Bovines, Beef, and the Political Economy of Modi’s India

Abstract

This paper analyses India’s bovine sector as a means of understanding the political economy underpinning Narendra Modi’s authoritarian populist rule. India’s bovine sector under Modi constitutes a sphere of political-economic activity that throws up an illuminating paradox: On the one hand, an entrenched and aggressive Hindu nationalist cultural politics is engaged in violently protecting the cow, disciplining those who do not sufficiently respect and revere it; on the other hand, India houses and continuously promotes one of the world’s largest corporate-controlled beef export economies that enjoys strong political support and which depends on the slaughter of millions of bovines every year. The paper analyses this scenario to map how Modi’s authoritarian populist regime has worked to reconcile the two by simultaneously promoting a virulent Hindu nationalism that seeks to turn India into a Hindu state, while also pushing neoliberal economic policies favoring corporate capital and elite class interests within and beyond the bovine economy. The analysis of how these intertwined forces of Hindu nationalism and neoliberalism unfold within India’s bovine economy offers important insights into evolving state-business relations, while also revealing their often-devastating material and economic impact on the country’s poor.