– 187 – – Chapter 8 – CONTRADICTIONS OF THE ‘COMMON MAN’ A Realist Approach to India’s Aam Aadmi Party Luisa Steur _ Reminiscing on the massive anti-corruption mobilization that had captured the political imagination of Delhi in the summer of 2012 and that had foreboded her joining the Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party (AAP), Metha, a Hindi literature teacher at a Delhi college, told me: it was the frst time since ‘globalization’ that we could see youth actually awake from their political lethargy, their fascination with consumerism, and fnd a greater purpose in life. All the poor and Dalit youth also were coming there. And as a woman, the possibility of being part of the crowd without being harassed. This was the moment when we knew we had to do something, to join. I could recognize what she was saying – I had been to Ramlila Maidan 1 in 2012 too and had been impressed by the massive crowd and the horizontal mingling of people from very diferent walks of life, as well as the possibility for women to let their guard down (a bit at least) despite being in a crowd, the festive excitement in the air and the feeling that here was something building up that could have an actual political impact. On the other hand, I was also impressed by the overlay of spectacle on the Ramlila grounds. Queuing to pass the security check, being greeted by people handing out disposable Gandhi topis (caps) and seeing the broadcasting vans and their spotlights and the stage where the veteran Gandhian activist Anna Hazare was performing his hunger fast, admired by the thousands gathered around, it also felt like being at a professionally staged mega-festival in the heart of Delhi. The aesthetics of the movement Copyright 2018. Berghahn Books. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright law. EBSCO Publishing : eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 3/28/2022 3:57 AM via UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM AN: 1638535 ; Don Kalb, Massimiliano Mollona.; Worldwide Mobilizations : Class Struggles and Urban Commoning Account: uamster.main.ehost