%0 Journal Article
%T Conquest and Conflict: The Colonial Roots of Maoist Violence in India
%A Ajay Verghese
%A Emmanuel Teitelbaum
%J Politics & Society
%@ 1552-7514
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0032329218823120
%X Does colonialism have long-term effects on political stability? This question is addressed in a study of India¡¯s Naxalite insurgency, a Maoist rebellion characterized by its left-wing proponents as having roots in the colonial period. The article highlights three mechanisms linking colonialism with contemporary Naxalite violence¡ªland inequality, discriminatory policies toward low-caste and tribal groups, and upper-caste-dominated administrative institutions. It analyzes how the degree of British influence relates to Naxalite conflict in 589 districts from 1980 to 2011. A positive association is found between British influence and the strength of the Naxalite rebellion across all of India, within both the ¡°Red Corridor¡± region and former princely states. The results are robust to a coarsened exact matching analysis and a wide array of robustness checks. The findings call into question whether the supposedly beneficial administrative and institutional legacies of colonialism can be evaluated without reference to their social costs
%K colonialism
%K conflict
%K India
%K Maoism
%K political stability
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0032329218823120