Includes bibliographies and index

Since the 1960s a new assertiveness has characterized India's formerly silent majority, the lower castes that comprise more than two-thirds of the country’s population. Today, India´s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, is controlled by lower-caste politicians, as is Bihar and lower-caste representation in national politics is growing inexorably. Jaffrelot argues that this trend constitutes a genuine ‘democratization’ of India and that the social and economic effects of this ‘silent revolution’ are bound to multiply in the years to come. For anyone interested in Indian politics, post-Independence history and the contemporary political scenario, this is an indispensable book.