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Relocations of Hindutva: Hindu Nationalism Under Modi 3.0
Nielsen, K.B. Nilsen, A.G.
Nielsen, K.B.
Nilsen, A.G.
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2025-12-01
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nielsen_et_al_2026.pdf
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Abstract
In this special issue introduction, we use the 2024 Indian national elections as our entry point for critically assessing the configuration and direction of Hindu nationalism as a hegemonic project under Modi 3.0 – a project that has forged an intimate connection between neoliberal accumulation strategies and ‘Hindutva’ as a vehicle for ideological legitimation. Rather than seeking to determine whether the elections mark a setback or a consolidation for Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), we ask how and to what effect they signal a more profound geographical and sociological relocation of the wider Hindu nationalist project. Working with the notion of ‘relocations’, we seek to capture the simultaneous yet uneven contraction and expansion of Hindutva’s footprint across multiple geographies and demographic categories, both prior to and after 2024. Drawing on the granular state-level analyses contained in the contributions to this special issue, we argue that while contemporary Hindu nationalist politics displays a considerable degree of flux, fluidity, and in some cases even vulnerability, its unfolding relocations in crucial ways contribute to the continued reproduction of Hindu nationalist hegemony under Modi 3.0.
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Nielsen KB, Nilsen AG and Selvaraj MS (2026) Relocations of Hindutva: Hindu Nationalism Under Modi 3.0. Forum for Development Studies. 53(1): 1-17.
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