Suchergebnisse

The global proscription of the opium trade and its non-medical consumption took almost a century to evolve. Within International Relations, opium's ban is explained as part of the normative order that culminated in the global anti-drugs prohibition regime of the 1900s. The conventional view presents the history of opium's ban as a 'bad' imperial and local practice discontinued through the activism of 'good' transnational actors. However, seen through the postcolonial lens, this simplistic narrative is upended. By centering hierarchical power relations, the postcolonial lens demands a reflective interrogation into 'global' standards to expose parochial subjectivities that are otherwise couched in the universalistic language of modernity, rationality and progress. Though the ban on opium challenged an imperial practice, this article shows that it did so with the help of discourses that were themselves imperialistic. An analysis of the underlying evangelical, racial and scientific discourses illustrate how it was in the context of a specific worldview that opium came to be vilified. It also explains how the anti-opium views of the newly decolonized countries like India and China were suffused with the ethical visions of the anti-colonial and nation-building movements. A granular interrogation into opium's history is necessary as we try and work our way toward a more nuanced and textured understanding of the international normative order while eschewing a one-dimensional, unproblematic, and simplified understanding of norms in IR.

Challenging the inside–outside dichotomy in international relations (IR) allows us to recognise and give voice to histories, positions, reflections, processes and actors that were invisible, marginalised or considered beyond the purview of the discipline. 'Turning the outside in' is not only about disrupting the long-held disciplinary boundaries but also about bringing into the mainstream that which had been overlooked or seen as epiphenomenal because of the centrality of the inside–outside dichotomy. Given the vantage point that 'outside' histories, ideas and worldviews provide, India and other postcolonial countries are well 'placed' to take advantage of looking 'in' and hence blurring the boundaries between inside and outside. However, it is important to underline the fact that, although multiple voices and perspectives need to be heard, they must do so free of the very frames and dichotomised approaches that signified knowledge building and dissemination for the better part of IR's evolution as a discipline.

Uranium trade and the role it will play in India's foreign policy and national security is set to grow in the coming decades. India's interest in uranium is part of a long-term strategy to move towards a more self-sufficient and relatively carbon-free energy future. In the context of India's fast-expanding uranium trade with, and equity investments in, key uranium producing countries, the contours of the security implications of India's uranium diplomacy need to be identified. It is important to understand that the import of strategic energy resources is seldom devoid of security implications in one form or the other. Highlighting possible security implications can help strategise a uranium trade policy that is proactive, well informed and holistic in its understanding of what advantages and disadvantages uranium trade poses to the country's larger energy security. This article identifies seven possible trajectories of the security implications of India's uranium trade with the world in the coming years.

Although the Indian International Relations (IR) community has been actively engaged in self-reflection, this has not translated into greater contribution at the international level. Part of the answer lies in the way IR in India has grown—institutionally, pedagogically, academically and as a research activity. The article seeks to assess the strengths and weaknesses of IR teaching and research in India on the basis of three parameters, that is, the papers taught in the M.A. programmes, the themes of research at the doctoral level and publications by IR scholars in select journals. On the basis of the weaknesses identified, the article offers some recommendations, which the IR community in India can adopt.

Taking as its point of departure Raymond Williams' notion 'structure of feeling', this volume investigates how affectivity makes a difference in memory studies, performance studies, and the range of cultural studies across the humanities and social sciences today. It illustrates the importance of theorizing affectivity at a moment when social and cultural life are becoming increasingly affect-driven. Devika Sharmaand Frederik Tygstrup, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Given the complex web of socio-cultural factors, intersectional features of gender identity and the recent trajectories of a lack of land resources, the rise of alternative gainful employment, and a feminization of agriculture, this paper investigates whether land rights are the ultimate panacea for women's autonomy. Land can be a source of women's empowerment albeit the patriarchal Indian society restricts women's right to property. Women in India are not a homogenous category. They are defined by their intersectional identities of caste, class, ethnicity, stages in their life course and subjectivities regarding demands for land. A more nuanced approach to women's land rights is proposed in view of the agrarian crisis, restricted social validity of women's land claims and other factors. Research has been conducted including an analysis of various feminist and intersectional debates concerning land rights in India, government reports, legal judgements, and religious text, among others.

Given the complex web of socio-cultural factors, intersectional features of gender identity and the recent trajectories of a lack of land resources, the rise of alternative gainful employment, and a feminization of agriculture, this paper investigates whether land rights are the ultimate panacea for women's autonomy. Land can be a source of women's empowerment albeit the patriarchal Indian society restricts women's right to property. Women in India are not a homogenous category. They are defined by their intersectional identities of caste, class, ethnicity, stages in their life course and subjectivities regarding demands for land. A more nuanced approach to women's land rights is proposed in view of the agrarian crisis, restricted social validity of women's land claims and other factors. Research has been conducted including an analysis of various feminist and intersectional debates concerning land rights in India, government reports, legal judgements, and religious text, among others.