The article explores political meanings in the context of recent economic and political changes in a village in south India.
Cultural constructions of political relations emerged in conversations between the author and village informants in Andhra
Pradesh. Informants perceived decline in the power and authority of former village lords and talked about the establishment
of authority in the new setting. In processes of democratization which had taken place, showing and receiving honor and respect
continued as political and social preoccupations. However, deserving honor and respect has become less a statement about political
superiority and domination and more about individual moral qualities.
Keywords Authority - Political culture - Rural politics - India
Pamela Price is Professor of South Asian History at the University of Oslo. Beginning her research career with studies of 19th century
India, after moving to Norway she shifted her focus to post-colonial politics. She recently published “Ideological Integration
in Post-Colonial (South) India: Aspects of a Political Language” in Crispin Bates and Subho Basu, eds., Rethinking Indian
Political Institutions (London: Anthem, 2005).