Indian studies

Welsh missionaries and British imperialism: The empire of clouds in north-east India

by Andrew J. May

Manchester: Manchester University Press, November 2012.

In 1841 the Welsh sent their first missionary Thomas Jones to evangelise the tribal peoples of the Khasi Hills of... more In 1841 the Welsh sent their first missionary Thomas Jones to evangelise the tribal peoples of the Khasi Hills of north-east India. This book follows Jones from rural Wales to Cherrapunji, the wettest place on earth and now one of the most Christianised parts of India. As colonised colonisers, the Welsh were to have a profound impact on the culture and beliefs of the Khasis. The book also foregrounds broader political, scientific, racial and military ideologies that mobilised the Khasi Hills into an interconnected network of imperial control. Its themes are universal: crises of authority, the loneliness of geographical isolation, sexual scandal, greed and exploitation, personal and institutional dogma, individual and group morality. Written by a direct descendant of Thomas Jones, it makes a significant contribution in orienting the scholarship of imperialism to a much-neglected corner of India, and will appeal to students of the British imperial experience more broadly.

Hybridizing Hip-hop in Diaspora: Young British South Asian Men Negotiating Black-inflected Identities

by David Drissel

Reducing Energy Subsidies in China, India and Russia: Dilemmas for Decision Makers

by Indra Overland

India's Second Green Revolution? The Sociopoltiical Implications of Corporate-driven Agricultural Growth

by Jeffrey Witsoe

Territorial Democracy: Caste, Dominance and Electoral Practice in Postcolonial India

by Jeffrey Witsoe

Śrī Harṣa contra Hegel: Monism, Skeptical Method, and the Limits of Reason

by Ayon Maharaj

Forthcoming in Philosophy East and West

This essay brings Śrī Harṣa’s Khaṇḍanakhaṇḍakhādya (c. 1170) into dialogue with Hegel’s Phänomenologie des Geistes... more This essay brings Śrī Harṣa’s Khaṇḍanakhaṇḍakhādya (c. 1170) into dialogue with Hegel’s Phänomenologie des Geistes (1807), identifying salient points of affinity and divergence in the monistic metaphysics and skeptical methodologies of two thinkers working in entirely different traditions and separated by over six hundred years. Remarkably, both Śrī Harṣa and Hegel attempt to defend a monistic standpoint exclusively by means of a sustained critique of non-monistic philosophical positions. I will argue, however, that Śrī Harṣa and Hegel diverge sharply in their specific views on the powers and limits of philosophy and on the precise nature of monistic reality. In stark contrast to Hegel, Śrī Harṣa claims that the non-dual reality of Brahman lies beyond reason and hence rejects the very possibility of a philosophical justification of monism. Moreover, while Hegel drives a wedge between thought and empirical praxis by assuming the radical “independence of reason,” Śrī Harṣa insists that how we think and reason depends on the nature of our mind, which is itself conditioned by how we live.

"Where are the Missing Masses? The Quasi-publics and Non-publics of Technoscience"

by shiju sam varughese

Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning and Policy, Vol. 50, No. 2, 2012 (Special Issue: Young Scholars Take a Forward Look), DOI 10.1007/s11024-012-9197-3

The paper offers a political-philosophical analysis of the state and publics in the age of technoscience to propose... more The paper offers a political-philosophical analysis of the state and publics in the age of technoscience to propose three distinct categories of publics: scientific-citizen publics constituted by civil society, quasi-publics that initiate another kind of engagement through the activation of ‘political society,’ and non-publics cast outside these spheres of engagement, based on the empirical contexts of public engagement with technoscience in non-western contexts like India.

Abductions: Maoists on top in every scenario

by Bibhu Prasad Routray

Published in New Indian Express, 6 May 2012 & Sunday Standard, 6 May 2012

On the surface, it appears that the Odisha government came out relatively unscathed from the month-long abduction... more On the surface, it appears that the Odisha government came out relatively unscathed from the month-long abduction episodes involving two Italians and an MLA. Only a handful of the prisoners were released in exchange. In Chhattisgarh too, with pressure on the Maoists increasing even from their known apologists, it is quite possible that the abducted collector too would be released without the state having to concede too much. Just like the tunes of Ram Dhun marked the release of the MLA in Odisha attempting to depict a peaceful resolution of the episode, Chhattisgarh too would find reason to boast about its methods of negotiating differently. So does it mean that it’s back to normal till one more high-profile abduction takes place? Or do the states have to introspect what these episodes have cost them?

Influence of the history of archaeological thought in South Asia on the understanding of ancient states and empires, including the prevalence of Colonial and Orientalist modes of interpretation.

by Seetal Gahir

El mundo post-americano y el rol de la India en Medio Oriente

by Ariel S Gonzalez Levaggi

Publicado en la Revista de la Escuela Superior de Guerra del Ejército - 2011

El escritor y periodista indio naturalizado estadounidense Fareed Rafiq Zakaria, ha reflexionado en su último libro... more El escritor y periodista indio naturalizado estadounidense Fareed Rafiq Zakaria, ha reflexionado en su último libro sobre la naturaleza cambiante del sistema internacional en la primera década del siglo veintiuno. Su tesis es sencilla pero controvertida: el “ascenso del resto” llevará a un mundo pos-americano más que a un mundo anti-norteamericano en el que los valores occidentales no serán combatidos sino incorporados selectivamente. Zakaria asemeja la denominación “resto” a China e India pero tiende a identificar al “resto” con el mundo no-occidental

[Non-refereed Op-ed] Whose Arms Will Embrace You? The United States and the Beijing Consensus

by Amarnath Amarasingam

The United States is increasingly playing a game of subtle communication in the international arena. I suspect we had... more The United States is increasingly playing a game of subtle communication in the international arena. I suspect we had a passing glimpse of this at the 19th Session of the Human Rights Council, which gathered in Geneva last month. The question is: who is the United States talking to and what is it trying to say?

Socio-spatial Exclusion, Community Reactions to Homelessness, India

by Malte Warburg Sørensen

This report examines the dynamics of how socio-spatial exclusion and how it plays out around homeless shelters in the... more This report examines the dynamics of how socio-spatial exclusion and how it plays out around homeless shelters in the Indian city of Hyderabad. Using the concept of NIMBY (Not-In-My-Back_Yard), the analysis reveals how exclusion is based on the construction of prejudices, how community opposition evolves, and how different stakeholders use a variety of strategies in order to make push their agenda forward. Finally, the report relates the findings from the analysis to broader societal issues in India, particularly the themes of governance and participation.

Perché guardare a Oriente? Termini Imerese 5-6 Maggio 2012

by Seminario Popolare sul Pensiero dell’Estremo Oriente. Perchè guardare a Oriente?

Seminario Popolare sul Pensiero dell'Estremo Oriente (4 Ed.). Perché guardare a Oriente?

by Pietro Piro

Programma delle giornate di studi: Perché guardare a Oriente? Termini Imerese 5-6 Maggio 2012.

Nella giornata di studi Perchè guardare a Oriente?  I ricercatori coinvolti,  a partire dalle proprie... more Nella giornata di studi Perchè guardare a Oriente?  I ricercatori coinvolti,  a partire dalle proprie competenze e dai propri interessi, cercheranno di chiarire, in modo semplice e “popolare” perché è necessario conoscere e approfondire un tema legato ad un aspetto del pensiero Orientale (musica, arte, filosofia, religione, cinema..etc). In questo modo, si cercherà di trovare ragioni vitali, e non esclusivamente accademiche o commerciali, per accostarsi all’Oriente. Il tentativo è quello di avvicinare quante più persone possibili ad una cultura che rimane, nonostante l’accelerazione dei ritmi globalizzanti, relegata in secondo piano e ristretta o al cerchio ristretto degli specialisti o esposta alla banalizzazione del pensiero unico. Si cercherà dunque, di offrire delle risposte che possano essere un vero punto d’inizio per chi, spesso carico di pregiudizi, si accosta per la prima volta ad un mondo così complesso e affascinante. La sfida non è semplice. Si cercherà di non esporre una teoria preconfezionata, quanto di cercare di aprirsi al dialogo interrogante e stabilire insieme ragioni superiori e condivise.

Between Aid Conditionality and Identity Politics: The MSM-Transgender Divide and Normative Cartographies of Gender vs. Sexuality

by Aniruddha Dutta

Dutta, Aniruddha. Kafila.org, April 5 2012.

Cementum Annulations, Age Estimation, and Demographic Dynamics in Mid-Holocene Forgers of North India

by Gwen Robbins Schug

G. Robbins Schug, E.T. Brandt, J.R. Lukacs

One of the principal problems facing paleodemography is age estimation in adult skeletons and the centrist tendency... more One of the principal problems facing paleodemography is age estimation in adult skeletons and the centrist tendency that affects many age estimation methods by artificially increasing the proportion of individuals in the 30-45 year age category. Several recent publications have indicated that cementum annulations are significantly correlated with known age of extraction or death. This study addresses the question of how demographic dynamics are altered for an archaeological sample when cementum-based age estimates are used as opposed to those obtained via conventional macroscopic methods. Age pyramids were constructed and demographic profiles were compared for the early Holocene skeletal population from Damdama (India). The results demonstrate that the use of cementum annulations for age estimation in only a subset of the skeletal sample has a significant impact on the demographic profile with regard to specific parameters such as mean age at death and life expectancy at birth. This confirms the importance of using cementum annulations to refine age estimates in archaeological samples, which, when combined with a fertility-centered approach to demography, can provide new insights into population dynamics in the past.

"The Limits of Dissent: Arundhati Roy and the Struggle Against the Narmada Dams".

by David Jefferess

Globalizing Dissent: Essays on Arundhati Roy. Eds. Ranjan Ghosh and Antonia Navarro-Tejero. London: Routledge, 2009: 157-179.

Contributo per una Bibliografia Completa delle opere di A.K. Coomaraswamy.

by marco pucciarini

The first attempt to publish in Italian a complete bibliography of Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy's works.

UPA- ii in the Centre is playing with the fundamantels of Indian constitution

by Muhammad Burhanuddin Qasmi

Arrested Histories: Tibet, the CIA, and Memories of a Forgotten War

by Cameron Warner

published in Ethnos 77 (1): 150-153

My review of Carole McGranahan's excellent book on the veteran's of the Tibetan guerilla war against China. My review of Carole McGranahan's excellent book on the veteran's of the Tibetan guerilla war against China.