Partha Chatterjee

Culture Critique, Spring 2012

Abstract

The Anna Hazare movement attracted much attention in 2011 by demanding a strong and independent ombudsman institution empowered to investigate and prosecute allegations of corruption against government officials of all ranks, including ministers and judges. The movement drew most of its support from the urban middle classes of northern India. While it had many characteristics of a populist movement, its distinctive aspect is an antipolitical condemnation of the entire political class. Its indictment of corruption was a moral one, based on the conviction that the normal procedures of law are ineffective and easily manipulated by those with political power. As of spring 2012, the movement appears to have lost steam and has proved to have no effect on issues in the larger arena of electoral politics.

View the article here: The Movement against Politics