Kirti:

Radcliffe brown in reference to African political system says state should not be attached with
"social analysis". This view influenced other anthropologist and led to neglect of the study of the
state as and object .
Weberian argument - "The state is an compulsory association with territory basis"
The definition of modern state according to him was -it is a system of administration and legal
orders ie, authority, not only at memebers , citizens but also over area under jurisdiction.
Weberian argument said that this neglect has bought back that formal legal rationality of state
hides the interdependent cultures of state so tha all modern state are same .
The difficulty of studying the state .
"State" has always occupied the central stage amon sociologist, political philosophers, scientists
etc.acc to Anthropologist "the state" was as universal cateroy.
Timothy Mitchell - shows American political scientist in 1950's and 60's were with Radcliffe
brown's ideas of rejecting the state and favouring political system as the state was too vague
and in practice it didn't include the important aspect of pol sysytem also they felt it complexed
the problem of distinguish between political and social environment.
Later narrower concept of state emgered n it included "policy making actors"ie, public interest
which helped reducing poverty and led to development.
+Ve effect : state as neutral arbiter of the public interest and settle the disputes
-ve effect: competing agenda at cutting down or not realising the purpose of others .
Also Marx puts he's views of state in terms of capitalism. There is two way approach followed
one to look through instrumentalistic view by Ralph miliband. -state as extention of interest of
capital . And second as so called structuralist view :- state as cohesive factor within social
factors. By poplantantaz.

Dahsel:
‘The notion of state lies hidden behind the concrete’
According to Abrams (social scientist and market researcher) most citizens face this on a large
scale and common sensical level, which makes it difficult for us to understand the power
dynamics that goes into making of these agencies of government.
Though the political functions have tried to stay fit in terms of economy and ideology, they still
face difficulty in identifying the -‘global role of the state’ - that is to provide equal benefits and
opportunities to all.
Hence , according to Miliband (British sociologist) it’s important to study the relationship among
state systems( state entities possessing monopoly of force over the others in their territories)
and state ideas along with other forms of power.
Whereas on the other hand , Mitchell ( British sociologist) was also of the opinion that state is
important because of its political strength and thus has the ability to exist as an entity , function ,
relation etc.
He argues that though there’s no clear boundary visible, there is in reality a boundary that’s
visible which is that of the Modern nation state- state in which the majority shares the same
culture and is conscious of it.
Moreover , he distinguished himself from Poulantzas ( French Greek political sociologist) . He
emphasised that the state should be analysed as a structural effect - which makes structures of
society to exist. For eg- the use of passports - it sets our identity of the society which in reality
can not be clearly separated.
Thus, the traditional Indian society had the ability to marginalise the political order which led
political changes to remain isolated.
The idea of state was distanced and not considered to be important. It was much later, due to
Dumont that development took place - ‘HOMO HIERARCHIES’ - which argues that secular
power in Hindu society is subordinated only to religious values.
During India’s post independent period, Sunil khilnani argued that the modern state etched itself
into the Indian thoughts of imagination, so that the earlier pre- colonial orders no longer find a
place again.
Thus, concept of state took place in the ‘constitution of India’- to secure citizens equality,
fraternity , liberty etc.

Lalrinpuii:
Rudolphs argued that the state is a self-determining third actor' and hence an organization or
dintinct entity while Bardhan describes the state in terms of conflicts and complimentaries
between three dominant proprietory class.
In the work of Bardhan and other scholars of Indian political economy, state remains rather
shadowy. The 'state-system' as a fact is more valued over 'state-idea'
Partha Chatterjee and Sudipta Kaviraj adhering to Gramscian idea of 'passive revolution' argues
that state is virtually subsumed by the relationships of power among the dominant classes.
With the Nehruvian state, planned development became an absolute central feature of the
newly independent state. The state instructed it's people to totally rely on the govt.
State planning was generally always strongly supported by the capitalist bourgeoisie but the
case was different for India. The support from the Indian elite was very thin and eroded.
The elite sought alliances to reflect their own interests.
Acc to Kaviraj 'passive revolution' occurred because the Indian mordernizing bourgeoisie was
weak and also because of its linguistic islolation. They also lacked a precondition of institution.
The Nehruvian era failed to create common sense legitimacy as the notion of "we-ness" was
neglected and gap devloped between the elite and common mass
The main reason was the overstretched fact and as policies were very low, beyond recognition.

Kuwali:
The discussion from the above section reflects on different aspects of the Indian state system.
From this it can be concluded that the state system in India is profoundly influenced by social
forces. Emperically, therefore, the boundary between state and society is in reality unclear and
porous.
In order to get a clear idea of what the state actually refers to, the first requirement is
ethnographic evidence. Only this will help explain what the state variously means and what it
stands for for people in India today.
From the 1950s to the early 1970s, anthropologists wrote quite extensively on politics in India.
Some such works were F.G. Bailey’s study of politics in Orissa, Anthony Carter’s study of
politics in Maharashtra and MN Srinivas’s work on Caste in Modern India.
Marguerite Robinson’s work was another instance which provided a local study of a
major shift in Indian politics and of the changes represented by challenge to local authority and
dominance. Conversely, in Uttar Pradesh the decline of traditional authority are questionable.
All of these studies just illuminate our understanding of local political action without telling us
much about the Indian state itself. This is another case in point highlighting the increasing need
for more ethnographic research on state, especially on rural level officials.
An important monograph that can be cited here is Paul Brass’s political ethnography of rural
Uttar Pradesh called Theft of an Idol (1997). Here he emphasized on the multiple crises that
India is facing, one of which pertains to the police and breakdown of the law and order. This
general observation in his monograph is substantiated by ethnographic evidence about a series
of crimes and atrocities in Uttar Pradesh, mostly involving a network of power relations between
the police, politicians and criminals.
Hence there is a real crisis of the state and significant number of Indians have lost all
confidence in at least any idea or system resembling the modern state enshrined in the
Constitution of India.

Nidhi:
Akhil Gupta's account on corruption based on fieldwork in Uttar Oradesh argues that at the local
level the boundary between state and society is blurred.
The state official do not find any division between their roles and styles of operation as public
servant opposed to private citizens.
Barbara Harris White studied a small town in Tamil Nadu named Arni where she found that the
growth of informal economy was related to the patterns on state failure and its inability to collect
revenue for their development which resulted in blurring of state and society.
The intermediate class i.e. rich peasant and lower middle class expanded their interest by
colonizing the state through kinship ties.
White's material relates to Gupta's main argument that "the discourse of corruption enables
people to construct the state symbolically and to define themselves as citizens.
Discourse about corruption implies or helps to produce the boundary between the state and
society.
Gupta's analysis is weakened by a typical use of term discourse to cover practice and action
indiscriminately. Yet he is probably right to claim that people's talk about corruption can be
important in how they see citizenship, the state and the distinction between state and society.
Jonathan Parry's ethnography of corruption in Bhilai Steel Plant, he studied small scale retail
corruption where he says that the Hindi words for corruption and bribe i.e. bhrashtachar and
ghus are not morally neutral infact such payment methods are considered as illegitimate.
Robert Wade argues that corruption gets worse because it is encouraged by an increasingly
systematic market for public office.
Nevertheless, Parry's blod claim that the impersonal norms and vamues of modern state have
been widely internalized by ordinary Indians.
Therefore, the boundary between the state and society is not only unclear, it is also fluid and
negotiable according to the social context and position.

Jhanvi:
First essay is of Thomas Hanson
It states how the morn Indian state seeks to sustain the myth of the state as sublimely sovereign
and how it provides justice for its citizens.
Taking the example of State of Maharashtra the myth got destroyed a long time ago in places
like this
In Mumbai it started with the bloody riots and it led to the abolition of Ayodhya mosque in
December 6, 1992.
Muslims felt betrayed and the place was taken over by Hindus and Shiv Sena was seen
everywhere for Hindus, the myth was shattered and they felt victorious over the minorities.
Followed by this, After Shiv Sena and BJP came to power in Maharashtra in 1993, they asked
to investigate in the deadly bombings which were conducted by mainly Muslim groups by this
the Muslims started to feel attacked.
He argued that the court and authorities should move in a very impartial way and have universal
justice. But this was not the case and It involved a lot of brutality and miss conduct from
politicians and police officials
According to Hanson, the Muslims in Mumbai started to become more isolated and the
domination of Hindus in political force was seen.
Please brutality on lower class Muslims have also increased and even towards this slum
dwellers was reported.
In order to improve the relation of police started to work with the Muslims and they were seen
distributing flowers outside the mosque and many police officials were also invited as guest of
honour at Islamic festivals or religious events.
In the eyes of Muslims political leaders from Shiv Sena and BJP or no longer seen as the
perfect representatives of the state and now it is the duty of the police officials to ensure the
place of Muslims in the Indian society
In conclusion, Hanson admits that it cannot be told how far the Srikrishna commission actually
succeeded.
In constitutional terms, according to M Maatalo most dramatic crisis was the scene during
emergency of the state in 1975 and 1977
Her neglected story states that there were official denying us to write of housing for slum victims
and there were sterilisation happening and it said that these were a part of the normal
bureaucratic Procedure and not just emergency
Tallow also said that people in east Delhi did in to handle bureaucratic procedures completely
and that during emergency some people could take advantage of the rules of sterilisation but
they did not.

Nancy:
The written files were opposite to the subjects lives.
The false files had a motive to hide the reality.
The relevant files were buried under 'Pending cases'.
Two essays- focused on people who had some experience at the hands of the state.
Craig Jeffrey and Jens Lerche discussed cases from rural uttar pradesh , whereby people were
exploitated by state.
In UP, the amount was paid in bribes in the governmental jobs market.
Besides money, information and contacts were important for them to keep their job and posts
secured.
For example-Jats , they had contacts with lower level clerks who acted as intermediaries
between job candidates and recruitment oficers.
On the other hand, rich jats can afford the bribes and they were also disproportionately able to
cream off state resources through local panchayats.
Lerche's key argument here was that the reproduction of the classbof rich Jat landowners
significantly depends upon control of the economic and other resources located in the state,
which has been captured by one stratum of the society.
Lerche also talked about Scheduled castes. He says that SC found a new confidence in 1990's
at the time of rise of Bahujan Samaj Party.
SC's were also eager to misuse the government administration as much as possible.
The state in uttar pradesh is primarily looked upon as a pool of resources to be exploited as
effectively as possible.
Arild Ruud in his essay looks at the role of local politicians and leaders as intermediaries
between the village society and the state.
Ruud studied an ordinary village , where people distanced themselves from politics and
politicians.
Ruud also describes a village meeting called by CPM activists to elect a village committee, in
order to explore the issue.
Example- West bengal and Uttar pradesh.

Koishiki:
The Osellas explained different kinds of illicit payments which are evaluated differently.
Cheating and corruption is suspended in Obama, when malayali social mortality is reconstituted.
Powerful ones are strive to uphold the ordinary people in a form of "coercive subordination"
which brings an idiom of mutual closeness within the state and it's citizen.
Both Ruud and Osellas has the same case where they saw that ordinary people are expected
the corruption and cheating of politics and government but had to deal with the politicians and
officials. In contrast to the West Bengal meeting, they saw the events at Onam where people
are bind to bring themselves to their leaders at mahabali's kingdom.
Another notion on Mosse's historical and ethnographical study is focused on Irrigational system
where "the shifting boundary between state breaucracy and community institution for bringing
the state power and local authority at different historical moments but continued the old way
where the zamindars are forced to invest in Irrigation and Land revenue was failed but "land and
water" is continued to rule rather than managed.
After Independence, the Irrigational managing system is developed. Mosse's emphasized that
the ooutcomes should be distributed through religious donations. The state then claims the
gains which is transformed the public works into "personal patronage". Mosse found that local
community is generated in modern state which is shaped by a Notion of rulership.
Benei's focused on the state as a nation state where she gave importance to the national
patriotism which is a "value education" in daily life. In a single room Children's might be receiting
the national anthem as a memorised lists but for Indian currency it is an enactment of "banal
nationalism" which is coerced with Hinduism. Benei's general argument among ordinary people
and children's are that Indian nationalism comes in a patriotic idiom which is a regional
traditions. Pre-modern regional patriotism is now being "saffronized" by the educational policies
of the Hindu parties.

Garima:
The evidence in this book clearly confirms that the modern Indian Is not a discrete unitary actor
because it does not consist of a national organisation separated from the society. its multiple
agencies are staffed by personnel who rarely act in full coordination with each other and are
open in dispute or competition.
There is a huge incompatibility between modern set an Indian state due to the diversification in
India
The state is an idea as well as a system the Indian state possesses the characteristics of an
army school system and a bureaucracy So has a territorial boundary which it polices and has
also defended it more than once. But can appear to be a sovereign state set apart from society
by an internal boundary that seems to be as real as its external boundary. A local administrative
office of government school police station to enter any internal boundary to the domain of the
state, whose conceptual Separation from society is perhaps most ubiquitously symbolised by all
its special purposes buildings with their painted notice boards outside.
People in India also know that modern impersonal Norms of secularisation government and
formally rational bureaucracy do or should apply in government offices and And other locals of
the state.
He said that when you officials go out for too many tea and coffee break and are not seen in the
office is a lot of times but at the same time there are many officials are working
There are many blurred boundaries between the state and society ethnographic evidence
shows that although the boundaries may be blurred but they are perceived as boundaries only.
These boundaries hold the threshold of a government office and symbolises an internal
boundary by which the state is ideological apart from the society.
Domination and extensiveness of the modern Indian state.
This state was earlier mysterious and distant from the people but now it has become very much
involved and has over extended itself to the masses.