India Quarterly, Volume 79, Issue 4, Page 618-620, December 2023.
V. Srinivas, G20@2023: The Roadmap to Indian Presidency, One Earth. One Family. One Future. Pentagon Press, 2023, pp. 290, ₹995, ISBN 9789390095742.
Editorial
India Quarterly, Volume 79, Issue 4, Page 459-460, December 2023.
Out of sight, out of mind? The wills of monastic and mendicant bishops in Britain and Ireland, 1350–1535
Book review: Prachi Deshpande, Scripts of Power: Writing, Language Practices and Cultural History in Western India
Studies in History, Volume 39, Issue 2, Page 286-288, August 2023.
Prachi Deshpande, Scripts of Power: Writing, Language Practices and Cultural History in Western India, Permanent Black, Ranikhet, 2023, ₹995.
Prachi Deshpande, Scripts of Power: Writing, Language Practices and Cultural History in Western India, Permanent Black, Ranikhet, 2023, ₹995.
Book review: Prachi Deshpande, Scripts of Power: Writing, Language Practices and Cultural History in Western India
Studies in History, Volume 39, Issue 2, Page 286-288, August 2023.
Prachi Deshpande, Scripts of Power: Writing, Language Practices and Cultural History in Western India, Permanent Black, Ranikhet, 2023, ₹995.
Prachi Deshpande, Scripts of Power: Writing, Language Practices and Cultural History in Western India, Permanent Black, Ranikhet, 2023, ₹995.
Glimpses from Indian Naval History: Geography of Seafaring and Mythography of Prohibitions
Indian Historical Review, Volume 50, Issue 2, Page 211-232, December 2023.
Many dharmaśāstra texts, starting from the most famous, the Manusmr+ti, declare sea voyage to be sinful and polluting for a Hindu. At the same time, from remote antiquity, Hindus from various castes, including Brahmans, had actively traversed the seas to the west, south and east of India for the purposes of trade, war, spiritual guidance, adventures and so on. This article seeks to review the geography of ancient and mediaeval Indian seafaring (in which Hindus played a significant role) and, more importantly, to discover why, in colonial India, the notion of sea travel being prohibited to Hindus became widely established, so that the descendants of the merchants who had operated from Aden to the Indonesian and Chinese ports would excommunicate their young caste fellows who desirous to study abroad.
Many dharmaśāstra texts, starting from the most famous, the Manusmr+ti, declare sea voyage to be sinful and polluting for a Hindu. At the same time, from remote antiquity, Hindus from various castes, including Brahmans, had actively traversed the seas to the west, south and east of India for the purposes of trade, war, spiritual guidance, adventures and so on. This article seeks to review the geography of ancient and mediaeval Indian seafaring (in which Hindus played a significant role) and, more importantly, to discover why, in colonial India, the notion of sea travel being prohibited to Hindus became widely established, so that the descendants of the merchants who had operated from Aden to the Indonesian and Chinese ports would excommunicate their young caste fellows who desirous to study abroad.
Glimpses from Indian Naval History: Geography of Seafaring and Mythography of Prohibitions
Indian Historical Review, Volume 50, Issue 2, Page 211-232, December 2023.
Many dharmaśāstra texts, starting from the most famous, the Manusmr+ti, declare sea voyage to be sinful and polluting for a Hindu. At the same time, from remote antiquity, Hindus from various castes, including Brahmans, had actively traversed the seas to the west, south and east of India for the purposes of trade, war, spiritual guidance, adventures and so on. This article seeks to review the geography of ancient and mediaeval Indian seafaring (in which Hindus played a significant role) and, more importantly, to discover why, in colonial India, the notion of sea travel being prohibited to Hindus became widely established, so that the descendants of the merchants who had operated from Aden to the Indonesian and Chinese ports would excommunicate their young caste fellows who desirous to study abroad.
Many dharmaśāstra texts, starting from the most famous, the Manusmr+ti, declare sea voyage to be sinful and polluting for a Hindu. At the same time, from remote antiquity, Hindus from various castes, including Brahmans, had actively traversed the seas to the west, south and east of India for the purposes of trade, war, spiritual guidance, adventures and so on. This article seeks to review the geography of ancient and mediaeval Indian seafaring (in which Hindus played a significant role) and, more importantly, to discover why, in colonial India, the notion of sea travel being prohibited to Hindus became widely established, so that the descendants of the merchants who had operated from Aden to the Indonesian and Chinese ports would excommunicate their young caste fellows who desirous to study abroad.
Noble violence and civic justice: rural lords under trial in the Italian city communes 1276–1322
India’s G20 Presidency: Implications for the Latin American Region in the Framework of the Global South
India Quarterly, Volume 79, Issue 4, Page 514-524, December 2023.
The turbulent unipolar world order is on the descendant, paving the way for a more representative multipolar global order. One of the early signs of this trend was the emergence of the G20 as a forum seeking to shape and strengthen the international economic and world governance architecture. Since then, the G20 along with other multilateral forums like the BRICS has played a role in consolidating the identities and interests of its Global South member states. The article discusses the debate over using ‘Global South’ identity instead of ‘Third World’ image. It also provides insights into Latin American perspectives on India’s G20 Presidency and as a leader of the Global South, given the historical and contemporary strategic significance of New Delhi in the emerging multipolar world order. The article also reflects on how India engages and interacts with Latin America in light of China’s growing influence in the region.
The turbulent unipolar world order is on the descendant, paving the way for a more representative multipolar global order. One of the early signs of this trend was the emergence of the G20 as a forum seeking to shape and strengthen the international economic and world governance architecture. Since then, the G20 along with other multilateral forums like the BRICS has played a role in consolidating the identities and interests of its Global South member states. The article discusses the debate over using ‘Global South’ identity instead of ‘Third World’ image. It also provides insights into Latin American perspectives on India’s G20 Presidency and as a leader of the Global South, given the historical and contemporary strategic significance of New Delhi in the emerging multipolar world order. The article also reflects on how India engages and interacts with Latin America in light of China’s growing influence in the region.
Between Rewards and Risks: India as Host of the 2023 G20 Summit
India Quarterly, Volume 79, Issue 4, Page 476-487, December 2023.
India’s hosting of the 2023 G20 summit presents a number of serious tests. Taking on the presidency of the G20 offers India the prospect of enormous rewards related to an enhanced role in world politics. As this article lays out, however, the hosting function exposes India to risks of three types relating to organisational capacity and status. The highest profile of these risks comes from the changing external environment under which the New Delhi G20 will meet, set against a background of complicating geopolitical tensions. Moreover, beyond the highly charged stakes attached to this shifting external context, the basic organisational responsibilities of holding the presidency of the G20 in New Delhi present a second serious challenge. The hosting function comes with enormous logistical issues that are especially sensitive for India in terms of peer status. Hosting a global summit of this type—that is to say, an institution constructed without the cushion of legitimacy attached to formal international organisations—is also complicated by India’s self-identity. Performing the role of host conveys a message of India’s equality of peer status vis-à-vis the other structurally important members in the G20. Nonetheless, in playing up this (insider) side of India’s identity, the other side of India’s (outsider) identity that privileges India’s solidarity with the Global South and the privileging of aspirational multilateralism through the United Nations (UN) is potentially compromised. My article has two intertwined purposes. On the one hand, it examines the major tests that exist for India regarding the contextual, procedural, and institutional meaning dynamics of the G20, analysing the differentiated nature and implications of each of these challenges in turn. On the other hand, the article offers some insights concerning the techniques of how India has either addressed (or could address) the three tests and so ensure a positive reception for the summit process.
India’s hosting of the 2023 G20 summit presents a number of serious tests. Taking on the presidency of the G20 offers India the prospect of enormous rewards related to an enhanced role in world politics. As this article lays out, however, the hosting function exposes India to risks of three types relating to organisational capacity and status. The highest profile of these risks comes from the changing external environment under which the New Delhi G20 will meet, set against a background of complicating geopolitical tensions. Moreover, beyond the highly charged stakes attached to this shifting external context, the basic organisational responsibilities of holding the presidency of the G20 in New Delhi present a second serious challenge. The hosting function comes with enormous logistical issues that are especially sensitive for India in terms of peer status. Hosting a global summit of this type—that is to say, an institution constructed without the cushion of legitimacy attached to formal international organisations—is also complicated by India’s self-identity. Performing the role of host conveys a message of India’s equality of peer status vis-à-vis the other structurally important members in the G20. Nonetheless, in playing up this (insider) side of India’s identity, the other side of India’s (outsider) identity that privileges India’s solidarity with the Global South and the privileging of aspirational multilateralism through the United Nations (UN) is potentially compromised. My article has two intertwined purposes. On the one hand, it examines the major tests that exist for India regarding the contextual, procedural, and institutional meaning dynamics of the G20, analysing the differentiated nature and implications of each of these challenges in turn. On the other hand, the article offers some insights concerning the techniques of how India has either addressed (or could address) the three tests and so ensure a positive reception for the summit process.