Hindutva’s durable hegemony can be countered only by federalism: Stanford professor

Thomas Blom Hansen, the Reliance-Dhirubhai Ambani Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University, has said that Hindutva has become an almost hegemonic frame for talking about the nation. In an interview with Frontline, he argued that while the BJP may lose political power, the RSS's cultural-nationalist work of organising 'Hindu society' will continue. He said the only durable counter-hegemony is federalism.

Hansen observed that RSS shakhas remain the primary recruitment grounds, building deep emotional bonds among men around basic truisms: that Hindus have been oppressed and must reclaim pride and manliness, and that they must be vigilant against threats. He said Hindutva is renegotiating caste rather than overcoming it, noting that an assertive OBC like Modi can rise high in politics, but the RSS was the key variable in his ascent.

On the question of controlling women's bodies through campaigns like love jihad and anti-conversion laws, Hansen said endogamy remains a core principle of how social life and morality are organised in India. He called the defence of women's bodies the 'main border' that Hindutva is policing. Hansen founded and directed Stanford's Center for South Asia from 2010 to 2017.