Passionate politics

Book excerpt: Passions matter to politics. Yet, much of the work on passions in politics focuses on such spectacular events as social movements, civil wars and revolutionary upheavals, but ignores electoral politics as banal. The contributors to this book trace the importance of passions to electoral politics with a focus on India’s landmark 2019 General Elections which saw the decisive re-election of Narendra Modi as the country’s Prime Minister. This book illustrates the economic, social and cultural processes that shaped political passions in India during the summer of 2019. The contributors compel us to take seriously the ‘structures of feeling’ in politics. Such an approach requires interdisciplinarity. Which is why the book brings together a stellar team of economists, political scientists, sociologists, historians and geographers to explain Modi’s resounding win.