Suicide Protest in South Asia ─ Consumed by Commitment

Suicide protest as actions done by social movement participants that are intended to knowingly result in their own death. These actions are undertaken to demand a particular previously articulated political outcome.

This book examines the history and impact of suicide protest, which has increasingly been used as a protest tactics since World War II. It offers a combination of historical and contemporary case analysis from within South Asia, where different iterations of this tactic have been used extensively throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, including the use of fasting to the death, self-immolation, and deliberate drowning.

The author focuses on the success or failure of a particular tactic relative to the movement's broader mobilization strategy. She examines the impact internal to the movement and the mechanisms by which suicide as a form of protest evolves.

The book makes a unique contribution to the field of comparative politics, political violence and social movement studies and will be of interest to scholars in the fields of political science, sociology and South Asian studies.

Simanti Lahiri is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Alabama, US.