'There are few writers with the rigour and knowledge of Modi's career like Jaffrelot ... [Gujarat Under Modi] is a demanding but essential read about how one of the world's most effective politicians built his political base and brand.'
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Financial Times'Jaffrelot's acute analysis presents Modi's "Gujarat model" as both a product of the state's distinctive political culture and a stark departure from its previous traditions... . [It] powerfully illustrate[s] the perils for a democracy when authoritarian state power is yoked to a brute majoritarianism intent on bullying into submission minorities and dissenters.' --
TLS'Few writers have documented Modi's rise as rigorously as Christophe Jaffrelot... . [He] meticulously details how Modi developed the prototype of Hindu authoritarianism in Gujarat.... . Essential reading for those who want to understand contemporary India, and for anyone concerned about the state of democracy in the world.'
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Literary Review'Fascinating.'
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The Hindu's Frontline magazine'One of the most important recent books to understand how Mr Modi has controlled and governed India from 2014 by extending the template created in Gujarat from 2002 onward.' --
The Wire'[A] richly detailed book... . There are lessons here that reach beyond India's borders.'
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Labour Hub'A rigorous, deeply thoughtful and immensely significant book... . Jaffrelot sets out in meticulous detail how Modi's 14 years as chief minister in...Gujarat...was the crucible for the nightmare brand of politics that now dominates India.'
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Middle East Eye'A scholarly and empirical study ... The information and analysis presented in Gujarat Under Modi are vital for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Indian politics and the crisis of democracy in the Third World.'
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Ghanshyam Shah, retired professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and former Director, Centre for Social Studies, Surat, Gujarat'Professor Jaffrelot has worked on the manuscript painstakingly for over two decades, and the thoroughness of his primary and secondary research are apparent. It will be read widely by academics, journalists, and civil society in India as well as by those interested in this distinctive case of alt-right populism that is visible across democracies worldwide.'
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Uday Chandra, Assistant Professor of Government at Georgetown University, Qatar'A magisterial analysis of Narendra Modi's systematic subversion of democracy in Gujarat ... Every institution was subjugated to his personal control - even his own party. Bigotry, vigilantism and cronyism thrived. Essential reading to understand Modi's effort to suffocate India's democracy.'
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James Manor, School of Advanced Study, University of London'Jaffrelot brings his trademark mastery of deep archives and a wealth of sources to provide a definitive account of how Gujarat became the laboratory of Hindutva, drawing on two decades of research. A landmark work for anyone interested in modern India's deep changes in recent decades.'
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Thomas Blom Hansen, Professor of Anthropology, Stanford University'Chronicles the violent bricolage assembled through amplifying the securitisation of society, deep state mobilisations, debasement of institutions, casteism and minoritisation, criminalisation of dissent, and viral propaganda. Jaffrelot's consummate account demonstrates how this massive and populist undertaking led to Modi's extraordinary influence, and Hindu nationalism's incursion to take over India.' --
Angana P. Chatterji, University of California, Berkeley
