India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 164-174, March 2024.
This process note explicates the methodological intervention of maintaining fieldnotes on government documents and its significance for historically situated international relations (IR) research. For the most part, IR scholarship treats archival documents as the neutral preserve of the state, representing its coherent national interests. Building on discussions around critical methods within IR, I argue that there is a need to reflexively engage with the writing and curating practices of the state. This process note deploys the ethnographic hallmark of thick description within IR research through critical annotations on archival documents and other government publications on India’s eastern Himalayan borderlands between 1880 and 1965. These annotations encourage a granular reading of government documents and situate them within a larger context of their production, reception, archival memorialisation and subsequent access. I propose that critical annotations help us move beyond post-hoc analyses of foreign policy in terms of success and failure. Instead, in viewing IR theorising as ‘unfinished dictionaries of the international’, I argue that critical annotations challenge a unitary view of the state and facilitate a more nuanced analysis of foreign policymaking emphasising historical contingencies within which policies are articulated and enacted.
Category Archives: Accounting History
The Indian Media’s Interface with Diplomacy
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 86-100, March 2024.
Diplomacy and its institutions have been constantly changing. The manner in which diplomacy was practised in the earlier centuries is vastly different from how it is being practised in the twenty-first century. These changes range from the emergence of the training of messengers, the start of record keeping of diplomatic exchanges, the establishment of resident embassies, codification of formal diplomatic processes, widening domain of actors and issues, the use of multilateral conferences, use of summitry and many others. This evolution has been both a result of and further resulted in changing the larger socio-political-economic dimensions that the world has undergone. Among the myriad contextual changes, the revolution in communications, information and media technology has been phenomenal. This has brought into focus terms like the CNN effect and Vietnam War Syndrome where it is argued that media has had an influence in directing foreign policy choices of countries. Hence, this article seeks to analyse the media’s interface with the most important institution of diplomacy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It specifically focuses on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India. Has the news media acted either as an impediment or an accelerator to diplomatic practice? Has the information overload caused the diplomatic fraternity to face a loss of autonomy in any manner? With the objective of seeking an answer to these questions from diplomacy’s perspective, the article explores the evolution of the External Publicity Division of the MEA, India. The External Publicity Division as it is generally known has been the nodal division leading the institutions’ interface with the media. The actuality of media’s interface with diplomacy in India’s case will be set in the backdrop of the existing literature in the fields of media, diplomacy and foreign policy.
Diplomacy and its institutions have been constantly changing. The manner in which diplomacy was practised in the earlier centuries is vastly different from how it is being practised in the twenty-first century. These changes range from the emergence of the training of messengers, the start of record keeping of diplomatic exchanges, the establishment of resident embassies, codification of formal diplomatic processes, widening domain of actors and issues, the use of multilateral conferences, use of summitry and many others. This evolution has been both a result of and further resulted in changing the larger socio-political-economic dimensions that the world has undergone. Among the myriad contextual changes, the revolution in communications, information and media technology has been phenomenal. This has brought into focus terms like the CNN effect and Vietnam War Syndrome where it is argued that media has had an influence in directing foreign policy choices of countries. Hence, this article seeks to analyse the media’s interface with the most important institution of diplomacy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It specifically focuses on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India. Has the news media acted either as an impediment or an accelerator to diplomatic practice? Has the information overload caused the diplomatic fraternity to face a loss of autonomy in any manner? With the objective of seeking an answer to these questions from diplomacy’s perspective, the article explores the evolution of the External Publicity Division of the MEA, India. The External Publicity Division as it is generally known has been the nodal division leading the institutions’ interface with the media. The actuality of media’s interface with diplomacy in India’s case will be set in the backdrop of the existing literature in the fields of media, diplomacy and foreign policy.
The Bay of Bengal Subzone Within the Indo-Pacific: Historical Relevance and Present Orientation
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 72-85, March 2024.
Paradigms and conceptualisations are essential tools used in international relations literature. Such conceptualisations, however, continue to be heavily dependent on Western epistemology and strategically oriented. Such theoretical models and projections fail to adequately conceptualise the Indo-Pacific region. The neglect of local connectivity and subregions within the Indo-Pacific world has resulted in a relative understudy of the Bay of Bengal zone, a crucial subregion within the Indo-Pacific. The essay argues for a more holistic approach by amalgamating present strategic concerns with indigenous versions of regional projections developed historically. Only by grasping the significance and relevance of past build-ups, it would be possible to understand the Bay of Bengal zone and its effectiveness in creating a vibrant and dynamic Indo-Pacific region.
Paradigms and conceptualisations are essential tools used in international relations literature. Such conceptualisations, however, continue to be heavily dependent on Western epistemology and strategically oriented. Such theoretical models and projections fail to adequately conceptualise the Indo-Pacific region. The neglect of local connectivity and subregions within the Indo-Pacific world has resulted in a relative understudy of the Bay of Bengal zone, a crucial subregion within the Indo-Pacific. The essay argues for a more holistic approach by amalgamating present strategic concerns with indigenous versions of regional projections developed historically. Only by grasping the significance and relevance of past build-ups, it would be possible to understand the Bay of Bengal zone and its effectiveness in creating a vibrant and dynamic Indo-Pacific region.
Discerning Taliban 2.0 and Afghanistan’s Political Landscape
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 9-25, March 2024.
Politically astute and organisationally deft, the Taliban forged ‘antagonistic cooperation’ with key regional players who courted the movement vigorously as it sought to reinvent itself as ‘Taliban 2.0’. However, two years into the rule of ‘Taliban 2.0’, the chasm between rhetoric and reality has widened. This article disaggregates the idea of ‘Taliban 2.0’, arguing that subtle differences notwithstanding the Taliban is an ideological movement which demonstrates a remarkable contiguity in showing fidelity to its hardline ideology manifested in its attitudes towards women, deployment of violence and links with transnational actors. Domestic political actors too stuttered in responding to the Taliban’s momentum amid a dramatically reconfigured geo-political landscape, a glaring power asymmetry, factionalism within opposition ranks and the rise of new actors like the Daesh which attempted to fill the void.
Politically astute and organisationally deft, the Taliban forged ‘antagonistic cooperation’ with key regional players who courted the movement vigorously as it sought to reinvent itself as ‘Taliban 2.0’. However, two years into the rule of ‘Taliban 2.0’, the chasm between rhetoric and reality has widened. This article disaggregates the idea of ‘Taliban 2.0’, arguing that subtle differences notwithstanding the Taliban is an ideological movement which demonstrates a remarkable contiguity in showing fidelity to its hardline ideology manifested in its attitudes towards women, deployment of violence and links with transnational actors. Domestic political actors too stuttered in responding to the Taliban’s momentum amid a dramatically reconfigured geo-political landscape, a glaring power asymmetry, factionalism within opposition ranks and the rise of new actors like the Daesh which attempted to fill the void.
India’s Distinct but Opposing Patent Model Is Under Pressure: Prospects and Challenges in the Global Arena
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 117-132, March 2024.
The Indian patent model is a powerful and well-balanced model that not only complies with the requirements of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) but also considers domestic needs and national interest. This study endorses India’s approach of fully availing itself of public health flexibilities provided in the TRIPS Agreement. India’s well thought out patent model contradicts with the pro-patentee approaches taken by the European Union, the USA and Japan. This study emphasises the challenges and pressures faced by the Indian patent model because of the closer harmonisation agenda being pushed by some high-income countries through bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements. This study argues that in order to effectively respond to harmonisation demands, India needs to be proactive in terms of building regional coalitions and transmitting its model to other like-minded Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries with similar interests. This is a viable approach because most of the ASEAN countries, despite different levels of development and industry, are facing similar challenges in terms of universal access to affordable medicines.
The Indian patent model is a powerful and well-balanced model that not only complies with the requirements of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) but also considers domestic needs and national interest. This study endorses India’s approach of fully availing itself of public health flexibilities provided in the TRIPS Agreement. India’s well thought out patent model contradicts with the pro-patentee approaches taken by the European Union, the USA and Japan. This study emphasises the challenges and pressures faced by the Indian patent model because of the closer harmonisation agenda being pushed by some high-income countries through bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements. This study argues that in order to effectively respond to harmonisation demands, India needs to be proactive in terms of building regional coalitions and transmitting its model to other like-minded Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries with similar interests. This is a viable approach because most of the ASEAN countries, despite different levels of development and industry, are facing similar challenges in terms of universal access to affordable medicines.
Critical Annotations on Historical Documents: Methodological Possibilities for International Relations Research
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 164-174, March 2024.
This process note explicates the methodological intervention of maintaining fieldnotes on government documents and its significance for historically situated international relations (IR) research. For the most part, IR scholarship treats archival documents as the neutral preserve of the state, representing its coherent national interests. Building on discussions around critical methods within IR, I argue that there is a need to reflexively engage with the writing and curating practices of the state. This process note deploys the ethnographic hallmark of thick description within IR research through critical annotations on archival documents and other government publications on India’s eastern Himalayan borderlands between 1880 and 1965. These annotations encourage a granular reading of government documents and situate them within a larger context of their production, reception, archival memorialisation and subsequent access. I propose that critical annotations help us move beyond post-hoc analyses of foreign policy in terms of success and failure. Instead, in viewing IR theorising as ‘unfinished dictionaries of the international’, I argue that critical annotations challenge a unitary view of the state and facilitate a more nuanced analysis of foreign policymaking emphasising historical contingencies within which policies are articulated and enacted.
This process note explicates the methodological intervention of maintaining fieldnotes on government documents and its significance for historically situated international relations (IR) research. For the most part, IR scholarship treats archival documents as the neutral preserve of the state, representing its coherent national interests. Building on discussions around critical methods within IR, I argue that there is a need to reflexively engage with the writing and curating practices of the state. This process note deploys the ethnographic hallmark of thick description within IR research through critical annotations on archival documents and other government publications on India’s eastern Himalayan borderlands between 1880 and 1965. These annotations encourage a granular reading of government documents and situate them within a larger context of their production, reception, archival memorialisation and subsequent access. I propose that critical annotations help us move beyond post-hoc analyses of foreign policy in terms of success and failure. Instead, in viewing IR theorising as ‘unfinished dictionaries of the international’, I argue that critical annotations challenge a unitary view of the state and facilitate a more nuanced analysis of foreign policymaking emphasising historical contingencies within which policies are articulated and enacted.
The Indian Media’s Interface with Diplomacy
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 86-100, March 2024.
Diplomacy and its institutions have been constantly changing. The manner in which diplomacy was practised in the earlier centuries is vastly different from how it is being practised in the twenty-first century. These changes range from the emergence of the training of messengers, the start of record keeping of diplomatic exchanges, the establishment of resident embassies, codification of formal diplomatic processes, widening domain of actors and issues, the use of multilateral conferences, use of summitry and many others. This evolution has been both a result of and further resulted in changing the larger socio-political-economic dimensions that the world has undergone. Among the myriad contextual changes, the revolution in communications, information and media technology has been phenomenal. This has brought into focus terms like the CNN effect and Vietnam War Syndrome where it is argued that media has had an influence in directing foreign policy choices of countries. Hence, this article seeks to analyse the media’s interface with the most important institution of diplomacy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It specifically focuses on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India. Has the news media acted either as an impediment or an accelerator to diplomatic practice? Has the information overload caused the diplomatic fraternity to face a loss of autonomy in any manner? With the objective of seeking an answer to these questions from diplomacy’s perspective, the article explores the evolution of the External Publicity Division of the MEA, India. The External Publicity Division as it is generally known has been the nodal division leading the institutions’ interface with the media. The actuality of media’s interface with diplomacy in India’s case will be set in the backdrop of the existing literature in the fields of media, diplomacy and foreign policy.
Diplomacy and its institutions have been constantly changing. The manner in which diplomacy was practised in the earlier centuries is vastly different from how it is being practised in the twenty-first century. These changes range from the emergence of the training of messengers, the start of record keeping of diplomatic exchanges, the establishment of resident embassies, codification of formal diplomatic processes, widening domain of actors and issues, the use of multilateral conferences, use of summitry and many others. This evolution has been both a result of and further resulted in changing the larger socio-political-economic dimensions that the world has undergone. Among the myriad contextual changes, the revolution in communications, information and media technology has been phenomenal. This has brought into focus terms like the CNN effect and Vietnam War Syndrome where it is argued that media has had an influence in directing foreign policy choices of countries. Hence, this article seeks to analyse the media’s interface with the most important institution of diplomacy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It specifically focuses on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India. Has the news media acted either as an impediment or an accelerator to diplomatic practice? Has the information overload caused the diplomatic fraternity to face a loss of autonomy in any manner? With the objective of seeking an answer to these questions from diplomacy’s perspective, the article explores the evolution of the External Publicity Division of the MEA, India. The External Publicity Division as it is generally known has been the nodal division leading the institutions’ interface with the media. The actuality of media’s interface with diplomacy in India’s case will be set in the backdrop of the existing literature in the fields of media, diplomacy and foreign policy.
The Bay of Bengal Subzone Within the Indo-Pacific: Historical Relevance and Present Orientation
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 72-85, March 2024.
Paradigms and conceptualisations are essential tools used in international relations literature. Such conceptualisations, however, continue to be heavily dependent on Western epistemology and strategically oriented. Such theoretical models and projections fail to adequately conceptualise the Indo-Pacific region. The neglect of local connectivity and subregions within the Indo-Pacific world has resulted in a relative understudy of the Bay of Bengal zone, a crucial subregion within the Indo-Pacific. The essay argues for a more holistic approach by amalgamating present strategic concerns with indigenous versions of regional projections developed historically. Only by grasping the significance and relevance of past build-ups, it would be possible to understand the Bay of Bengal zone and its effectiveness in creating a vibrant and dynamic Indo-Pacific region.
Paradigms and conceptualisations are essential tools used in international relations literature. Such conceptualisations, however, continue to be heavily dependent on Western epistemology and strategically oriented. Such theoretical models and projections fail to adequately conceptualise the Indo-Pacific region. The neglect of local connectivity and subregions within the Indo-Pacific world has resulted in a relative understudy of the Bay of Bengal zone, a crucial subregion within the Indo-Pacific. The essay argues for a more holistic approach by amalgamating present strategic concerns with indigenous versions of regional projections developed historically. Only by grasping the significance and relevance of past build-ups, it would be possible to understand the Bay of Bengal zone and its effectiveness in creating a vibrant and dynamic Indo-Pacific region.
Abundance: Sexuality’s History
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Gendered Journeys: Hariprabha Takeda’s Travelogue A Bengali Woman’s Voyage to Japan (1915) and Other Writings
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