Abstract
Good theory is ultimately vindicated in practice. This companion volume to International Relations in India: Bringing Theory Back Home is informed by this premise. Drawing on an awareness of eclectic theoretical sensibilities ranging from varieties of realism to newer social constructivist variants, this Reader witnesses the application of these strands to real world issues. Conventional areas of International Relations focus such as power and violence take on new interpretations depending on the vantage point from which they are observed. Encompassing different critical perspectives but retaining a commitment to contest taken-for-granted axioms, this collection testifies to a promising though nascent constellation of scholarship for the future of the discipline in India. The interplay between identities and foreign policy, the theoretical unraveling of borders with accompanying notions of territoriality and a leeway into the world of critical geopolitics makes for particularly engaging reading. Or particular relevance here are contributions in the field of International Political Economy, an area of traditional neglect in the South Asian setting. The intent of the volume is to create the conditions for a sustained and serious theoretical conversation in the Indian variant of the discipline of International Relations. The quest to discern new normative spaces from within the resources of the discipline forms an integral dimension of this volume a much-needed corrective to reliance on entrenched orthodoxies in the discipline. While conscious of the need to be aware of recent developments in the global field, the contributions in this collection critically re-evaluate the merit of the prevailing terms of debate in our contemporary political context.