Dr. Satarupa Pal
Volume-XI, Issue-II, January 2023
Volume-XI, Issue-II, January 2023 | ||
Published Online: 31.01.2023 | Page No: 159-165 | |||
Politics of Presence in India: An Analysis Dr. Satarupa Pal, Assistant Professor in Political Science, Asutosh College, Kolkata, India | |
Politics of presence is a contested concept in democracies around the world. Politics of
presence refers to accommodation of hitherto excluded groups in especially ethnic
minorities and women in democratic decision-making bodies. These measures included also
use of gender quotas in the same bodies. Anne Philips in her celebrated book The Politics of
Presence (1995), has been central arguments for increasing the number of women in formal
politics. Politics of presence inspires many scholars of democratic theory, political
representation, citizenship and multiculturalism world over. Indian government guaranteed
various measures for women and minorities especially Scheduled caste and Scheduled
Tribe communities in democratic bodies. For women two third reservation of seats are
reserved in democratic decision making bodies in local governance. Despite of that fact,
they remain excluded from their effective representation of the same bodies. They have been
faced various discriminatory practices in their life cycles. Against this backdrop, the
present paper explores that the politics of presence as a conceptual tool for analyzing the
position of minorities and women in Indian context and how they accommodate in
democratic decision making bodies. | |
Keywords: politics, presence, excluded, women, democracy, representation |