International Relations in India: Bringing Theory Back Home

International Relations Theory has traditionally tended to be equated with Anglo-American scholarship, while it continues to be viewed with considerable skepticism in most postcolonial societies. Firmly anchored in a conception of making more audible voices belonging to less ethnocentric disciplinary locations, genres and contexts, this Reader is a collection of first-rate theoretical engagements relating to International Relations from across India. The effort is a conscious political act that remains wary of potential misappropriations by nativists of various hues while expressing an undeniable inclination to participate wholeheartedly in a global conversation aimed at enhancing the normative repertoire wholeheartedly in a global conversation aimed at enhancing the normative repertoire of the discipline of International Relations. A range of themes have been opened up for informed scrutiny as a part of the project of celebrating a critical Indian collective in International Relations: the class character of contemporary international law, reassessing the conceptual foundations of imperialism, mapping human security, evaluating the ‘gaze’ of Orientalism and defending the analytical relevance of gender as a lens to examine national security are issues covered in the theoretical ambit of this volume. The Reader also addresses two other core issues: contesting the Delhi-centricity of the discipline and acknowledging the relevance of theory to policy. The companion volume International Relations in India: Theorising the Region and Nation applies theory to real world issues.