Audacious Hope is a careful, rigorous archive of these struggles, including the protests that united farmers across state borders in 2020 and the national outcry following the controversial CAA legislation. From the myriad ways people came to the aid of their fellow citizens during the pandemic to the testing of free-speech boundaries by cultural activists, this book undertakes the task of documenting resistance in its many forms.
Indrajit Roy challenges the reader with his account of how a proud people are battling to save their beloved democracy. The question is, how can we, through individual and collective action, resist authoritarianism, casteism and majoritarianism? The answer is, of course, through the audacity of hope.
I am grateful to the numerous activists, artists and authors who have contributed to our understanding of these challenges as well as charted pathways forward to deal with them. The book would not have been possible without their commitment to democracy in India and a willingness to publicly confront the creeping authoritarianism in the country. My eternal gratitude to them all.
The grave dangers facing our democracy make it tempting for publishers to regurgitate narratives of despair, hopelessness and fatalism. But, as the cultural theorist Raymond Williams has said, "To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing.' Westland Publishers deserve special thanks for buckling publisher fads and showing a willingness to support this project. I could not have asked for a better editor than Ajitha, who consistently and constructively challenged me to sharpen my writing. I am especially grateful to her for the idea of seamlessly weaving the text with audio-visual aspects in one of the chapters brough the strategic placement of QR codes. Sanjana T. worked lessly and patiently to iron out the manuscript and improve readability.
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