bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Persons in Multispecies Communities
Authors: Deane-Drummond Celia E.
Published: December 2019

This chapter considers arguments for and objections to extending the notion of personhood beyond the human community. While extension of personhood is rather more appealing compared with rights, it is still premised on moral worth parsed out in anthropocentric terms. Such discussion hinges on philosophical debates about whether animals have moral worth, intrinsic value, subjectivity, and moral agency, and on the definition of personhood. It also touches on questions of the place of animals in religious traditions discussed in critical animal studies, as in authors such as Aaron Gross. It suggests that if personhood is extended it should not be confused with divine image bearing and in this respect argues against authors such as Charles Camosy and David Clough that tie both together in advocating an extended notion of personhood. While some theologians have become nervous about using any language about divine image bearing even in the case of humans, on the basis it could lead to an unhelpful sense of human superiority, the author considers that such nervousness can be avoided by suitable qualifications of what human image bearing means. Divine image bearing is, like wisdom, a complex term that has its own chequered history of interpretation. But image bearing is also a reminder that human persons bear a special responsibility in a multispecies community in a way that personhood alone does not. Enlarging a notion of personhood may broaden the moral sphere, and the author believes that it is justified in the case of many animal kinds, but it does not tell us how to act in situations of conflicting interests.
The Making of Powerful Laughter, c.1100–1200
Authors: Jones Peter J. A.
Published: December 2019

Chapter 1 explores laughter’s changing status as a topic of intellectual debate in the 1100s. Investigating a wide range of theological, monastic, philosophical, rhetorical, satirical, and medical texts available to Henry II’s courtiers, the chapter suggests that by the end of the century laughter was becoming a sign of embodied moral power. Whereas laughter had previously carried diabolical associations, and had been forbidden to monks, condemned by preachers, and reproved by theologians, it now became a monastic virtue, a confirmation of good health, and a potential sign of God’s presence. These ideas of moral laughter were enabled, above all, by a series of shifts in attitudes towards the body. As theologians devised new repertoires of spiritual emotions and gestures, influential monks such as Bernard of Clairvaux (d.1153) were able to allocate laughter a role as an expression of the highest internal grace.
Introduction
Authors: Jones Peter J. A.
Published: December 2019

The Introduction discusses how, towards the end of the twelfth century, enigmatically powerful images of laughing kings and saints began to appear in texts circulating at the English royal court. At the same time, contemporaries began to celebrate the humor, wit, and laughter of King Henry II (r.1154–89), and his martyred archbishop of Canterbury, Saint Thomas Becket (d.1170). This introductory chapter briefly explores the potential intellectual, literary, social, religious, and political roots for these images, outlining the framework of the book as a whole. Along with a critical overview of existing scholarship on medieval humor, the politics and government of Henry II, and the sainthood of Thomas Becket, the chapter indicates for the reader how a study of the relationship between laughter and power may have implications for how we understand the political and religious reforms of the twelfth century more generally.
Does consciousness matter?
Authors: Carruthers Peter
Published: December 2019

Chapter 7 concluded that there is no fact of the matter concerning phenomenal consciousness in animals, while also arguing that this conclusion is of no importance for science. The present chapter inquires whether it is nevertheless important in other ways, specifically for our ethical treatment of animals, arguing that it is not. But a challenge remains for those who theorize about the moral status of animals: they need to prize the foundations of their theories apart from assumptions about consciousness. The chapter also considers what should be said about the phenomenally conscious status of humans who, like animals, only partially share a full global-broadcasting architecture, such as human infants and people suffering from age-related cognitive impairments.
Asia and the World Economy in Historical Perspective
Authors: Findlay Ronald
Published: December 2019

This chapter studies the political and economic evolution of trade and international relations of the counties and regions of Asia, both between themselves and the rest of the world, over the past millennium, paying particular attention to the geographic and cultural background; the underlying demographic and economic mechanism of the classical Malthus-Ricardo model; the Pax Mongolica and overland trade along the Silk Roads during the Middle Ages; the European intrusion at the turn of the fifteenth century and the impact of the discovery of the New World; the spread of European imperialism and the rise of nationalism and the achievement of independence. A final section discusses the comparative evolution of Europe and Asia and the question of why the Industrial Revolution did not first occur in Asia.
Economic Openness and Development
Authors: Kozul-Wright Richard , Poon Daniel
Published: December 2019

While other contributions in this volume delve into the fine-grained detail and diversity of development processes in Asian countries and sub-regions, this chapter analyses the opening-up experiences of China, India, and Malaysia by triangulating between: (i) the orientation of selected policy tools in trade, technology, investment, and finance in shaping a country’s degree of economic openness; (ii) the rational co-ordination of operational controls of these policy tools; and (iii) the overall development trends observed in the Asia region. The ‘rational co-ordination of operational controls’ is interpreted with reference to the strategic use of selected policy tools in the successful cases of earlier East Asian industrialization. The chapter contends that divergence in Asian growth can be understood by variations in pragmatic policy experimentation by national policymakers in search of more effective institutional mechanisms to achieve desired development outcomes.
China
Authors: Yifu Justin Lin
Published: December 2019

Myrdal did not cover China in his Asian Drama. If he did, he would most likely have been pessimistic. However, China has achieved a miraculous growth since the transition from a planned economy to a market economy at the end 1978. Why was China trapped in poverty before 1978? Why was it possible for China to achieve an extraordinary performance during its transition? Why did most other transition economies fail to achieve a similar performance? What price did China pay for its success? Can China continue its dynamic growth in the coming decades? What lessons can we draw from China’s development experiences in view of the Asian Drama? If a developing country adopts a pragmatic approach to develop its economy along its comparative advantages and tap into the potential of latecomer advantages, the country can grow dynamically like China.
Vietnam
Authors: Tarp Finn
Published: December 2019

Gunnar Myrdal’s 1968 magnum opus, Asian Drama, pointed to the decisive nature of the Vietnamese people. Vietnam adopted a costly position on economic policy and management from 1976. When the approach taken did not produce the hoped-for results, an effective course correction was initiated in 1986. Since then, Vietnam has witnessed one of the world’s best performances in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction. Wide-ranging institutional reform has been introduced, including a greater reliance on market forces in the allocation of resources and the determination of prices. The shift from an economy completely dominated by the state and co-operative sectors, to one where the private sector and foreign investment both play key and dynamic roles, has been achieved without giving up strategic leadership and influence by the state.
Southeast Asia
Authors: Montes Manuel F.
Published: December 2019

This chapter examines the development experiences of six countries, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Myanmar—collectively ‘the Six’—fifty years after Gunnar Myrdal’s Asian Drama. Myrdal took an unambiguously pessimistic view of Asian prospects for development on the basis of obstacles to raising agricultural productivity, and the low perceived level of capability of governments to intervene effectively in favour of industrial development—the latter being a handicap that included extensive corruption at all levels of government. The record of the Six mostly defied Myrdal’s prognosis, raising agricultural productivity faster than population growth and displaying sufficient state capability to direct change towards a respectable level of industrial development. By using a more socially grounded analytical approach à la Myrdal, it is possible to understand how unorthodox economic policies have been effective in overcoming developmental disadvantages. However, shortfalls in social development could make future progress difficult.
Concluding Notes
Authors: Gómez-Torrente Mario
Published: December 2019

This chapter revisits from a synoptic perspective two of the main themes of the book. First, the critique of descriptivism based on indeterminacy cases and the proposal of mere roughly sufficient conditions for the reference fixing of demonstratives, proper names, and ordinary natural kind nouns. And second, the proposal that Arabic numerals, ordinary natural kind nouns, and adjectives for sensible qualities have, despite popular eliminativist arguments to the contrary, referents of a relatively ordinary nature appropriately determined in subtle ways by their associated reference-fixing conventions. The two themes of the book revisited in these concluding notes are related to an important part of the spirit of Kripke’s work on reference.
Epilogue
Authors: Meister Felix J.
Published: December 2019

The last chapter of this book summarizes and juxtaposes the arguments of the preceding chapters. Wedding songs, victory odes, and tragedy are compared regarding, first, the temporal framework in which the praise of their protagonists is placed, second, the use of myth and its evocative powers, and third, the role of ritual and its effect on the ways that mortal figures are compared to the gods. Ritual is further emphasized as a hermeneutical tool that leads from the purely literary plain to the social realities surrounding the production of these texts.
Africa’s Rural Youth in the Global Context
Authors: Mueller Valerie , Thurlow James , Rosenbach Gracie , Masias Ian
Published: December 2019

Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa are under enormous pressure to create more and better jobs for the region’s young and rapidly growing population. This chapter discusses how Africa’s demographic and economic transition differs than other developing regions. It then draws on Timmer’s Four Stages of Agricultural Transformation to conceptualize the unique role of youth participation in modernizing Africa’s agricultural sectors and rural economies. Thematic chapters covering trends in youth migration, national policy, and politics, as well as country case studies are included to shed light on whether the traditional model of agricultural transformation is still relevant for Africa today. Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Senegal, and Tanzania feature as case studies due to distinctions in three key components of structural change: agricultural productivity growth, sectoral diversification, and speed of urbanization.
Troublemakers, Bystanders, and Pathbreakers
Authors: Resnick Danielle
Published: December 2019

Do youth protest more than their older counterparts and is their main motivation for protest their preoccupation with unemployment? This chapter aims to answer these questions using various data sources of micro- and macro-economic time series data. Protest trends across cohorts from all Sub-Saharan African countries are first presented. A multivariate regression approach is then used to identify the significant drivers of mobilization using public opinion data. Although there are clear life cycle effects underlying protest behaviour such that younger individuals are more likely to protest than older ones, protest activity is a form of mobilization used by all age groups. For both young and old, education, engagement in activism, and deprivation of basic goods are strong predictors of protest regardless of time period. More recently, however, young people are more likely to protest if they are unemployed and if they lack trust in political institutions.
Youth Mobility and its Role in Structural Transformation in Senegal
Authors: Estruch Elisenda , Dijck Lisa Van , Schwebel David , Randriamamonjy Josee
Published: December 2019

This chapter uses multiple data sources to illustrate the transitions made by youth over time either to the rural non-farm economy or to urban areas. Descriptives are given to the motivations and constraints youth face when engaging in the RNFE or in migrant labour. The findings suggest that there are limited rural employment opportunities for youth, leading to a slow pace of rural poverty reduction. Rural youth still work mainly in poor quality jobs in agriculture, although they increasingly try: (i) to diversify their and their family’s income by engaging in nonfarm employment, or (ii) to look for options outside rural areas by migration to urban areas or abroad. We review the main policies and programmes implemented in Senegal to examine potential for reform towards pro-transformative youth employment.
Deep Pluralist Conceptions of Democracy
Authors: Lafont Cristina
Published: December 2019

This chapter analyzes deep pluralist conceptions of democracy. Advocates of this approach contend that political disagreement runs so deep that it cannot be reasonably overcome. In light of this predicament, they recommend majoritarian procedures as a “shortcut” for solving the problem of deep disagreement while at the same time preserving political equality. Against this view, the chapter shows that majoritarianism leaves minorities with no other option than to blindly defer to the decisional majority. To the extent that this is so, deep pluralists cannot explain how all citizens can identify with the laws and policies to which they are subject and endorse them as their own, as the democratic ideal of self-government requires. Deep pluralists are right to defend political equality and insist on the need to respond to the challenge of pervasive disagreement. However, we can only make good on these insights if we abandon the temptation to take the “procedural shortcut” and embrace the long road of participatory deliberative democracy.
Lottocratic Institutions from a Participatory Perspective
Authors: Lafont Cristina
Published: December 2019

This chapter explores how we might institutionalize deliberative minipublics in order to serve genuinely democratic goals. In contrast to empowered uses of minipublics that would bypass the citizenry’s political deliberation, citizens could use minipublics for contestatory, vigilant, and anticipatory purposes. These uses of minipublics would improve the quality of deliberation in the public sphere and would also force the political system to take the high road of properly involving the citizenry in the political process. The chapter illustrates these potential forms of “deliberative activism” with the help of examples of actual deliberative polls that James Fishkin has conducted over several decades. This analysis shows how deliberative minipublics can help improve the democratic quality of political deliberation in the public sphere while strengthening citizens’ democratic control over political decisions.
Acquired Rights and State Succession
Authors: Brunner Anna
Published: December 2019

In the early 1960s at the height of decolonization, the idea of post-colonialism and an initial form of post-colonial discourse developed in the branches of human rights, international trade, and state succession. The latter was of crucial importance to international lawyers in the new States as a means to jettison the established (post-)colonial system and advance their ‘global-solidarity project’ of a New International Economic Order (NIEO). They argued that the new states should have the power to ‘pick and choose’ which rules of the established international system corresponded to their needs and were accordingly acceptable to them, while other rules were not. In contrast, traditional Western scholars favoured the theory of continuity in the law of state succession. Along these front lines, the International Law Commission (ILC) was occupied by post-colonial discourse of state succession for years and became a central site of the battle for international law.
The International Court of Justice During the Battle for International Law (1955–1975)
Authors: Venzke Ingo
Published: December 2019

This chapter investigates the role of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) during the battle for international law circa the years of 1955–1975. It first draws attention to newly independent states that saw the Court in its role of reinforcing international law’s colonial imprints. The chapter then focuses on the Court’s captivating highpoint during the battle for international law: its 1962 and 1966 Judgments in South West Africa, and the jarring 1966 decision which, in the eyes of many states, presented the ICJ as a ‘white man’s court’ in a white man’s world. The chapter then shows the effects of the 1966 decision in judicial elections and the quest to change the composition of the bench. Finally, the chapter argues that the present inquiry serves as a vivid reminder that international law and its institutions are the product of a veritable struggle, then as now.
The World Bank in the Battles of the ‘Decolonization Era’
Authors: Dann Philipp
Published: December 2019

The story of the World Bank and the discussions over redistribution and financial support for the ‘newly independent states’ in the 1950s and 1960s is ambivalent and seems almost paradigmatic for a larger strategy of Northern governments in those years. This chapter analyses three layers of the story. It first recounts the political battle to institutionalize development financing, placing the creation of the International Development Association (IDA) as a new branch of the Bank in 1960 and main turning point in the broader context of the larger battle between North and South. It then looks at a distinct discursive turn that the Bank took in the 1960s and that seem to have served as rhetorical recognition but also mere placation of the South. Finally, the chapter investigates the legal dimension of the battle, observing that institutional law played an important role in deflecting Southern demands and shielding the Bank against further expectations. In analysing political, rhetorical and legal layers, the chapter argues that one can discern a certain strategy of the Bank and its dominant Northern governments that is reminiscent of classic hegemonic moves. Southern demands were not simply rejected or blocked, but rather redirected, diverted, and ultimately subverted—almost like in the far-Eastern fighting technique of Aikido, where the energy and dynamic of an attack is not absorbed but returned and redirected against the attacker.
The Unsynchable William Faulkner
Authors: Watson Jay
Published: December 2019

The early years of the “talkies,” which correspond with Faulkner’s surge into a fully realized literary modernism, brought technical problems that the cinema was slow to work out, especially the challenge of synchronizing the film soundtrack with its image stream to achieve verisimilitude. This technical crisis pointed to new creative opportunities for artists imaginative enough to seize the possibilities and extend montage effects across the visual and auditory realms. As sound film struggled through its growing pains, Faulkner experimented with new stylistic techniques of punctuation that introduced new discontinuities between speech and speaker, voice and subject, sound and source, into literary narration and onto the printed page, making his own unique contribution to his era’s aesthetic repertoire. This transmedial embrace of asynchrony went hand in hand with a new appreciation for the affective and thematic potential of silence, another aesthetic development that leaves its mark on Faulkner’s contemporaneous fictions.
Faulkner’s Biopolitical Fable of Modernity
Authors: Watson Jay
Published: December 2019

A Fable returns to the Great War to reframe it as the scene of a different modernity than the one diagnosed in Faulkner’s early fiction. A Fable concerns itself less with the modernization of death than with the modernization of life, the management of biological being by emergent biopolitical state formations that the Great War presented with a crucial opportunity to tighten their grip on living populations. Thus the defining conflict of A Fable is not between war and peace, nor between death and life, but between life and life, the struggle of autonomous life to rise above life regulated and instrumentalized, life surveilled, administered, and subordinated to the interests of industry, army, media, state: the global consortium that puts all organic life forms at risk. In A Fable, the conceit of world war finds its resonance in this opposition between global cabal and planetary, interspecies collectivity.
The Motive to Borrow
Authors: Fatás Antonio , Ghosh Atish R. , Panizza Ugo , Presbitero Andrea F.
Published: December 2019

Governments issue debt for good and bad reasons. While the good reasons—intertemporal tax smoothing, fiscal stimulus, and asset management—can explain some of the increases in public debt observed in recent years, they cannot account for all of the observed changes. Bad reasons for borrowing are driven by political failures associated with intergenerational transfers, strategic manipulation, and common pool problems. These political failures are a major cause of overborrowing and budgetary institutions and fiscal rules can play a role in mitigating the tendency to overborrow. While it is difficult to establish a clear causal link from high public debt to low growth, it is likely that some countries might be paying a price in terms of lower growth and greater output volatility because of excessive debt accumulation.
The Restructuring Process
Authors: Buchheit Lee , Chabert Guillaume , DeLong Chanda , Zettelmeyer Jeromin
Published: December 2019

This chapter goes into depth on the debt restructuring process itself, a topic which has not been covered in the literature in detail before. It gives a step-by-step outline of how restructurings take place, from deciding on the appropriate strategy, to determining which debt should be covered and in what way; to engagement with creditors in the negotiating process. It also covers one of the main structural problems in reaching an agreement with creditors—the collective action problem—and explores ways by which such problems can be overcome with both private creditors (collective action clauses, exit consents) and the official sector (the role of the Paris Club).
The World as a Harmony
Authors: Schluderer Laura Rosella
Published: December 2019

In line with the growing recognition of fifth century Pythagoreans as the main developers of a Pythagorean philosophy, the article offers a reconstruction of Philolaus’ metaphysical framework, arguing for its potential explanatory power and anticipating some key notions in ancient metaphysics. Starting from the scala naturae in B13, I reconstruct Philolaus’ overall metaphysical framework from his fragments, exploring how it might have worked when applied to micro-macrocosmic ontology. Key to this reconstruction is musical harmony. It is shown how, by using musical harmony as a paradigm and making explicit its mathematical structure, Philolaus (a) possessed a rather sophisticated explanatory framework, capable of accounting for the complex structure of the cosmos and of living beings; and (b) began to grasp the importance of a normative, abstract, structural principles working at a different metaphysical level from the constituents of things, thus anticipating Aristotle’s distinction between material and formal causes.
Sources of Doxastic Disturbance in Sextus Empiricus
Authors: Machuca Diego E.
Published: December 2019

In his account of Pyrrhonism, Sextus Empiricus talks about the disturbance concerning matters of opinion that afflicts his dogmatic rivals and that he himself was afflicted by before his conversion to Pyrrhonism. The aim of the present paper is to identify the distinct sources of doxastic disturbance that can be found in that account, and to determine whether and, if so, how they are related. The thesis to be defended is that it is possible to discern three sources of doxastic disturbance and that two of them are to be explained by reference to the third, which is the real cause of mental distress. The paper also considers whether the thesis in question entails that there is no reason for the Pyrrhonist to suspend judgment across the board, but only to suspend judgment about evaluative matters.
Augustine’s Defence of Knowledge Against the Sceptics
Authors: Nawar Tamer
Published: December 2019

In his Contra Academicos, Augustine offers one of the most detailed responses to scepticism to have come down to us from antiquity. In this paper, I examine Augustine’s defence of the existence of infallible knowledge in Contra Academicos 3, focusing on his semantic response to external world scepticism and his appeal to mathematical knowledge to argue against the sceptical thesis that nothing is known. I challenge a number of established views concerning the nature and merit of Augustine’s defence of knowledge and propose a new understanding of several important elements of Augustine’s thought concerning signification, cognition, and object-directed thought. I argue that once we properly understand Augustine’s views on these matters his arguments in defence of knowledge are more interesting and more successful than usually thought.
Jacob’s Pillar
Authors: Scolieri Paul A.
Published: December 2019

This chapter focuses on Ted Shawn’s role in the development of Jacob’s Pillow from a summer dance training camp into an internationally renowned dance school and festival. Through Shawn’s wartime letters to his lover Barton Mumaw, the chapter relays an insider’s view into the early years of the festival, including the building of the first theater dedicated to presenting dance in 1942. It then focuses on Shawn’s later choreographic output as well as his many programmatic achievements at the Pillow. And finally, it looks at Shawn’s twilight years, especially his attempts to document the story of his life in relation to the emerging gay rights movement he saw intensify around him, including the publication of the Kinsey Reports, the influential study of American sexual culture, in which Shawn participated with profound liberating results.
Osmania University
Authors: Pathania Gaurav J.
Published: December 2019

For the past five decades, OU has been the nerve centre for every agitation, strike, meeting, or debate for separate Telangana. The widespread notion that ‘movement is the business of Osmania’ is explained in the chapter by highlighting Osmania’s role throughout the various phases of the movement. The university has produced a number of activists who later became part of mainstream politics and other arenas of society. This chapter illustrates how a culture of resistance was created by intellectuals (students, alumni, and teachers) and how their activism made the campus the epicentre of a mass movement. Focusing primarily on out-of-the-classroom ethnographic material, this chapter discusses the influence of campus education and (un)learning, how its spaces and interpersonal relations make individuals more cognizant of their regional identity, and how this identity assertion translated into a mass movement.
Campus Networks and Agitations
Authors: Pathania Gaurav J.
Published: December 2019

With ethnographic data, this chapter demonstrates the everyday life of a movement activist. It highlights how different spaces of the university contribute in changing students’ way of thinking and discusses how a student is inducted, trained, and made part of the movement bandwagon. The university has been evolving over the past five decades of struggle of inside and outside the campus through its students’ activism. This chapter focuses on the inside mechanism of this activism and demonstrates what motives a student to choose the path of activism and how their networks are rooted around Telangana cultural ethos.
New State, Old Narratives
Authors: Pathania Gaurav J.
Published: December 2019

Over half a century, the efforts of Osmania University intellectual to address the Telangana problem—writing and publishing literature, forming organizations and mobilizing masses—finally led to a the formation of a separate statehood. The formation of a new state does not guarantee the welfare and representation of historically marginalized and primordial identities. It demands a deeper struggle involved for such identities to assert themselves. The post-Telangana phase has not delivered any concrete program to its youth who sacrificed for its statehood. As a result, students have started their struggle to make Samajik or ‘socially inclusive’ Telangana. The chapter highlights the contemporary ongoing student agitation in post-Telangana phase. It concludes that the history of Telangana would be remembered as the history of students’ resistance.
Electoral Roll, the ‘Vote’, and Democracy
Authors: Singh Ujjwal Kumar , Roy Anupama
Published: December 2019

The ECI is a constitutional body entrusted with the responsibility of giving effect to the principle of equality of the citizen-voter, ensuring that no eligible voter was excluded from the electoral rolls on grounds of religion, race, caste, or gender. This role has unfolded in uneven and contradictory ways, made manifest in those contexts where the ECI has been implicated in disputes over citizenship. Disputes over electoral rolls show that the responsibility of superintending the preparation of electoral rolls has, in specific contexts, translated into the power of the ECI to identify legitimate voters and to sift out citizens from non-citizens. In addition, a stern adherence to procedures in contexts of suspicious increase of voters, has also led the ECI on a collision course with specific state governments. This chapter examines the ‘vote’ as a dynamic expression of inclusion, and also studies in this context the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme—a relatively recent innovation by the Election Commission—to register voters and educate them to cast an informed vote. This has been done through a field study in a district in Jammu region.
Science and Swaraj
Authors: Uberoi J.P.S.
Published: December 2019

This opening chapter sets the stage for the approach held throughout the book of a Gandhian swarajist attitude of independence in the sociology of knowledge and with regard to the theories and practices of Western civilization. It demonstrates that Indian sociology, the natural and the human sciences and the academic pursuit of knowledge as a whole still submits to a colonial relation which has been overcome in politics a long time ago. It starts with a discussion of scientific methodology and the relation of science to society and of science itself as a social institution. There is a discussion of questions of urgent anthropology and the current national and international system of knowledge in the context of material and intellectual poverty.
A Social Lesson for Science
Authors: Baquer Ali , Nandy Ashis , Uberoi J.P.S. , Ram H.Y. Mohan , Reynolds Norman
Published: December 2019

This chapter consists of joint paper written by a group of social scientists that outlines the gulf between the expert who comes booted from the city and the rural unbooted farmer. It makes a case for viewing science as ethnoscience and the so-called ethnoscience likewise as science. It opens with a discussion of the problem of the model of agro-economic efficiency versus traditional methods of agriculture. We are faced again with the issue of universal rationality vis-á-vis local knowledge, the rift between science and society, the arts and religion. The market economy and capitalist agricultural system are contrasted with rural crafts and industries, scientific classification with ‘primitive classification’. It discusses the question of science as authority, the possibility of integration and the limits of scientific orthodoxy.
The Sciences and the Arts in the University
Authors: Uberoi J.P.S.
Published: December 2019

In this chapter there is further development of the theme of the Anglicist–Orientalist debate in India with reference to education, this time with particular reference to the modern university as it exists in India and elsewhere. There is an outline of the Gandhian recasting of the Anglicist–Orientalist debate and the plea for a third way of vernacular education. Issues of creativity and innovation in science, the relationship between teaching and research, the sciences in the arts and the arts in the sciences, the life-cycle of a teacher, job opportunities and job satisfaction, issues of the third world and of swaraj are some of the subjects dealt with here. The final focus is on the University of Delhi, which is treated as a case study.
The Student Question
Authors: Uberoi J.P.S.
Published: December 2019

This chapter provides a discussion of student movements in Paris, China, Afghanistan and India. There is a treatment of the estrangement between the gurukul and the college, between Aligarh and Deoband, the problem of colonized self-estrangement of the mind which results in a deprivation of vitality and authenticity in intellectual labour. Some of the topics discussed here are the student revolt and the student rush, the colonial legacy in the erstwhile colonized world, students participation in university processes, the need for a participatory system in both academics and organization, student leadership, the constitution and functioning of students’ unions, the university as a corporate academic community and teachers’ organizations.
New Outlines of Structural Sociology, 1945–70
Authors: Uberoi J.P.S.
Published: December 2019

This chapter presents a discussion of international intellectual trends in the social sciences, theoretical and empirical studies in India, the question of independence of mind or home rule in intellectual institutions. Following the swarajist project outlined earlier of viewing Europe and its systems of knowledge and practices from an independent Indian point of view, this chapter is in effect a research outline for a new structural sociology in India. We are introduced to structuralism as it exists in the world, its scope and definition and as a methodology for the social sciences. This is followed by the approach to structuralism as scientific theory, method and as philosophical world view. Finally discusses are the principles of structural analysis, structuralism in language, literature and culture, in social structure, with regard to society and the individual, religion, philosophy, politics, sociology and social-anthropology.
Marxism of Labour or Property?
Authors: Uberoi J.P.S.
Published: December 2019

Beginning with an exposition of Marx and Engels on questions of labour as laid out in their various writings about this subject this chapter discusses the problems of, and raises questions about, the free peasantry class, the yeoman farmer or husbandman of Central Asia, Russia and Europe from the perspective of the organization of labour rather than of property which is the more common approach to these issues. It illustrates capitalism and socialism as two ideal types in eternal antagonism or contradiction and suggests a third way of reuniting the problems of labour and property. There is a discussion of the nature of work and ownership I modern industrial production as opposed to the ecological farmer with a household economy.
Oriental Studies and Current Affairs of Sikhism
Authors: Uberoi J.P.S.
Published: December 2019

This chapter consists of four short pieces concerning Sikhism which serve as a pretext for an analysis of Sikh studies, both foreign and Indian. It includes an outline of the main tenets of the Orientalist and Indian area studies approaches to Sikh religion and history and raises questions about the nature of Sikhism and Sikh Raj in the unity and diversity of current ‘secular’ India and the relationship between the institutions of civil society and the state. The discussion is both historical and contemporary leading up to the moment preceding Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh guards. Fundamental to the discussion is the idea and concept of Indian modernity and the place of a plurality of religions within it.
Metaphysics of the Indian Modernity
Authors: Uberoi J.P.S.
Published: December 2019

The final chapter of this volume is a study of the theory of the name as it appears in various religions and cultures. Starting with a section on Bhakti and the Indian modernity it goes on to expound various Western theories of the name moving through philosophers, linguists and social scientists, through Judaism, theosophy, Buddhism, Confucianism and finally leading up to Sikhism and an analysis of nam, shabad and Bani in the Sukhmani. It is the latter that forms the core of the content. There is discussion of the relation between sound and sense, vibration and invocation and the object of the liturgy of the name in modern Indian religions of Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam and the contribution of Sikhism to the quest for an Indian modernity.
Changing Climate and Weather
Authors: AchutaRao Krishna , Otto Friederike
Published: December 2019

Attribution of observed changes in long-term climate to anthropogenic and other external forcings has been a mainstay of many global assessments. Evidence of the role of anthropogenic forcings in the changing climate over the Indian region has been growing in recent years. Recent developments in event attribution techniques now make it possible to link global warming to individual weather and climate-related events. While a large number of event-attribution studies of extreme events from around the globe exist, very few have been carried out over India. In this chapter, a review of available event-attribution studies as well as studies that address attribution of long-term climate change over India is presented.
Reaching Agreement in Paris
Authors: Lavasa Ashok
Published: December 2019

The months leading to the Paris Agreement in 2015 were marked by a shift in the tone and substance of India’s approach to climate negotiations. A new government, elected in 2014, embarked on a series of steps that recast the country as a progressive element in negotiations, attempting to move it from obdurate negotiator to part of the solution. This chapter describes these steps and the government’s approach at the Paris negotiations from the perspective of India’s lead negotiator. India’s actions included the declaration of ambitious mitigation targets and successful public diplomacy measures. At the same time, India and other like-minded developing countries negotiated to preserve their room for development and underscore the differentiation in responsibilities based on historical emissions. The Agreement, as a result, reflects the delicate balance of positions between developing and developed nations.
Understanding the 2015 Paris Agreement
Authors: Rajamani Lavanya
Published: December 2019

The international climate change regime comprises the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and the 2015 Paris Agreement, and numerous decisions under these instruments. These instruments, in particular the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, represent fundamentally different approaches to the three central issues that the international climate change regime has been struggling with since the inception of multilateral negotiations. These issues are: the architecture of climate instruments; the legal form of climate instruments and the legal character of provisions in them; and differentiation among countries, in particular, between developed and developing countries. This chapter explores each of these central issues in turn, with a focus on how the Paris Agreement resolves these issues, and represents a step change in the international community’s efforts to address climate change.
Climate Change, Civil Society, and Social Movement in India
Authors: Swarnakar Pradip
Published: December 2019

In India, climate change-related activities are primarily managed by the government, but civil society organizations (CSOs) are an integral part of policy formulation and implementation. This chapter aims to illustrate the operations of Indian CSOs that primarily focus on climate change. The chapter has four primary objectives. First, it elucidates what Indian CSOs have achieved from discursive possibilities and openings created by the global climate change debate. Second, it interprets the climate sustainability and justice frameworks to evaluate the work of Indian CSOs. Third, it expands the concept of climate justice framework into two directions based on its geographical scale of focus. Finally, it discusses the international collaboration of Indian CSOs either as members of international coalitions or in joint deliberations in international climate meetings.
Business Action on Climate Change
Authors: Venkateswaran Shankar , Rajan Mukund
Published: December 2019

This chapter provides a perspective on how the Indian private sector is responding to sustainability and climate change challenges by beginning to embrace the idea of a ‘triple bottom line’. It notes that an increasing number of Indian businesses have begun to take actions, such as increased sustainability, environmental reporting, and adoption of internal actions, including setting emission targets and an internal carbon price. However, the pace is not uniform; large companies with a global footprint, and some sectors like electricity, are moving faster than others. While, globally, this shift is due to greater pressures from regulators, investors, customers, employees, and communities, in India, regulations are the dominant external trigger, with civil society action growing in importance. While leadership companies will continue to mainstream sustainability and climate change into their core business, this process will be significantly deepened if other stakeholders—customers, investors, and employees—also push businesses.
Energy and Climate Change
Authors: Roy Ashim , Kuruvilla Benny , Bhardwaj Ankit
Published: December 2019

Due to the extent of unionization in India’s coal and other carbon-rich sectors, trade unions can resist the tide of privatization and play an active role in formulating a just transition that integrates worker and social concerns into climate responses. An Indian just transition will be located around the need to peak coal usage soon and transition to renewables, with the additional complication of protecting livelihoods, as India’s coal-rich states are also its poorest. This chapter puts forth that democratic, public, and cooperative management of energy systems can prioritize social alongside climate concerns, as part of a wider industrial strategy to retrain workers and decarbonize industry. Climate change will also impact working conditions and workers’ health, with the burden likely to fall on households. Access to social services in workplaces, streets, and homes becomes necessary to alleviate the impacts of climate change on the most vulnerable.
Looking Out, Looking In
Authors: Jogesh Anu
Published: December 2019

The news media has historically been important in shaping and disseminating perceptions, positions, and policies on climate change. This chapter is a discourse analysis of climate change reportage in the Indian print media between 2010 and 2017. Through a process of sampling, coding, and textual analysis, the study finds a gradual evolution in the discourse on climate change: there is greater coverage of domestic policies and interventions in the news; there is convergence around the approach of domestic self-determination in line with the Paris Agreement; and while there is continued emphasis on the responsibility of industrialized economies for ambitious action, articles also advocate action by India and other developing nations, in line with their local development priorities. In other words, there is a perceptible shift in focus in the Indian print media towards ‘looking in’, rather than ‘looking out’ in arriving at a shared consensus on climate change.
National Climate Policies and Institutions
Authors: Dubash Navroz K. , Ghosh Shibani
Published: December 2019

This chapter sets the stage for a discussion on policies by reviewing the emergence of national policies and national institutions. This discussion starts with the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and its various ‘missions’. It discusses how Indian climate policy was frequently dictated by the pursuit of ‘co-benefits’ that bring both climate and development gains, and the emergence of multiple objectives framing as a useful guide for policy formulation. This leads to a discussion of the formulation of India’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for the Paris Agreement. Significantly, the chapter also covers the spread of climate institutions which, while weak and in their early stages, provide the spaces within which climate discussion is likely to be mainstreamed, if at all, in the coming years.
Climate Change and India’s Forests
Authors: Lele Sharachchandra , Krishnaswamy Jagdish
Published: December 2019

Forests influence, and are impacted by, climate in multiple ways. India has pledged to sequester 2.5–3 gigatonne of carbon dioxide equivalent in its forests by 2030. As per official estimates, India already has a positive carbon sequestration rate, suggesting that little extra effort is required to achieve this target, but these estimates are debated. Prioritizing carbon sequestration can also adversely affect local livelihoods, biodiversity, and hydrological regulation functions. Moreover, the mechanisms through which the state hopes to achieve this target do not take into consideration the history of conflict and ongoing shifts in forest governance. The influence of forests on regional climate, especially rainfall, further complicates this debate. Climate change will, in turn, influence India’s forests in complex and unclear ways: a possible expansion of the moist broadleaf forests in central India and a shrinking of temperate broadleaf and alpine forests; a possible increase in productivity; and decline in some wildlife species in specific habitats.
Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation
Authors: Kumar K.S. Kavi , Viswanathan Brinda
Published: December 2019

This chapter provides an overview of issues surrounding the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector with focus on India. The status of adaptation research focusing on triggers of adaptation and adaptation strategies, such as innovation, adoption of technologies, risk management, and migration, are discussed. The chapter then deliberates on approaches for mainstreaming climate change adaptation policies, namely, climate-proofing, climate-first, and development-first. The wide-ranging budgetary requirements made by the State Action Plans on Climate Change for the agricultural sector highlight the need for a coherent approach for assessing adaptation budgets, along with the establishment of climate and disaster cells in the line departments of the state governments to integrate the climate risks with the developmental plans.