A Talk on ‘State apparatus and ‘Development’: ‘Gujarat Model’ by Sruthi Muraleedharan

ABOUT THE TALK
The Gujarat Model was showcased by Narendra Modi as a blueprint for India’s development during the 2014 election campaign. However, closer analysis reveals that the developmental paradigm altered the secular meanings and connotations of state-initiated development by associating state action with the rituals of pilgrimage. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Gujarat, this talk highlights the blurring of the lines between administrative bureaucratic processes of planning and religio-spatial symbolism. The presentation will also trace how this model has been transposed across various developmental domains from 2014 to the present.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Sruthi Muraleedharan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations and Governance Studies (IRGS) at Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence, Delhi NCR, India. Her research analyses the identity-based symbolic habitus in contemporary India, focusing on Hindutva, anti-caste, and civil society mobilisations, and their impact on democratic subject formation. Her current research explores diplomatic gifting practices, the politics of statues, and their transnational connections (ruptures and continuities) through symbolism. An early-career researcher, her interests span intersectional identity politics (gender, caste, and race), postcolonial thought, critical race theory, performativity, symbolism, space and city politics, South Asia politics, gender studies (South Asia, Africa, and West Asia), and interdisciplinary research methods such as visual ethnography.

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