Gender Relations and Democracy: The Conflict between Hindu Nationalist and Secular Forces in Indian Civil Society

摘要

The Hindu nationalist movement has for the last decades tried to expand within the Indian civil society, and a part of their strategy has been to increase the support for their views on gender relations. This article focuses on this mobilization and the response to it from the autonomous women's movement. It is suggested that the Hindu Nationalist groups have a very different view on gender relations compared to the main stream of the Indian women's movement, and that the mobilization of the Hindutva forces has met with strong resistance. It is further argued that this resistance may contribute to the deepening and widening of the democratic space in India.