Rajni Kothari (16 August 1928 – 19 January 2015) was an Indian
political scientist
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
,
political theorist
A political theorist is someone who engages in constructing or evaluating political theory, including political philosophy. Theorists may be academics or independent scholars.
Ancient
* Aristotle
* Chanakya
* Cicero
* Confucius
* Mencius
* ...
, academic and writer. He was the founder of
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in 1963, a social sciences and humanities research institute, based in Delhi
and ''Lokayan'' (Dialogue of the People), started in 1980 as a forum for interaction between activists and intellectuals.
[ He was also associated with ]Indian Council of Social Science Research
The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is the national body overseeing research in the social sciences in India. It was established in New Delhi
New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delh ...
, International Foundation for Development Alternatives, and People's Union for Civil Liberties
People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) is a human rights body formed in India in 1976 by Jayaprakash Narayan, as the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights (PUCLDR).
Background
Indian emergency
Jayaprakash Narayan was ...
.
One of the great political thinkers of the 20th-century, amongst his noted works include ''Politics in India'' (1970), ''Caste in Indian Politics'' (1973), and ''Rethinking Democracy'' (2005). In 1985, Lokayan was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "linking and strengthening local groups working to protect civil liberties, women's rights and the environment."
Early life and background
Kothari was the only son of his father, a Jain trader. His mother died early in life.[
]
Career
Kothari started his career as a lecturer at Baroda University (now Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, Gujarat, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a public university on April 30, 1949 and was renamed after ...
). While working here he first received recognition in 1961, when his essays series, "Form and Substance in Indian Politics" were published in the ''Economic and Political Weekly
The ''Economic and Political Weekly'' (EPW) is a weekly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all social sciences, and is published by the Sameeksha Trust. In January 2018, academic Gopal Guru was named the new Editor of the journal. Guru will be ...
'' (then ''Economic Weekly'') over six issues. He had also started writing for ''Seminar'', the journal published by Romesh Thapar. Thereafter he was invited by Professor Shyama Charan Dube to become the Assistant Director of the National Institute of Community Development, Mussoorie
Mussoorie () is a hill station and a municipal board, in Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hil ...
.
In 1963, he moved to Delhi, where using a personal grant of Rs. 70,000 given by Professor Richard L. Park, head of Asia Foundation’s India chapter, he started the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), in the premises of the Indian Adult Education Association at Indraprastha Estate, Delhi, before moving to its present location in Civil Lines, Delhi. Here working along with Ashis Nandy, D.L. Sheth, Ramashray Roy, Bashiruddin Ahmed and others, pioneering works in social sciences were published over next two decades. In 1970 he published ''Politics in India'', which first theorized Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
as a system
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...
rather than a party. Thereafter he published noted works like ''Caste in Indian Politics'' (1973) and ''Footsteps into the Future'' (1975).[
During the early 1970s, he was associated with Congress-leader ]Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...
, and negotiated with the Congress-led central government for Navnirman movement
''Navnirman Andolan'' () was a socio-political movement in 1974 in Gujarat by students and middle-class people against economic crisis and Corruption in India, corruption in public life. The movement focused on different issues during its durat ...
, a socio-political movement of 1974 against corruption in Gujarat, which ultimately led to the dissolution of the state government. However, with the entry of Sanjay Gandhi
Sanjay Gandhi (14 December 1946 – 23 June 1980) was an Indian politician. He was a member of the Lok Sabha and was the younger son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi.
During his lifetime, he was widely expected to succeed his mother as head ...
, he distanced himself from Congress, and came close to Jaya Prakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...
and the Janata Party
The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu.
The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...
instead. After the Emergency of 1975, he moved away from political parties, and started his career as an activist. This phase culminated with the foundation of ''Lokayan'' - Dialogue of the People in 1980, a forum for interaction between activists, thinkers and intellectuals to talked about positive changes in the fields of religion, agriculture, health, politics, and education.[
He soon became associated with ''Citizens for Democracy'', and ]People's Union for Civil Liberties
People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) is a human rights body formed in India in 1976 by Jayaprakash Narayan, as the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights (PUCLDR).
Background
Indian emergency
Jayaprakash Narayan was ...
, a human rights body established in 1976, where he remained General Secretary from 1982 to 1984, and subsequently its President. He served as the chairman of Indian Council of Social Science Research and remained a member of the Planning Commission.[
Besides scholarly articles he also wrote newspaper columns, and in 2002 published his memoirs titled, ''Memoirs: Uneasy is the Life of the Mind''.][ In his final book, ]
Rethinking Democracy
' (2005), Kothari explored the possible meanings of democracy
Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
. An excerpt from the book was later included in the first volume of '' India Since the 90s'' series, ''The Hunger of the Republic: Our Present in Retrospect'', edited by Ashish Rajadhyaksha.
CSDS where he was an honorary fellow,[ in 2004 established ''The Rajni Kothari Chair in Democracy'' in his honour, funded by ]Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...
and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust
Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) was founded in 1919 with a sum of Indian currency 8 million. It was under the Ownership of Ratan Tata until his death. Noel Tata was appointed as the Chairman of the Tata Group#Tata Trusts, Tata Trusts on 11 October ...
. On 27 November 2012, CSDS celebrated its 50th anniversary, presided over by Kothari.
Personal life
He married in 1947, and his wife Hansa died in 1999.
In his final years, his eldest son Smitu died in 2009. Smitu, trained in physics, communications and sociology, was involved in ecological, cultural and human rights issues. He had been a visiting professor at Cornell and Princeton Universities. Rajni Kothari had two other sons, Miloon and Ashish, and two grandchildren, Emma and Gyan.
Death
He died on 19 January 2015 at his residence at Patparganj in East Delhi following urinary tract infection and other age related ailments.
Works
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References
External links
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Official Website
Lokayan - Dialogue of the people, website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kothari, Rajni
1928 births
2015 deaths
Indian political scientists
Indian founders
Academic staff of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
Indian political philosophers
Members of the Planning Commission of India
20th-century Indian educators
Indian political writers
Indian male writers