Walter K. Andersen

Walter K. Andersen is an American academic known for his studies of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – a Hindu nationalist organization.

[3] Andersen, with Sridhar D. Damle, co-authored the 1987 book The Brotherhood in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism.

[4] 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.

[3] According to Andrew Nathan, Andersen and Damle "take an exceptionally well-informed look at the RSS, including its relations with affiliate organizations", and discuss how the "core concept of Hindutva, or “Hinduness,” is now glossed as loyalty to a vaguely defined Indian civilization rather than adherence to specific religious practices, a revision made easier by the unsystematic character of Hindu beliefs" while still "espousing aggressive anti-Muslim and socially conservative positions".

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

Walter K Anderson (far left) during the launch of his book "The RSS" co-authored with Sridhar D. Damle and published by Penguin . Also in picture Rajdeep Sardesai and Nistula Hebbar .