ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes how the instrumentalization of national identity in India impacted its positions in the negotiations of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). India was liberal-leaning between 2001 and 2004, when the government was led by coalition that headed by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which espouses a Hindu-centered conception of national identity. Thus, protectionist sectors—which have a lower proportion of Non-Hindus on average—could not convert identity capital into political power. In turn, between 2004 and 2008, under the (Secularist) government led by the Indian National Congress (INC), the balance shifted toward protectionism as support in the Parliament came from states with a higher proportion of Non-Hindus. Understood as the equal respect for all religions in the public space, secularism served to mitigate the political weight of the Hindu majority in modern India. However, from the early 1990s, Hindutva, which emphasizes Hindu contributions to the formation of the Indian nation, has gained space and emerged as a significant alternative narrative of nationality. Yet, as secularism has been legitimized for a longer time, I consider it the main parameter for defining the proxy for identity capital in India. Given that such a narrative praises the country's religious diversity, one can operationalize identity capital as being inversely related to the proportion of Hindus (the largest religious affiliation) in a sector. Hence, the lower such a proportion, the higher is the identity capital and, thus, the political power of an economic segment. I employ statistical analysis and qualitative evidence to corroborate for the Indian case propositions 1 (ratification shadows negotiation), 2 (identity capital impacts the ratification stage and, thus, the formation of the national interest), and 3 (the national interest leans toward the sectors with high identity capital). Protectionist sectors have on average a lower proportion of Hindus than liberalizing segments, then having more political power during governments that espouse secularism as the dominant conception of national identity.
