DEMOCRACY AS A DISCOURSE AND PROJECT

The paper argues that the idea of India’ as something shared above particularistic identities, especially of religion and caste, is an idea that has not gone deep yet with vast groups, even amongst the relatively privileged sections of Indian society. Since 2000 three different sets of Social Studies textbooks have been used in the school system that caters to this relatively privileged, and expanding, English speaking section of Indian society. The paper situates these texts in the context of the ideological moorings of the ruling political parties that commissioned them and examines their discourses on Democracy. The exercise is used to deliberate upon the issues and prospects in the deepening of democracy in the ideational sphere through school education.