ABSTRACT
In Mumbai the devastation caused by the decline of the textile mills—the city’s largest industry as well as employer of Hindu Maharashtrians—along with a stagnant labor market, Congress factionalism, and the decay of Congress’s governance conspired to create a dawning awareness among many voters that a viable political alternative was necessary. The Sena’s mobilization strategies captured the reciprocity existing between appeals of political identity and desires for material gain, as well as between elite and mass actions. Against a backdrop of political and economic distress, the Shiv Sena launched an effective grassroots campaign in Mumbai. The Sena incubated and spread the vision of a Hindu national community regionally. Material incentives only partially explained Mumbai slum dwellers’ popular participation in communal violence.
