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Rethinking Political Elites' Mass‐Linkage Strategies: Lessons from the Study of Indira Gandhi's Political Habitus
Author(s) -
Singh Sourabh
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/johs.12291
Subject(s) - linkage (software) , politics , habitus , elite , argument (complex analysis) , sociology , field (mathematics) , positive economics , political economy , political science , social science , law , economics , mathematics , biochemistry , chemistry , cultural capital , pure mathematics , gene
In this article, I critique available elite‐mass linkage theories that depict elites either as structurally determined or rational actors. Taking cues from Bourdieu's political field theory, I argue that elites' mass‐linkage strategies are a product of their point of view on politics structured by their trajectory in historically specific structures of politics. I demonstrate my argument by documenting shifts in the mass‐linkage strategies of Indira Gandhi, one of the most influential leaders of postcolonial India. The general lesson to be drawn from this study is that it is important to examine political elites' past mass‐linkage experiences in historically specific conditions of the political structure in order to explain their current choices of mass‐linkage strategies.