Ghetto and Within

This work is an effort to understand and explore the linkages between the process of ghettoisation, identity formation and the political economy of capitalism. Through fieldwork in the city of Delhi it looks at how a particular form of identity politics sustains the process of ghettoisation of a community and creates a situation which downplays the need for a class based mobilisation. It argues that identity politics need to be seen in conjunction with the way class formation and class politics within a particular community unfolds itself. This framework allows us to not only understand the larger issues such as that of communal politics but also provides us insights into the way differential perceptions about 'violence' are forged within a community. It seeks to explore how class antagonism becomes a non-issue because the social identity dominates the discourse.