Politics

Hyperpolitics is what came next: intense politicisation, with neither institutional roots nor ambitions. “On the surface,” Jäger writes, “the Black Lives Matter protests would seem to have little in common with the mob that stormed the Capitol in January 2021. Morally, they are worlds apart … Organisationally, however, these movements exhibit a striking set of similarities: fleeting in duration, they maintain no membership…

But what happens when history starts to resemble myth, when the inconsistencies reveal themselves not through deep study but in the most superficial scroll of our phones? The new age of political paranoia obviously reflects a toxic efflorescence of grass-roots distrust, not to mention the structural pathologies of a new information environment. But sometimes I wonder whether we’re putting too much emphasis on those structures…

What has changed is not merely the balance of power overwhelmingly in favour of the BJP. It is the perception of permanence. A large number of opposition politicians now appear to believe that once their party loses power, especially against the BJP, the path back has become extraordinarily difficult. The BJP enters every election with advantages that no rival currently possesses. Its financial resources dwarf those of…

Disruption to the “creative classes” could produce an outsized political impact. I’m not exactly sure where people in the creative classes — say, writers or editors or artists [6] or, to broaden the net, industries like consulting or advertising — rank in terms of the medium-term threat from AI-related job displacement. (Journalists per se have long lived with an anvil over their heads in a perpetually struggling industry.)…

Lastly, the general impression I take away from this budget is the realisation of a party in power which has figured out a way to win elections in India that’s not contingent on strong economic performance. So long as you don’t screw up the economy badly, a combination of emotional issues and timely welfarism (direct cash transfer just before elections is a new, powerful tool now) should see you through most elections.…

Manipur’s misfortunes can seem irrelevant to Indians who live in the country’s heartlands. Yet the state’s fate has national implications. It has been riven by a decades-long insurgency, led largely by Meitei groups who desire independence. That had been quelled in recent years, but as frustration and alienation deepen there is a risk that it will resurface. Above all, the crisis offers a warning about the dangers of identity…