Democracy and the Left in South Asia

The historical background of the rapid decline of the left, commensurate with the decline of organised labour due to the onslaught of the neo-liberal policy drive, needs to be relooked at dispassionately. In this context, Democratic Governance and Politics of the Left in South Asia, edited by Subhoranjan Dasgupta, offers an interesting account for readers who are eager to remain within the realm of the Marxist theory of praxis. The present volume grew out of a conference held at the Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK) in November 2013 on the theme of “Politics of the Left and Democratic Governance in South Asia.”

From the Marxist point of view, the state, whatever its form, inherently contains certain coercive apparatuses. So, democracy would not thrive if it does not go along with the process of withering away of the state. The social and economic prerequisites for strengthening the process of withering away of the state and the practice of democracy are dialectically complementary.