Hailing the state : Indian democracy between elections / Lisa Mitchell.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Hailing the state : collective assembly, democracy and representation -- Sit-in demonstrations and hunger strikes : from Dharna as door-sitting to Dharna Chowk -- Seeking audience : refusals to listen, "style," and the politics of recognition -- Collective assembly and the "roar of the people" : corporeal forms of "making known" and the deliberative turn -- The general strike : collective action at the other end of the commodity chain -- Alarm chain pulling : the criminal and the political in the writing of history -- Rail and road blockades : illiberal or participatory democracy? -- Rallies, processions, and yātrās : ticketless travel and the journey to "political arrival" -- Of human chains and Guinness records : attention, recognition, and the fate of democracy amidst changing mediascapes.

"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 participants-rather than rejecting state authority-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"--