The book explores the pressing problem of rural violence in contemporary Nigeria by assessing the changing patterns of conflict and response across the country. Rural violence in Nigeria is becoming an increasingly pressing concern, with cattle rustling, banditry, kidnapping and farmer-herder conflicts putting immense pressure on the state’s institutional preparedness and the response capacity of the government, military and other security agencies. Drawing from the expertise of a wide range of African development, governance and security researchers and practitioners, this book assesses the severity of the current problem of rural violence, and provides a critical analysis of the various national and state responses to rural violence in Nigeria. Ultimately, the book aims to provide suggestions for restoring peace, security and development in Nigeria. This book will be of interest to scholars, researchers and administrators across Political Science, Security Studies, Rural Studies, and Regional Studies in Africa.

Provides an accessible study of the interactions of these two cultures, written by an author with expertise in the languages of both cultures.

Provides an accessible study of the interactions of these two cultures, written by an author with expertise in the languages of both cultures.

This book initiates multipolar climate/clime studies of the world's altitudinal and latitudinal highlands with terrestrial, experiential, and affective approaches. Framed in the environmental humanities, it is an interdisciplinary, comparative study of the mutually-embodied relations of climate, nature, culture, and place in the Himalaya, Andes, and Arctic. Innovation-driven, the book offers multipolar clime case studies through the contributors' historical findings, ethnographic documentations, and diverse conceptualizations and applications of clime, an overlooked but returning notion of place embodied with climate history, pattern, and changes. The multipolar clime case studies in the book are geared toward deeper, lively explorations and demonstrations of the translatability, interchangeability, and complementarity between the notions of clime and climate. "Multipolar" or "multipolarity" in this book connotes not only the two polar regions and the tectonically shaped highlands of the earth but also diversely debated perspectives of climate studies in the broadest sense. Contributors across the twelve chapters come from diverse fields of social and natural sciences and humanities, and geographically specialize respectively in the Himalayan, Andean, and Arctic regions. The first comparative study of climate change in altitudinal and latitudinal highlands, this will be an important read for students, academics and researchers in environmental humanities, anthropology, climate science, indigenous studies and ecology.

This book describes the career of an English aristocrat, Christopher Bethell, who arrives in southern Africa in 1878 as the classic "remittance" man, despatched to the colonies to avoid a scandal at home. Bethell, an intelligence officer and later, a border agent, is the protagonist who facilitated the acquisition of arms for Montshiwa's Ratshidi-Barolong to resist the depredations of freebooters, mercenaries based mostly in the Transvaal. In his alliance with Kgosi Montshiwa Tawana, Bethell identifies with Kgosi Montshiwa’s struggle to maintain political independence and economic security. The alliance was further cemented by Bethell’s marriage to a Morolong woman Tepo Boapile – an unusual occurrence in nineteenth century southern Africa. Surrounded by aggressive freebooters from across their eastern border with the Transvaal and the ambiguous forces of colonial advancement from the Cape colony and Britain, Montshiwa and Bethell form an unlikely but enduring relationship aimed at safeguarding Rolong interests. As the Bechuanaland Wars of the early to mid-1880s intensify in brutality Montshiwa and his Chief of Staff, Christopher Bethell are forced to desperate measures to defend the Rolong and avoid outright dispossession. Bethell’s demise is the trigger for firm British imperial intervention, the securing of the Road to the North and events that will determine the fate of Africans in south and central Africa. The book is a reminder that, in the author’s words, "past relations between South Africa’s different races were characterised as much by collusion and collaboration as they were by hostility, friction and dissent."

-Written in a style that is engaging and accessible to a wide range of readers, from students to practitioners -Each chapter includes reflection exercises, discussion questions and suggestions for further reading, and the case studies include examples taken from around the world -The new edition includes increased coverage of environmental accessibility, Covid-19, and intersectionality

1) This book presents a comprehensive account of the eminent Bengali writer and activist, the Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Mahasweta Devi's oeuvre in its full range and versatility. 2) It draws attention to Devi's role as a woman writer with a difference and her image outside Bengal. 3) This book will be of interest to departments of South Asian Literature and Cultural studies across UK.

The "Russian Idea" in International Relations identifies different approaches within Russian Civilizational tradition - Russia's nationally distinctive way of thinking - by situating them within IR literature and connecting them to practices of the country's international relations. Civilizational ideas in IR theory express states' cultural identification and stress religious traditions, social customs, and economic and political values. This book defines Russian civilizational ideas by two criteria: the values they stress and their global ambitions. The author identifies leading voices among those positioning Russia as an exceptional and globally significant system of values and traces their arguments across several centuries of the country's development. In addition, the author explains how and why Russian civilizational ideas rise, fall, and are replaced by alternative ideas. The book identifies three schools of Russian civilizational thinking about international relations - Slavophiles, Communists, and Eurasianists. Each school focuses on Russia's distinctive spiritual, social, and geographic roots, respectively. Each one is internally divided between those claiming Russia's exceptionalism, potentially resulting in regional autarchy or imperial expansion, and those advocating the Russian Idea as global in its appeal. Those favoring the latter perspective have stressed Russia's unique capacity for understanding different cultures and guarding the world against extremes of nationalism and hegemony in international relations. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Russian foreign policy, Russia-Western relations, IR theory, diplomatic studies, political science, and European history, including the history of ideas.

This book offers an anthropological account of Sri Lanka’s Eelam Wars III and IV. It is based on the life-narratives of ex-servicemen who fought on the frontlines. The volume approaches militarism as a practice of masculinity. It explores the sense of embattlement that young recruits feel, which stems from the inner war between notions of bodily deference instilled in childhood and having to conduct offensives on the battlefield. Thus though they wish to move smoothly into the assault techniques learnt in combat-training, they sometimes find their bodies are acting-out a different trajectory; engaging in acts of spectacular violence or simply running away. It traverses themes such as masculinity and Sinhala society, British martial masculinity vs the composed body in Sinhala discourse, combat-training and the battlefield. The author traces the ways in which troops tried to negotiate the thin line between valour and violence in a context in which the enemy’s suicide fighters engaged in the more extreme code of sacrificing-the-body, which derided the very manliness of soldiers who couldn’t prevail against them. She argues that the Sri Lankan experience has resonance for soldiers on battlefields everywhere, who become embattled when confronted by adversaries whose practice seems to diminish their own manliness. Rich in ethnographical narratives, this book will be interest scholars and researchers of war studies, gender studies, masculinity studies, peace and conflict studies, ethnic studies, political science, international relations, sociology, social anthropology, cultural studies, and South Asian studies, especially those concerned with Sri Lanka.

In managing national security, how Realist is India in terms of cultivating and using power and especially military power? A conventional view of India is that it has been uncomfortable with Realism or 'power politics' as a guide to policy. This volume shows that been more Realist than is generally recognized and that it has increasingly become comfortable with power in the service of its interests. The essays in this volume * Examine the different aspects and types of realism in India's national security policy * Include a range of perspectives from academics as well as former military officers and diplomats * Focus on India's military and foreign policy in dealing with China, Pakistan, the United States, Southeast Asia, and West Asia. This key volume will be indispensable to scholars and researchers of politics and international relations, defence and strategic studies, and South Asian studies and to government officials, journalists, and general readers interested in the external dimensions of India's national security

This volume brings together work by established and emerging scholars to consider the work and impact of Bhai Vir Singh. Bhai Vir Singh (1872-1957) was a major force in the shaping of modern Sikh and Punjabi culture, language, and politics in the undivided colonial Punjab, prior to the Partition of the province in 1947, and in the post-colonial state of India. The chapters in this book explore how he both reflected and shaped his time and context, and address some of the ongoing legacy of his work in the lives of contemporary Sikhs. The contributors analyze the varied genres, literary and historical, that were adopted and adapted by Bhai Vir Singh to foreground and enhance Sikh religiosity and identity. These include his novels, didactic pamphlets, journalistic writing, prefatory and exegetical work on spiritual and secular historical documents, and his poems and lyrics, among others. The book will be of particular interest to those working in Sikh studies, South Asian studies and post-colonial studies.

This book discusses the significance of social geography, a multi-dimensional concept encompassing social health, social security and social ethos. It presents the socio-spatial dynamics of the population in India through an understanding of the various issues related to migration, urbanisation, unemployment, poverty and public health. With a thorough analysis of various social indicators relating to health, education, income and employment, the volume presents a detailed picture of the social geography of India. It discusses in detail, The origin, nature and scope of social geography, its relations with other social sciences and applications The nature and importance of social well-being along with welfare geography and the role of welfare state in ensuring social well-being The population of India and its attributes The status and spatial patterns of various social indicators relating to health, education and income and employment The composite indices which aggregate several social indicators such as the Human Development Index, Multidimensionally Poverty Index, Global Hunger Index, Gross National Happiness, Sustainable Developmental Goals Index and Freedom Index in the context of India. This comprehensive book will be useful for students, researchers and teachers of social geography, human geography, population geography, demography and sociology. The book can also be used by students preparing for exams like civil services, UPSC, PSC and other competitive exams.

This book argues that mainstream economics cannot explain the underdevelopment and poverty of Nepal, neither can it be explained in terms of economics alone nor capital inadequacy even, as is conventionally believed. The author asserts that Nepal's underdevelopment needs to be located in the nature of the state which has been shaped by the collusion of interest among politicians and the resulting bureaucracy, triggering the growth of crony capitalism. The book presents a critical and radical analysis of factors that have kept Nepal in a state of underdevelopment and poverty, with huge section of the society in underprivileged and deprived socio-economic conditions, despite six decades of planning, seven decades of dependence on foreign aid, and numerous political regime changes, from the Rana regime for over a century from 1846-1950 through to the republic regime from 2007 onwards. To support this argument, the book delves into an exploration of growth performance in Nepal, government attempts at poverty alleviation, foreign aid and its effects in the economy and the nature of the state, with a focus on Maoists' 10-year rebellion. Each chapter presents the existing picture and examines the possible reasons for the failure in achieving the desired results. A comparative analysis of Nepal's position with respect to South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries is also presented in a number of chapters. The audience for the book will be students, academics and researchers, and within Nepal itself, intellectuals, politicians, and officials of the National Planning Commission, the central bank and other banks and financial institutions.

This book offers an anthropological account of Sri Lanka’s Eelam Wars III and IV. It is based on the life-narratives of ex-servicemen who fought on the frontlines. The volume approaches militarism as a practice of masculinity. It explores the sense of embattlement that young recruits feel, which stems from the inner war between notions of bodily deference instilled in childhood and having to conduct offensives on the battlefield. Thus though they wish to move smoothly into the assault techniques learnt in combat-training, they sometimes find their bodies are acting-out a different trajectory; engaging in acts of spectacular violence or simply running away. It traverses themes such as masculinity and Sinhala society, British martial masculinity vs the composed body in Sinhala discourse, combat-training and the battlefield. The author traces the ways in which troops tried to negotiate the thin line between valour and violence in a context in which the enemy’s suicide fighters engaged in the more extreme code of sacrificing-the-body, which derided the very manliness of soldiers who couldn’t prevail against them. She argues that the Sri Lankan experience has resonance for soldiers on battlefields everywhere, who become embattled when confronted by adversaries whose practice seems to diminish their own manliness. Rich in ethnographical narratives, this book will be interest scholars and researchers of war studies, gender studies, masculinity studies, peace and conflict studies, ethnic studies, political science, international relations, sociology, social anthropology, cultural studies, and South Asian studies, especially those concerned with Sri Lanka.

This book discusses the significance of social geography, a multi-dimensional concept encompassing social health, social security and social ethos. It presents the socio-spatial dynamics of the population in India through an understanding of the various issues related to migration, urbanisation, unemployment, poverty and public health. With a thorough analysis of various social indicators relating to health, education, income and employment, the volume presents a detailed picture of the social geography of India. It discusses in detail, The origin, nature and scope of social geography, its relations with other social sciences and applications The nature and importance of social well-being along with welfare geography and the role of welfare state in ensuring social well-being The population of India and its attributes The status and spatial patterns of various social indicators relating to health, education and income and employment The composite indices which aggregate several social indicators such as the Human Development Index, Multidimensionally Poverty Index, Global Hunger Index, Gross National Happiness, Sustainable Developmental Goals Index and Freedom Index in the context of India. This comprehensive book will be useful for students, researchers and teachers of social geography, human geography, population geography, demography and sociology. The book can also be used by students preparing for exams like civil services, UPSC, PSC and other competitive exams.

This book makes a systematic attempt to explore the environmental history of Darjeeling during the British colonial period (1835-1947), which profoundly transformed the environment of Darjeeling by intro­ducing commercial control over the natural resources. After the foundation of Darjeeling as the hill station for the low-income groups of British administration living in Bengal and Burma, the place was transformed into a social, recreational and commercial centre for the British authorities. The railway construction boom, introduction of tea plantation, the growth of a commercial market for timber and increasing demands for fuel and building materials depleted the forest cover. The less explored regions of Darjeeling attracted the adventure-thirsty Britons. A series of investigations were made on the marketable prod­ucts, the condition of roads, and quality of soil of these regions. The ethnographic, geological, botanical and zoological study of the Darjeeling was started by the colonial officials in the nineteenth century. In the early stage of expansion of colonialism in Asia, Africa, Australia and South America, the European colonizers faced numerous problems in dealing with the untouched nature. The accumulation of the knowledge of surrounding regions and proper management of the labour became essential for the colonial authority for transformation of the existing environment of the densely forested tropical colonies. Taylor and Francis does not sell or distribute the print editions of this book in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

This book examines political humor as a reaction to the lost war, the post-war chaos, and antisemitic violence in Hungary between 1918 and 1922. While there is an increased body of literature on Jewish humor as a form of resistance and a means of resilience during the Holocaust, only a handful of studies have addressed Jewish humor as a reaction to physical attacks and increased discrimination in Europe during and after the First World War. The majority of studies have approached the issue of Jewish humor from an anthropological, cultural, or linguistic perspective; they have been interested in the humor of lower- or lower-middle-class Jews in the East European shtetles before 1914. On the other hand, this study follows a historical and political approach to the same topic and focuses on the reaction of urban, middle-class, and culturally assimilated Jews to recent events: to the disintegration of the Dual Monarchy, the collapse of law and order, increased violence, the reversal of Jewish emancipation and the rise of new and more pernicious antisemitic prejudices. The study sees humor not only as a form of entertainment and jokes as literature and a product of popular culture, but also as a heuristic device to understand the world and make sense of recent changes, as well as a means to defend one’s social position, individual and group identity, strike back at the enemy, and last but not least, to gain the support and change the hearts and minds of non-Jews and neutral bystanders. Unlike previous scholarly works on Jewish resistance during the Holocaust, this study sees Budapest Jewish humor after WWI as a joint adventure: as a product of urban and Hungarian culture, in which Jewish not only played an important role but also cofounded. Finally, the book addressed the issue of continuity in Hungarian history, the "twisted road to Auschwitz": whether urban Jewish humor, as a form of escapism, helped to desensitize the future victims of the Holocaust to the approaching danger, or it continued to play the same defensive and positive role in the interwar period, as it had done in the immediate aftermath of the Great War.

Never before in human history have vegetarianism and a plant-based economy been so closely associated with sustainability and the promise of tackling climate change. Nowhere is this phenomenon more visible than in India, which is home to the largest number of vegetarians globally and where vegetarianism is intrinsic to Hinduism. India is often considered a global model for vegetarianism. However, in this book, which is the outcome of eight months of fieldwork conducted among vegetarian and non-vegetarian producers, traders, regulators and consumers, I show that the reality in India is quite different, with large sections of communities being meat-eaters. In 2011, vegetarian/veg/green and nonvegetarian/ non-veg/brown labels on all packaged foods/drinks were introduced in India. Paradoxically, this grand scheme was implemented at a time when meat and non-vegetarian food production, trade and consumption were booming. The overarching argument of the book is that a systematic study of the complex and changing relationship between vegetarian and non-vegetarian understandings and practices illuminates broader transformations and challenges that relate to markets, the state, religion, politics and identities in India and beyond. The book’s empirical focus is on the changing relationship between vegetarian/ non-vegetarian as understood, practised and contested in middle-class India, while remaining attentive to the vegetarian/non-vegetarian modernities that are at the forefront of global sustainability debates. Through the application of this approach, the book provides a novel theory of human values and markets in a global middle-class perspective.

ASEAN’s real gross domestic product (GDP) had declined sharply due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic downturn and the uncertainty about the future reduced the new investments in green projects drastically. Besides this, many governments rolled back environmental regulations and taxes and increased fossil-fuel intensive infrastructure and electricity to stimulate economic growth. Post-Pandemic Green Recovery in ASEAN consists of several empirical studies using fresh data, with regional and country-level perspectives on ways to keep the greenness of the economic recovery plans. The chapters look at various aspects and sectors, including tourism, infrastructure, energy, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), employment, and livelihood, by assessing the effectiveness of various tools and instruments, including green finance, carbon taxation, green Sukuk, credit guarantee, cash transfer payment, power purchase agreements, and the related policies. They also provide practical policy recommendations useful for the ASEAN member states and other developing regions for the green recovery in the post-pandemic. Reiterating the importance of green and low-carbon mechanisms and climate change tackling policies besides the usual economic recovery strategies, this book is a precious resource for the researchers of economics, finance, ASEAN and Asian studies, and policymakers.

At Home With Ivan Vladislavic is the first comprehensive analysis of the works of Ivan Vladislavic. Bringing a flaneur's "internal GPS" to postcolonial Johannesburg, Vladislavic established a critical sense of home via an intimate knowledge of geography and history. This sense of belonging can have positive ecological effects as we tend to protect what we know. The flaneur's deep word hoard also helped him to develop a minimalist style, which was not only a means of living sustainably in the city, but in its humour and close attention to detail a way to make greening the city more of a joy than a duty. In this way, Vladislavic created a culture of sustainability.

This Handbook showcases the rich varieties of legislatures that exist in Asia and explains how political power is constituted in seventeen jurisdictions in East, Southeast and South Asia. Legislatures in Asia come in all stripes. Liberal democracies co-exist cheek by jowl with autocracies; semi-democratic and competitive authoritarian systems abound. While all legislatures exist to make law and confer legitimacy on the political leadership, how representative they are of the people they govern differs dramatically across the continent, such that it is impossible to identify a common Asian prototype. Divided into thematic and country-by-country sections, this handbook is a one-stop reference that surveys the range of political systems operating in Asia. Each jurisdiction chapter examines the structure and composition of its legislature, the powers of the legislature, the legislative process, thereby providing a clear picture of how each legislature operates both in theory and in practice. The book also thematically analyses the following political systems operating in Asia: communist regimes, liberal democracies, dominant party democracies, turbulent democracies, presidential democracies, military regimes, and protean authoritarian rule. This handbook is a vital and comprehensive resource for scholars of constitutional law and politics in Asia.

This book critically discusses the vulnerabilities and local adaptation actions of the traditional marine fishers of the tsunami-hit coastal regions of South India to climate change and risks, with an emphasis on their local institutions. Thereby, it offers a comprehensive account of the ways in which marine fishers live and respond to climate change. The Coromandel coastal regions of South India are known for their rich sociocultural history and enormous marine resources, as well as their long history of vulnerability to climate change and disasters, including the 2004 tsunami. By drawing cases from the tsunami-hit fishing villages of this coast, this book demonstrates that indigenous knowledge systems, climate change perceptions, sociocultural norms, and governance systems of the fishers influence and contest the local adaptation responses to climate change. By foregrounding the real picture of vulnerability and adaptation actions of marine fishers in the face of climate change and disasters, this book also challenges the conventional understanding of local institutions and fishers' knowledge systems. Underlining that adaptation to climate change is a sociopolitical process, this book explores the potentials, limits, and complexities of local adaptation actions of marine fishers of this coast and offers novel insights and climate change lessons gleaned from the field to other coasts of India and around the world. This book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and policymakers in climate change, fisheries, environmental sociology, environmental anthropology, sustainable livelihoods, and natural resource management.

This volume explores the inherent pluralism of Hinduism through ethnographic and philosophical evidence as presented in the Journal of Anthropological Society of Bombay. The essays dated 1886–1936 represent a period that marked the emergence of a European-educated native intelligentsia with a rationalist outlook. The chapters cover a wide range of topics from Tree Worship in Mohenjo Daro, the origin of the Hindu Trimurti, interpretation of Avestic and Vedic Texts, to the second set of more localized chapters that cover the Muhammadan Castes of Bengal, the Tenets and Practices of a Certain Class of Faqirs in Bengal, the Theoretical History of the Goddess Yellamma, and much more. Written during a particular historical as well as intellectual period that reflected certain key patterns – a period just following the Bengal Renaissance of the nineteenth century that ushered in the ideologies of a reformative Hinduism – this volume highlights how religions of all denominations have influenced each other and appear to have mingled beliefs and practices from multiple sources. It shows how tolerance and inclusiveness along with syncretism have been part of India’s religious and social history. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of religions, history, anthropology, sociology, political science, and sociology of religion. It will also be useful to those interested in inter-religious dialogues and civil society.

This book looks at India of the 1950s and 60s while it was still emerging from two centuries of colonial rule and striving to come together as a nation. It critically explores the history of nationalism and identity in Northeastern India, a region with diverse ethnolinguistic communities and people, through the personal history of the first Manipuri (Meitei) direct recruit in the Indian Administrative Services. The book weaves in autobiographical stories with the story of Northeast India, capturing its politics, socio-cultural distinctiveness and milieus that set the region apart from the rest of the country. It covers the career of the author in the IAS, serving in Manipur and Karnataka, with the Union Government, and finally as Secretary for the northeastern region. Through these, the book tells the story of a changing society, of a developing nation and a people on the move. It shows how borders and barriers were collapsing and being formed at the same time and how the country was dealing with it. The book is a unique and significant addition to the literature on Manipur; it deepens our understanding of the northeastern states and the complex interactions of the people of the region with the rest of India. Part of the Transitions in Northeastern India series, this book will be of great interest to researchers and scholars of modern history, sociology, social anthropology and postcolonial studies, particularly those concerned with India and Northeast India.

This book argues that the world order is no longer unipolar, and the war in Ukraine proves this fact. As this study describes and theorizes, it has been transformed into a Multipolar World Order 2.0 stage. This title critically examines Chinese, US, Russian, EU, Indian, and a number of other powers’ cooperation and competition over security, diplomatic, economic and cyberspace issues. Accomplished scholars from various regions of the Eurasian continent consider the impact of the Russo–Ukrainian war, the Sino–Russian strategic partnership, China’s relations with the United States and the European Union, the influence of the Belt and Road Initiative, the expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Eurasian Economic Union, China’s policies in the Middle East, Central Asia, Indo-Asia Pacific, the South Caucasus, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as focus on details of growing contradictions and collaboration in the Eurasian continent over markets, technologies, digital leadership, vaccine distribution, and financial institutions in the Era of Multipolar World Order 2.0. Showing that the US-centred unipolar world order is replaced by Multipolar World Order 2.0 where conflicting powers fight to keep or extend their spheres of influence, this volume is of great interest to decision makers, diplomats, scholars and students of international relations, politics, global governance, Eurasian studies, Chinese studies, cybersecurity, and economics, and for those studying human security, international organizations, and geopolitics.