Weaponised Pluralism: The Far Right and Minority Recruitment in India

Drawing on extensive fieldwork within the Hindu far-right and its Muslim wing, Weaponised Pluralism offers a new account of why far-right mobilisations recruit from the very communities they oppose. Why does the Hindu far-right have a Muslim wing? Why did the Nazis have Jewish supporters? Why do White supremacist parties run Black candidates? Sometimes far-right actors recruit from the very minorities they challenge. Drawing on his time in India with the Muslim Rashtriya Manch - the Muslim wing of the Hindu far-right Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – Pal argues in this book that these bigots act like pluralists because pluralism can sometimes be bigotry. Weaponised pluralism proposes that far-right groups like the RSS can adopt a strategy of weaponised pluralism, in which traditional performances of inter-community forbearance counterintuitively produce communities stratified by race, ethnicity and religion. Examining how the RSS performs pluralism through its Muslim wing, the book takes the reader into the rallies where Muslims pray to the Hindu god Ram; to the Manch’s cow-milk iftar parties; and the Muslim-run cow refuges in Hindu temples.The volume provides a deep dive into the creative organisational strategies that bigots use to navigate diverse societies. Whether by holding interfaith dinners that reify Muslim subordination; creating a small category of Good Muslims so that the rest are bad; or by co-opting Muslim institutions to undermine them, far-right actors are increasingly adept at navigating a world where looking pluralist still hold great weight. Weaponised pluralism offers a rare internal account of how bigots actually pull this off. Weaponised pluralism takes a fine-grained lens to understand why far-right organisations recruit from the very minorities they oppose. Why do these organisations seek to appear like pluralists? Building on his time with the Muslim wing of the Hindu far-right in India, Felix Pal proposes that bigots can strategically use what he calls weaponised pluralism. This political strategy counterintuitively uses progressive political performances to bolster bigoted political agendas. Basing his analysis in an Indian context, Weaponised pluralism nonetheless reveals much about contexts as varied as Palestinian soldiers in the Israeli army, Indigenous Australians on far-right television, and Black congressional candidates in the American Republican Party. Drawing on rare access to the Hindu far-right and its Muslim wing, Pal paints an evocative picture of the complexities of how far-right organising extends far beyond the pointy end of traditional bigotry.

Pagina's: 222, Hardcover, Manchester University Press