Project description
Demotic political ideas in India
Talking of India as the largest democracy in the world means to evaluate the level at which Western-born values and political ideas are absorbed. However, analysing values such as rights, identity and secularism under the Euro-American prism could lead to significant misunderstandings. The EU-funded POLIVERNACULARS project intends to conduct pioneering research on India's demotic political ideas. It will examine under an ethnographic and historical lens the vernacular languages used in political life. The project is inspired by the Begriffsgeschichte project in Germany and will create the scheme for vernacular lexicography of India's political life. It will also create an online Concept Laboratory for Indian political languages aiming to advance a real political theory based on worldwide political realities.
Objective
It is extraordinary that, given the significance of India as the world’s largest democracy and a Rising Power, we know so little about the conceptual foundations of its political life. Much has been written about political ideas and institutions imported from Europe. And yet no focused, consecutive effort has gone into understanding the ideas that guide most ordinary Indian citizens’ engagement in their political lives. Analyses conducted through Euro-American categories and theoretical frames elevated to the status of universals – rights, identity, public sphere, secularism or indeed ‘politics’ – only generate paradoxes. This project will be a pioneering exploration of India’s demotic political ideas, which it will examine through a close ethnographic and historical scrutiny of the vernacular languages of its political life. Bringing together a team of anthropologists, historians, linguists and scholars of politics, and taking inspiration from the Begriffsgeschichte inquiry into German political concepts, it will (1) lay the empirical and analytical groundwork for a vernacular lexicography of India’s political life; (2) develop an online, open-access Concept Laboratory of Indian Political Languages; and (3) explore with scholars of European political ideas the implications of this work for global political theory. Drawing on the PI’s established work on the demotic categories and values in Indian politics, the project will break major new ground in the study of subcontinental politics; extend the methodological insights of the Begriffsgeschichte project beyond Europe; and make analytical advances towards a truly global political theory, grounded not in the analytical lingua franca of Western political theory, but in the realities of political life around the globe.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2019-STG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
WC2R 2LS London
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.