Uneven Development and the Origins of Contemporary Populism in the Global South: Hindutva and the Milli Görüs Movement in Comparative Perspective

Recent analyses of right-wing populist political movements have predominantly centred on western
social formations, with explanation focusing on the most recent proximate causes for this resurgence.
Through a comparison of the experience of two ruling political movements - the Indian Bharatiya
Janta Party (BJP) and the Turkish Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP) - my research aims to address
this gap, from an international historical-sociological perspective, analysing the trajectory of
contemporary populism in these two pivotal countries of the Global South. I do this with particular
reference to the development of distinctive forms of political mobilisation in the port-cities of Bombay
and Istanbul during the early part of the twentieth century, which in my view are critical to
understanding contemporary conservative populism in India and Turkey.
Contemporary writing on India has emphasised the uniqueness of 'Indian culture' - framing it as an
exception to standard sociological explanation, and thus requiring an appreciation of postcolonial
difference. I propose to challenge this idea through a comparison of colonial and non-colonial
integration into the world market. In turn, suggesting that the contemporary Indian political economy is
to be understood not in reference to postcolonial difference, but with reference to the international
expansion of capitalist social relations. This method of explanation highlights the relationship between
the geography of uneven capitalist development and the formation of national identities and political
subjectivities. Further, it looks to identify how forms of collective agency have brought about sociohistorical
change in the international system.