The Abdication of the State: The Rattle-effect, and the Reimagining of Socialism and Secularism in Contemporary India

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22305431

Kuldeep Sharma (Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)

Secularism and Socialism both are an integral part of Indian constitution in principle. But simultaneously, both are so fluid concepts of political theory at the definition level that it is difficult to draw a fixed boundary of their content in an objective manner. Though neither Secularism nor Socialism as such were added in the Preamble in 1950, but the spirit underlying them has always been there in some form or the other in constitutional ethos. In this context, this article establishes an structural linkages between both the concepts and their distinctive Indian variants. It further traces the apparent decline of both the concepts in light of Neo-liberal political economy. The article also illuminates the abdication of State from its responsibility to preserve the actual welfare of citizens and maintaining a true secular outlook in contemporary times. Conclusively, the article suggest why and how both secularism and socialism should be reimagined together and how both processes are interconnected with each other.