Master of Arts – Integrated Studies
A FREIREAN ANALYSIS OF INDIA‟S AAM AADMI PARTY
By
SHARONE DANIEL
Integrated Studies Project
submitted to Dr. Peter (Jay) Smith
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts – Integrated Studies
Athabasca, Alberta
August, 2016
Abstract
This essay analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of India‟s 'Aam Aadmi Party' (AAP) on both a macro and micro level, using a Freirean lens. On a macro level, I analyze whether the party's ideology and practices can be characterized as revolutionary. On a micro level,
I analyze the perceptions that AAP supporters have of the party and the effect the party has had on them. Aside from putting the AAP's claims to be 'revolutionary' under the microscope, this essay shows how the party's failure to truly embrace revolutionary ideologies and practices at the macro level resulted in a complete absence of any revolutionary characteristics or impact at the micro level.
Introduction
This essay analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of India‟s 'Aam Aadmi
Party' (AAP) on both a macro and micro level using a Freirean lens and argues that the
AAP only partially measures up to to Paulo Freire's criteria for being revolutionary. In
Freire‟s writings, he demonstrates how traditional pedagogical systems, while claiming to bring liberation, really only serve to cement and propagate oppressive structures and belief systems. Freire asserts that the only truly revolutionary way for leaders to approach working with and for the empowerment of the oppressed is by using a dialogical approach that supports the development of critical consciousness and critical action.
On a macro level, I analyze whether the party's ideology and practices can be characterized as revolutionary. On a micro level, I analyze the perceptions that AAP supporters have of the party and the effect the party has had on them. Aside from putting the AAP's claims to be 'revolutionary' under the microscope, this essay shows how the party's failure to truly embrace revolutionary ideologies and practices at the macro level resulted in a complete absence of any revolutionary characteristics or impact at the micro level.
Theoretical Foundation
As mentioned above, this paper uses Paulo Freire's 'Pedagogy of the
Oppressed' as the theoretical framework within which to analyze the AAP. I have chosen
Freire's theoretical framework because the AAP has repeatedly claimed to be, and been described as, 'revolutionary' by party members and supporters. Since Freire's theories are concerned with which ideologies and practices can and cannot be categorized as revolutionary, it seemed a fitting match. Though 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed' is a foundational text within the academic tradition of critical pedagogy, and is most often applied to analyses of formal educational programs for adults or adolescents, its contents are quite clearly intended to be applicable to a far wider range of situations. This is because Freire argued that all revolutionary leaders, regardless of whether or not they are teachers by profession, will be involved in pedagogy, it being an inherent part of the struggle (Freire, 1996, p. 49-
50)1.
According to Freire, a revolutionary leader is distinguished from other leaders by the fact that she does not attempt to liberate the oppressed on their behalf (Freire,
1996, p. 49-50). Revolutionary leaders do not present themselves as saviour figures, they do not try to “'implant' a belief in freedom in the oppressed' in order to gain their trust, and they do not think of the oppressed as empty receptacles into which to pour their
'libertarian propaganda' (p. 49). Revolutionary leaders do not try to think and act for the oppressed. To do so would be to use a 'banking' model of education, which Freire emphatically rejects as oppressive. In the 'banking' model of education, the leader sees herself as the „possessor‟ of knowledge and the only one capable of correctly interpreting and understanding that knowledge. The oppressed persons are „repositories‟ into which the knowledge is deposited in the form that the leader has decided is correct, which usually includes 'knowledge' on how the oppressed should act and what their part in their own 'liberation' ought to be (for example: to get good grades and not challenge the system). This model of education allows the educator to “feed the students whatever he/she believes to be correct without opposition” and is a form of education that devalues
1 [t]he revolutionary leaders of every epoch who have affirmed that the oppressed must accept the struggle for their liberation – an obvious point – have also thereby implicitly recognized the pedagogical aspect of this struggle. (Freire, 1996, p. 49-50) the experiences of the oppressed (Friere, 1996, p. 49). It says that their experiences, contexts, perspectives, and thoughts are of no significance to the interpretation of the law, fact, concept, piece of information, opinion, or theory – also known as a 'cognizable object; - in question. The banking model insists that there is only one way of understand a cognizable object, thereby halting discussion before it can even begin. The banking model of education thus teaches the oppressed to distrust what they know, to “think of themselves as dumb and turn to the educator for answers” (p. 49). This consequence perpetuates the oppressor‟s prejudiced belief that the oppressed do “not have the ability to think, act, want, know (p. 46) “and the notion that it is the teacher or the community worker's duty to “execute transformation”. In a nutshell, the banking model of education is disempowering. It assumes that the oppressed person knows nothing and could never think or act for herself, thus requiring a teacher, politician, or 'expert' to 'save' her by transforming her reality for her.
Revolutionary leaders, on the other hand, believe in the oppressed person's ability to “think, act, want, [and] know” (Freire, 1996, p. 46). The methods that they use are dialogical. That is, they work towards helping the oppressed to think critically and take critical action, rather than depending on others to think and act for them. Freire calls this type of education 'problem-solving' education. In 'problem-solving' education students and teachers teach and learn from each other. Neither one 'owns' knowledge. The cognizable objects, or things to be learned, are examined critically to understand how they fit into, effect, and relate to the social, cultural, and political contexts that people and communities live in and experience (p. 61). People's lives, thoughts, and experiences are thus highly important, because it helps them to understand the significance of the cognizable objects to their realities and particular situations.
One critique of the 'problem-solving' model of education is that it is simply a form of banking education disguised as liberatory education. It seeks to implant a different set of interpretations in the students head than the ones previously held. Another critique is that it is disingenuous of the leader to 'pretend' that s/he does not know more than the student, and that they are on an equal plan, when s/he is preparing the curriculum. (Schugurensky, 2011, p. 138-9)
Methodology
For the macro analysis, I used data available in the public domain – statements and manifestos found on party websites and newspaper articles, as well as one published book. The micro analysis relied on personal interviews with twenty six AAP supporters, one non-supporter, and one neutral person.
Interview questions were mostly open-ended and lasted between five and sixty minutes. They were conducted with the following groups of people:
Eighteen auto-rickshaw (three-wheeler taxi) drivers in New Delhi, India
Five members or supporters of the party in Kishal2, North India
One non-member/supporter in Kishal, North India
Three full-time volunteers within the AAP in Delhi
One potential political candidate for the party, who was also a part-time volunteer with the AAP, in New Delhi.
I chose to do most of my interviews with auto-rickshaw drivers because they belong to an oppressed population and were one of the most vocal supporters of the AAP
2 Kishal is a pseudonym before the 2013 state elections. I also interviewed full-time volunteers within the party, who spent their days engaged in tasks at the head office, in order to learn about the experiences, thoughts, and beliefs of those with an internal perspective of the party, and I interviewed five supporters and one non-supporter of the party in a different state in order to contrast the influence and reach of the party‟s culture and ideology in the party‟s place of origin with that of a small town far away from the center.
I gained access to full-time party volunteers by visiting the AAP‟s head office and asking those present if they would agree to an interview. For the out of state interviewees, I used a personal contact who was a supporter of the party to get in touch with other party supporters in the town. To obtain interviews with auto-rickshaw drivers I located spots where they tended to congregate, either because it was easier for them to get customers in those spots (for example, outside of a metro station) or because they were spaces in which they rested. Overall, they were very willing to be interviewed. All but one of the drivers with whom I conversed were avid supporters of the AAP. Time was a constraint, as most of them were working when I approached them. Despite this, they were very receptive and willing to speak with me.
In the first part of my macro analysis, I evaluate how 'revolutionary' the AAP is according to three criteria. Firstly, I ask if the AAP serves the interests of the poor by examining what their manifesto states. Then, I ask whether the AAP is dialogical and participatory by looking at the programs that the AAP has to involve citizens in determining priorities, developing policies and making decisions. Finally, I determine whether the AAP is accountable to citizens, and whether it is humble, transparent, and open to dissent by analyzing the AAP leaders' reactions and behaviour during three situations of conflict.
In the second part of my macro analysis, I analyze the book 'Swaraj', written by AAP leader, Arvind Kejriwal. I study the material to determine whether the author encourages and aids readers to understand and engage in three areas. The first area is critical reflection of systemic and structural oppression. The second is envisioning alternatives to dominant political, economic, and social structures and the third is recognizing that, if we are oppressed, we can transform our realities ourselves without having to be dependent on others to save us.
On a micro level, I analyzed interviewee responses using some of the same criteria from the macro analysis, but focused on the impact that the party had or had not had on each interviewee, as well as their perceptions of the party. I thus looked at whether the AAP had helped its supporters to identify structural causes of poverty, to see social realities as changeable, and/or to envision alternative social, economic, and political structures.
Macro Analaysis
Serving the Interests of the Poor
The first and foremost characteristic of a revolutionary leader is that she works with the oppressed and in the interests of the oppressed. This characteristic is implied in everything Freire writes. He does not talk about „whether‟ dialogical leaders and critical pedagogues work for the advantage of the rich or the self-liberation of the poor. The premise is that they always work for the self-liberation of the poor3. This means that, on the most basic level, the AAP cannot be characterized as a revolutionary party in Freirean terms, because the AAP has publicly and openly stated that it works for
“the rich, the poor, and the middle class” (AAP Manifesto, 2015, p. 5).
The AAP‟s loyalties may come as a surprise, given the fact that „aam aadmi‟ means 'common man' (sic), a term not usually associated with India's wealthy and privileged citizens. But the AAP has redefined what „aam aadmi‟ means, at least within party parlance, to include anyone who is against corruption and crony capitalism as well as, in general, anyone who is governed by others. This is not a hard and fast rule. For example, when the AAP were not in power in the state legislature, those who were in power were juxtaposed with the „common person‟. Now that they are in power in the
Delhi legislative assembly, the term does not appear to apply to them. But on the whole, the „common person‟ whose interests the AAP serves includes everyone from the manual labourer earning Rs. 100 a day to the CEO who takes home a monthly salary in the hundreds of thousands.
A number of academics have noted the contradictions inherent in a party that clumps together people “highly differentiated by political interests” (Bhattocharjee, 2013, para 6), noting that the result is a party whose ideology is unclear and whose discourse is superficial and riddled with inconsistencies. For example, Teltumbde (2014) points out that, on the one hand, the AAP says it is with the poor, criticizes the growing gap between the rich and poor and laments the plunder of natural resources by large corporations and the government. On the other hand, however, the party fails to critique
3 Some critical pedagogues work with oppressor populations. In these instances, if they are using critical pedagogy, their concern is to help oppressor populations understand their privileges and complicity in oppression and support changes. neoliberal policies, stating that the only problem with the market reforms brought in in the 1990‟s is with “the way it was implemented” (Ananth, 2014, p. 15). While there might be those who argue that supporting neoliberal policies does not make one anti- poor, it certainly does put the AAP at odds with India's largest coalition of progressive people's organizations and movements, struggling against injustice and discrimination and towards sustainability and self-reliance (Ideology, National Alliance of People's
Movements). So, in its first test, the AAP fails to distinguish itself as revolutionary, because it fails to place itself squarely on the side of the poor, the vulnerable, and the marginalized.
People's Participation in Power/Dialogical
Though it would be impossible for the AAP to be categorized as a revolutionary party as long as it serves the interests of both the oppressed and their oppressors, there are other elements against which the AAP's revolutionary levels can be measured, to determine whether it at least displays certain characteristics that Freire would approve of. One of these elements is whether the party is dialogical or not. For
Freire, being revolutionary and being dialogical are two sides of the same coin and revolutionary leaders do not fear, but welcome “the people, their expression, their effective participation in power” (1996, p. 109).
The AAP manages to make quite a comeback in this area. The party's 2015
Manifesto states that “politics is an interactive process, a constant dialogue” for them
(AAP Manifesto, 2015, p. 4), and it boasts of a fair number of programs to back up that statement. For example, following the AAP‟s 2013 state election win, the party held a referendum in which Delhi residents could send in their opinion on whether or not to form a coalition government with the Congress Party. Most replies came in the form of
Short Message Service's (SMS), or text messages, with over six hundred thousand responses in total. When the AAP failed to hold a referendum before Arvind Kejriwal resigned from his post as Chief Minister in early 2014, it faced considerable backlash for making a unilateral decision. Party members and citizens had clearly come to expect to be consulted before taking major steps. Another AAP program was the 2015 'Delhi
Dialogues' in which party members and volunteers held hundreds of meetings with
Delhi's residents and collected responses from a variety of sources in order to determine what the party's priorities and policy focus' were going to be in the 2015 state election.
Even if the ultimate decisions regarding which of the suggestions made the cut were influenced by AAP leaders ideological leanings, the fact that the party dedicated considerable time and resources to listen and respond to the people does speak to its commitment to being dialogical, rather than simply imposing decisions and policies from above. A third program that the AAP is committed to is 'mohalla sabha's, or town halls.
Under this scheme, each of the city's wards4 is divided up and each area holds its own mohalla sabha at regular intervals during the year. In the meetings, residents are allowed to decide, for example, where a certain amount of the funds allocated to their political representative ought to be spent. The AAP's vision is that an ever larger amount of power be decentralized to the people, moving the city and eventually the country closer towards the ultimate goal of 'swaraj', or self-governance. Regardless of how well or poorly these mohalla sabhas have functioned, this program, along with the others mentioned above, indicate that the AAP does not necessarily fear the participation of people in power, but actively encourages it through certain programs, as Freire believed they should.
4 A ward is the government's smallest administrative unit Accountability, Transparency, Humility, and Openness to Dissent
A fourth characteristic of a revolutionary party or leader is that it is accountable to citizens or members and speaks “frankly to them of its achievements, its mistakes, its miscalculations, and its difficulties” (Kejriwal, 2013, p. 109). This characteristic is directly and indirectly related to three other criteria that Freire considers essential in revolutionary leaders – transparency, humility, and openness to dissent
(Freire, 1996). I evaluate the AAP on its strengths and weaknesses in these areas using the AAP‟s leaders‟ reactions and behaviour in three different conficts.
The first conflict I evaluate took place after the AAP leadership‟s decision that Kejriwal should resign from his post as Chief Minister, a decision that upset many because it was taken unilaterally. It took Kejriwal a full two months to apologize for the party‟s failure to hold another referendum or seek the opinion of voters before resigning.
The apology, however, was quickly followed up by a statement defending the AAP decision. This was not problematic in and of itself, but took some of the weight away from the apology. It was only after the party took a sound beating in the national elections that Kejriwal sat down and seriously asked for the forgiveness of the city-state and of the country. He said that he had spoken to a lot of people over the last few months and while these people supported the party, they felt let down by it. In this second act,
Kejriwal went on to recount the ways in which Delhi's residents had suffered as a result of the resignation. He said that people had come up to him over the last couple of months to say that all of the changes the AAP made while in office had been reversed while those people whose corrupt practices had been halted during AAP rule had returned with twice the vengeance in their absence. Kejriwal said the party had heard citizens when they stated that, should the party ever make a unilateral decision of such magnitude again, they would not be forgiven. Kejriwal reiterated that the AAP's biggest mistake was not taking the decision in consultation with the people, and promised to never do it again. He further added that, in their preparations for the next elections, the AAP would ask for people's forgiveness at all the meetings it went to (AAP Prepares, 2014). Regardless of exactly how much of the length and depth of that apology was the result of strategic decision- making or sincerity and conviction, the fact of the matter was that the AAP, in this instance, learned to be frank with the people about their mistakes and miscalculations, going so far as to explain how their mistakes caused further suffering, and to humbly ask for their forgiveness and support once again.
Other conflicts, however, did not elicit an admission of mistakes or demonstration of humility from AAP leaders. In January, 2014, while the AAP was still in power in its first term, a Delhi law minister and senior AAP leader, Somnath Bharti,
“led raids against foreign nationals from Uganda and Nigeria” on the charge that they were “running a drugs (sic) and prostitution racket in the area” (Dhapola, 2014, para 3 and 4). They forced at least one of the accused women to provide a urine sample and trapped them inside a car for hours. Aside from the fact that the AAP leader had no legal right to take those actions, and was thus engaging in an act of vigilantism, the raid was conducted at night without a warrant, against two women, in clear defiance of a law banning the arrest of women between 6pm and 6am. Bharti also uttered a xenophobic statement against African nationals, telling the police that “they are not like you or me”
(„Two Delhi Ministers‟, 2014, para 10). To date, the AAP has not apologized or admitted any wrong-doing on their part. Instead, it defended a part of Bharti's actions while claiming to have video footage proving that other accusations were made up. However, the whole incident was recorded by the journalists and camera crews accompanying
Bharti (para 2). The AAP failed to show humility or a willingness to be honest about their mistakes.
A third conflict took place more recently, between February and April of
2015. Soon after the AAP was elected to power in February, a major rift in the party came to light. Members eventually divided themselves into two camps, those on the side of the National Convener and Chief Minister (CM), Arvind Kejriwal, and those on the side of two other senior members of the party, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan.
The main issues dividing the two groups had to do with internal democracy and ideology.
Bhushan and Yadav argued that the AAP lacked internal democracy and wanted the party to commit to a more leftist-socialist platform. The Kejriwal camp, on the other hand, did not have a problem with the role that the CM played in the party, nor with the way that decisions were being made, and felt that the party should stick with “pragmatic solutions” rather than getting bogged down with “ideological concerns” (Sharma, 2015). (As a side note, since this conflict 'ended' in Yadav and Bhushan being kicked out of the party, it is clear that the AAP chose so called “pragmatic solutions” over an agenda focused more on representing the interests of the oppressed).
Kejriwal's eclectic reaction to the conflict when it first came to light, after initially denying its existence, was to head off on a ten day meditation retreat. This reaction seemed hopeful, but upon his return, the situation deteriorated rapidly. Or perhaps the situation had already deteriorated, the only difference being that it was now publicly known. In a very short amount of time, Yadav and Bhushan were removed first from the Political Affairs Committee, then from the National Council for „anti-party activities‟ and finally from the party altogether (Mehrotra, 2015). During the whole process, the party chose not to be open and transparent about the reasons for and proceedings of the conflict. Meetings were held behind closed doors and even the agenda of meetings was kept a secret. Though “press conferences followed by counter press conferences” were held, they failed to speak with citizens and party volunteers frankly about the difficulties that its leaders were undergoing and the mistakes that they had made (Rai, 2015). Instead, leaked e-mails, clandestinely recorded conversations, and
“twitter wars” had to be relied upon for details of what was taking place (Rai, 2015). For a party that had come into power just weeks earlier on a platform promising transparency and dialogue, it failed miserably when dealing with its own internal struggles.
The AAP‟s actions fell far short of being revolutionary because it expelled dissenters from power, did not admit any mistakes or shortcomings on its own part, and chose to hold important proceedings that decided the fate of senior party leaders behind closed doors. Though the party and its leaders have acted with humility and spoken openly of their shortcomings and challenges at other times, the AAP's actions in this and the previous conflict mean that it would not be fair to say that humility and openness were dominant or consistent characteristics of the AAP.
'Swaraj'
Three other characteristics that Freire associated with revolutionary leaders are whether or not they help the oppressed to recognize and critique the structures and systems that oppress them, secondly, whether or not they help the oppressed to envision alternatives to the political, social, and economic structures around them and whether or not they support the oppressed to see that they can transform their own realities. In order to determine whether the AAP and its leaders supported the development and emergence of these three characteristics I analyzed the content of a 150 page book entitled 'Swaraj', that was written and published by the AAP's current National Convener, Arvind
Kejriwal, a few months before the party announced its formation. Though not officially published by the party, the timing of its publication, the subject matter, the author and the fact that the cover of the book says it is a 'manifesto for our times' would all indicate the the book was intended to compliment the party's agenda. Since the book's intention is to introduce the concept of 'swaraj', answer critiques and doubts about its feasibility, and lay out how it can be implemented, I approach my analysis of the book by viewing it as a pedagogical/propaganda tool produced by the party.
In „Swaraj‟s‟ opening chapter, Kejriwal talks about the power of money in politics. He complains of politicians being bought off and of corporate leaders who are caught engaging in criminal activities but face no jail time. He laments the existence of dangerous industries that are only minimally liable for the disasters they cause, and of natural resources being sold for “a pittance” (Kejriwal, 2013, p. 5-6). He then argues that the solution to these problems is transparency in government and the decentralization of power (I use decentralization and political participation interchangeably over the next few pages, although decentralization of power in other circumstances could mean more power both for the states and village councils in India). There is nothing wrong with this proposal in and of itself. However, throughout his book, Kejriwal argues that these two solutions are virtually all that is needed to bring about a more just and equal society. Even when Kejriwal does admit that simply handing power over to people will not immediately solve social ills, such as the oppression of Dalits (p. 96), he does not spend any time discussing why this is so. He does not take the time to explain that factors other than a lack of political power can effect how just a situation is. For example, a person may be legally allowed to give their opinion and cast a vote, but social or economic constraints and threats may hold them back from doing so. Nor does Kejriwal help the reader to think about what issues decentralization and greater transparency in government will solve, and which problems will need other strategies. Instead, he returns immediately to his key message – that decentralization of power is the solution. Even if it does not resolve everything, he argues, it allows for the least misuse of power and (p. 96), at any rate, will not make the situation worse (p. 96-7).
India, of course, already has a 'gram sabha' system. Village councils do not hold as much power as Kejriwal declares they should, but anyone interested in learning about the challenges of decentralization has decades of research at their disposal (none of which is cited in Kejriwal's book). Despite challenges of every imaginable shape and colour, from women not being allowed to speak before the men in a meeting, to seating based on caste, to faking signatures for quorum, and not being able to organize transport to get to the meeting, researchers like Behar (2001) say that the gram sabhas are worth continuing, but those that see some success are the ones that have support to work through all the challenges that Kejriwal brushes off or fails to mention in his book.
'Swaraj' frequently presents decentralization as the solution to deeply entrenched issues, offering up simplistic solutions to endemic problems. In a section entitled 'Solution to End Poverty, Hunger, and Employment', Kejriwal states that “farmers are committing suicide...as they are unable to repay the money they borrow from money lenders” who charge exorbitant interest rates (2013, p. 90). The solution he puts forward is that the gram sabha will give loans to farmers from its surplus free funds.
In other words, Kejriwal does not bother to dig any further than the most superficial reading of the reasons behind India's grave, decades long, farmer suicide epidemic. He does not ask why farmers are taking out loans in the first place or whether they would be able to pay back loans, exorbitant interest rates or not. To add insult to injury, the whole chapter on the 'Solution to End Poverty, Hunger, and Unemployment' is one page long (p.
91).
This brings me to my next point. According to Freire, revolutionary leaders are concerned with the troubles and reality of the oppressed. The primary work of a revolutionary leader is to support the oppressed to develop critical consciousness, using dialogical means, so they can free themselves (and in doing so, free the oppressors as well). But for Kejriwal in 'Swaraj', political participation is occasionally spoken of as an end in itself, rather than, say, liberation. For example, when answering his rhetorical question about whether people will “engage in fights in gram sabhas” (p.98), Kejriwal says that, if villagers fight and do not come together to improve their lives and community, then at least the “people won't be able to claim that an official, a party or a politician is corrupt...They will have only themselves to blame for their fate, their life, poverty, and unemployment” (p. 99). Kejriwal does not consider whether there may be other factors, such as gender, class, and caste, inhibiting the smooth functioning of the gram sabha aside from an unwillingness to get along. Nor does he consider that perhaps decentralization does not accomplish enough, if people remain poor and unemployed after it is implemented.
Another problem with 'Swaraj', according to a Freirean reading, is that
Kejriwal at times describes the oppressed, and the welfare programs that they benefit from, in language that implies they are weak and/or lazy. When discussing the government's programs for people who are 'Below the Poverty Line', or BPL , he says that the BPL “implies a person who is helpless, who has no money, and who is totally incapable and wants society to help him” (sic) (p. 17). Lest anyone be in doubt about what he meant, Kejriwal follows the above with the following statement:
“I have never met a man who told me he had once been on the BPL list, was a declared beggar but is now self-dependent and wants to be out of the BPL list. Nobody wishes to be self-dependent. These schemes seem to be destroying people's mindsets” (p. 18).
Rather than seeing the programs as part of the just redistribution of resources, needed to help even the playing field, even if only by a very small degree, Kejriwal succinctly and clearly reproduces the oppressors characterization of the poor as weak and lazy. The two short sentences above do everything from disparage the poor to condemn the programs that offer them an imperfect but important lifeline.
Kejriwal, however, continually redeems himself, as much as is possible, with his insistence on putting power in the hands of the people and allowing them to decide what is best for them. Since Kejriwal believes so strongly in the oppressed, along with anyone else's, right to control their own lives, a truly Freirean ideal, he could not be characterized as being completely counter-revolutionary. The problem is that he does not seem to believe anything else needs to accompany decentralization, such as support for the cultivation of critical consciousness. He, and the AAP, are also partially redeemed by the fact that they are not nationalistic, communal, or sectarian and do not try to create enmity between different religious or ethnic groups for political gain. For this to be a virtue, however, shows that the bar has been set rather low.
Micro Analysis
Recognizing Structural and Systemic Oppression
In this section, I use qualitative interviews with twenty-six supporters, one ex-supporter, and one non-supporter of the AAP to explore the impact the AAP has had on them and to analyse their perception of the AAP. The first question I answer is whether the AAP has helped members to be able to think critically and go beyond the obvious in recognizing oppressors and oppressive structures. I base my answer on interviewees responses to the question „What do you think is the cause of poverty?‟.
Among auto-rickshaw drivers, the answer was, overwhelmingly, “corruption”. More specifically, they pointed to corruption within the police force. Several of them explained that, if the police were not corrupt and did not constantly extort money from them, auto- rickshaw drivers and those selling their wares in public spaces would be able to take more money home to their families. This would allow them to pay for electricity bills and school fees, enabling them to do more than merely eke out a living. I was unable to determine whether it was the AAP or the anti-corruption movement that had had an influence on their ability to perceive the police as oppressors, or if this had been obvious to them from the get-go. Given that falsely accusing someone of breaking a law that they know they have not broken in order to extort money from them is a very blatant form of oppression, I am inclined to believe they were already conscious of this relationship.
Corrupt politicians and unrealistic policy demands, such as a new law stating all auto- rickshaw drivers must install expensive GPS‟ in their vehicles, were also named as a cause of poverty, but less frequently. This first group of interviewees was different from the other two, because they belonged to an oppressed population.
The interviewees in the small northern city of Kishal5 were all middle or upper-middle class respondents who enjoyed a fairly high level of life quality. When asked to pinpoint the cause of poverty, their answers were significantly different. One interviewee, who had been actively involved with the AAP for over a year, stated that there were no poor people in India, that "beggars have lots of money" and are happy in their positions because basic necessities are cheap in India. Despite first denying the existence of poverty in India, he went on to argue that a lack of education results in people remaining poor. For this interviewee, there was no link between poverty and oppression but only, at best, a lack of education. Another interviewee from Kishal expressed similar sentiments. He first argued that people are not poor because there is no food to eat or work to do, but through their own fault. He then stated that poverty is the result of a lack of education, which is still the impoverished person‟s fault because they
“don't pay attention to their education”. To this, he conceded that “every issue” that ought to reach them, does not, and so their poverty is not entirely their own fault. The other interviewees from Kishal placed the blame for poverty in other areas, but their answers were clearly influenced by their faith system and previous involvement and study of political systems, rather than the AAP.
5 name changed It would thus appear that the AAP had no effect whatsoever on helping any of the AAP supporters I interviewed to recognize structures and systems that subjugate and impoverish certain populations. One of these interviewees was actively involved in and described as a principal organizer of the AAP in Kishal, and had spent time with AAP leaders in Delhi, but his and the other interviewees interactions with party leaders and party propaganda had seemingly done nothing to shake his view of the poor as lazy and unmotivated. While none of the rickshaw drivers saw themselves as lazy, they had been given no tools or support to help them see any of the myriad ways in which they, as lower-class citizens living a somewhat precarious existence in a country in which the top
1% hold almost half the country‟s wealth (Rukmani, 2014), are disadvantaged by the dominant economic, social, and political systems under which they live. This is not surprising, of course, given that neither the pedagogical material analyzed in this essay, nor the ideologies held by the party‟s leadership, support the development of critical consciousness.
Are Social Realities Immutable?
The second question I have tried to answer in this section is whether or not involvement with the AAP or the AAP itself changed the perception that current social realities are immutable (Freire, 1996, p. 97). Within the group in Kishal, there was no escaping the fact that the honesty and integrity with which some of them perceived the
AAP to work had pushed them to take action based on the belief that, if they too worked with honesty and integrity, situations that previously appeared immutable, could be transformed. Several auto-rickshaw drivers as well spoke about how they were going to change the world, one small action at a time, by being more honest drivers and
„respectful‟6 citizens.
Unfortunately, this type of inspiration cannot be categorized as revolutionary, since change in this conception places all the responsibility on the individual and says and does nothing about structural and systemic injustice. It is a discourse that would fit in comfortably with the oppressor‟s repertoire. When put to use, the auto-rickshaw driver ends up in a worse economic position than he or she was in previously. Without
„honesty‟, s/he could charge customer‟s higher rates than the state mandated ones in order to cover his/her costs and needs as well as the amount that a police officer regular exploits off of him/her. With „honesty‟, the customer gets a cheaper ride, the police officer gets his money, and the auto-rickshaw driver goes home in a more vulnerable state than when he started the day. Meanwhile, the privileged populations in Kishal that adopted „honesty‟ made a Rs.100,000 profit off of it, because „honesty‟ for them meant taking over the running of the previously mismanaged staff restaurant and opening up a new snack bar, with „honest‟ overseers, to compliment it. Their decision to be honest caused them no negative repercussions. Meanwhile, no structural changes were made to decrease inequality in either situation.
Yes, the AAP did help certain people perceive that current social realities are not immutable, but they did so using two discourses and tactics typically used by the oppressor. The first tells the impoverished and marginalized person that she must be less
„lazy‟, more 'honest', work harder, and be more motivated, in order to change her reality.
There is no room for critical reflection on why the wealthy gain so much regardless of
6 the idea of being more respectful was connected to the treatment of women whether they follow these „rules‟ or not, while she goes from hardship to hardship even when she follows the „rules‟ more steadfastly than anyone else. The second tactic used by the AAP was to present themselves as a saviour. To be fair, the AAP did not fully intend to do this. Implementing „swaraj‟ was supposed to help people to become more empowered and a new bill, the Jan Lokpal Bill, was supposed to increase oversight and decrease corruption. However, the only message that reached the auto-rickshaw drivers, and the way that most of them understood that change would be made possible, was through the election of the AAP, and more specifically, through Kejriwal becoming the
Chief Minister. They had already experienced the complete disappearance of corruption the last time the AAP had come to power and so they were expecting those conditions to return, and remain, once Kejriwal was in power again.
Envision Alternative Structures
This brings me to my next question, of whether or not the AAP were able to help the oppressed, non-oppressed, or oppressors to envision alternative economic, social, and political structures.
Though the AAP‟s message of „swaraj‟, an alternative political structure in which „the people‟ have collective control over the decisions that effect their lives, had reached upper-middle class people in the northern city of Kishal and this writer on another continent, as well as the over one hundred and fifty thousand people who bought
Kejriwal‟s book „Swaraj‟, most of the auto-rickshaw drivers in New Delhi either had no idea what it was or knew of „swaraj‟ only through what they had learned in school or in other localities. For them, the AAP had nothing to do with an alternative political system, just one in which politicians were more honest. This difference, of course, should not be minimized. The auto-rickshaw drivers were voting for the AAP again because their lives had changed significantly the last time the AAP were in power. They were no longer made to pay false fines or „rent‟ to rest in public spaces. They did not have to fear the police and they took home more money each night. In a way, the AAP being in power temporarily changed a part of Delhi‟s social system. While auto-rickshaw drivers are usually closer to the bottom of the city‟s social hierarchy, when the AAP were in power they found themselves above the police, though only because of their „connection‟ to the more powerful Kejriwal. Many of them spoke of how the police did not dare to do anything to them because they would threaten to „call Kejriwal‟ and report the police officers behavior. One auto-rickshaw driver even used the threat to call Kejriwal when he was about to be fined for something that actually was illegal. To be fair, the police person wishing to fine him was also committing a misdemeanor at the time, so the auto rickshaw driver threatened to report him as well if he was fined. But, in his narrative, the auto rickshaw driver clearly had the upper hand, and said he would have accused the police officer of being corrupt if he had given him a fine.
Though this situation, of the exploitative, corrupt, Delhi police finding themselves on a lower rung of the social ladder to those they usually exploit, is certainly interesting, the change did not involve the empowerment of the oppressed. As soon as
Kejriwal stepped down as CM, the drivers told me, the police went back to their old ways, cracking down even harder on them than before. The drivers, for the most part, felt there was nothing they could do but hope and campaign for the AAP to get elected again.
Some auto-rickshaw drivers were involved in the union - but that involvement had nothing to do with the AAP's influence. In the economic realm as well, the only change the drivers spoke of were the populist initiatives that the AAP had implemented and promised to implement again - such as lower water and electricity bills. Again, the impact of these lower tariffs must not be minimized. The drivers said they made a significant difference to their monthly costs. Yet these changes could not be described as
„revolutionary‟, empowering, or alternative because the system is largely unchanged and the drivers and poor of the city continue to be dependent on the goodwill of others.
In Kishal, the AAP had a similarly minimal effect on helping residents to envision alternative political, social, and economic systems. The changes that one group envisioned had to do either with being more honest, or with strengthening the local chapter of the AAP. Others were skeptical of swaraj ever working, and were not inspired by anything the AAP said or did to think of other alternatives. It was only in the center of the party's power that talk of an alternative political structure was strong. Though the idea that integrity was a political game changer was highlighted by all the full time volunteers
I interviewed7, they also spoke of decentralization and 'swaraj' as important factors in bringing change and backed the claims up with explanations of how the different political structure would function. Though they were obviously highly invested in the AAP, they also saw this alternative political system as being possible without the existence of the
AAP. It would appear then, that at the core of the AAP, there are at least some people who do envision an alternative political structure. However, overall, the AAP had failed completely to help its supporters to envision alternative social, economic, and/or political systems.
Conclusion
7 The expressed belief in the power and importance of integrity was almost palpable as they conveyed their unilateral support for honesty at all times with great passion. The short conclusion to my paper is that India's Aam Aadmi party is not the revolutionary entity it makes itself out to be, at least, not according to Paulo Freire's criteria. To begin with, the oppressed are not even their main concern, but merely one of their many publics. These publics, with opposing and diverse interests have, mean that the AAP's ideology is fractured, making the party ideologically weak. The AAP thus pushes on one hand for a laudable new political system with decentralized political power and affirms its belief in the right and ability of all to partake in governance, while failing to recognize that economic and social inequalities must also be addressed for the new political system to serve everyone equally, or even to avert the possibility of 'swaraj' being used to further oppress certain populations.
Furthermore, in choosing to present a decentralized political system as the unproblematic solution to virtually all of India's troubles, the AAP also fails to aid in the development of critical thinking. In Kejriwal's book, 'Swaraj', the author skips over a vital conversation about structures and systems of oppression and encourages the reader to believe that, if 'swaraj' fails in a community, it is the communities own fault for not getting along better, and therefore their own fault that they are poor or unemployed.
Despite all its failings, on a macro level the party does emerge with at least one feather in its cap. It has proposed an alternative political system and asserted the right for all to have control over their own decision making.
On a micro level, however, the news of an alternative system in which they, the oppressed, would have power has not arrived. Lower class AAP supporters continue to wait for the party to save them. Though the party did ease their burdens when they were last in power, it also increased their burdens by telling them they could help change their realities by being more honest, which is nothing less than an attempt to 'free' the oppressed with the 'instruments of domestication' (Freire, 1996). No critique of the economic or social system under which they live precarious lives is offered by these
'saviours', so the lower class AAP supporters continue to believe that their low income levels are simply a fact of life, while the upper-middle class supporters continue to believe the poor are lazy. Though the AAP's desire to decentralize power gives the AAP a revolutionary edge, it is not much of one.
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