Walter K. Andersen

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Walter K. Andersen is an American academic. He taught comparative politics at the College of Wooster before joining the United States State Department as a political analyst for South Asia specializing in India and Indian Ocean affairs.^[1] Additionally, he was an adjunct professor at The American University in Washington, D.C.^[1]

Scholarship of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Andersen co-authored the book The Brotherhood in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism (1987, ISBN 0-8133-7358-1) along with Sridhar D. Damle.

The book has been called an authoritative, detailed examination of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), including its early growth in the pre-independence period, its organization, the function of its various officers and the evolution of its ideology. "The founders of the RSS concluded that the Hindu social body was weak and disorganized because dharma was neither clearly understood nor correctly observed." It was the task of the Sangh's members to create a stable Hindu society and culture.^[2] The authors avoid categorizing the RSS as having an ideologically loaded framework and treat it with "understanding and objectivity."^[3] Roughly half the book focuses on the political involvement of the Sangh, with the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the Janata Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and includes information about how the Sangh exerts influence on the political partners.^[2]

Walter Andersen has also written a four-part series of articles on the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the Economic and Political Weekly in 1972.^[4][5][6][7]

References

1. 1 2 Ramon H. Myers (ed.), ed. (1982). A U.S. Foreign Policy for Asia: The 1980s and Beyond. Hoover Institution Press. p. 141. ISBN 0-8179-7712-0. 
2. 1 2 Jones, Kenneth W. (Feb 1988). "The Brotherhook in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism by Walter K. Andresen; Shridhar D. Damle - Review". The Journal of Asian Studies. 47 (1): 162–163. doi:10.2307/2056409. JSTOR 2056409. 
3. ↑ Malik, Yogendra K. (May 1989). "The Brotherhook in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism by Walter K. Andresen; Shridhar D. Damle - Review". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 503: 156–157. JSTOR 1047233. 
4. ↑ Andersen, Walter (11 March 1972). "The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, I: Early Concerns". Economic and Political Weekly. 7 (11): 589+591–597. JSTOR 4361126. 
5. ↑ Andersen, Walter (18 March 1972). "The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, II: Who Represents the Hindus?". Economic and Political Weekly. 7 (12): 633–640. JSTOR 4361149. 
6. ↑ Andersen, Walter (25 March 1972). "The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, III: Participation in Politics". Economic and Political Weekly. 7 (13): 673+675+677–682. JSTOR 4361179. 
7. ↑ Andersen, Walter (1 April 1972). "The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, IV: Jana Sangh and Other Organisations". Economic and Political Weekly. 7 (14): 724–727. JSTOR 4361197.