurb: In *Hailing the State*, Lisa Mitchell explores the methods of
collective assembly that people in India use to hold elected officials and
government administrators accountable, demand inclusion in decision making,
and stage informal referendums. Mitchell traces the colonial and
postcolonial lineages of collective forms of assembly, in which—rather than
rejecting state authority—participants mobilize with expectations that
officials will uphold the law and fulfill electoral promises. She shows how
assembly, which ranges from sit-ins, hunger strikes, and demands for
meetings with officials to massive general strikes and road and rail
blockades, is fundamental to the functioning of democracy in India. These
techniques are particularly useful for historically marginalized groups and
others whose voices may not be easily heard. Moving beyond an exclusive
focus on electoral processes, Mitchell argues that to understand
democracy—both in India and beyond—we must also pay attention to what
occurs between elections, thereby revising understanding of what is
possible for democratic action around the world.
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