This book evaluates the promise of human progress and secularism in grand political narratives of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, comparing counter-narratives of South Asia within the context of a fast-changing twenty-first century. The book embraces a broad range of sources and theoretical approaches that include political philosophy, film, and ideological discourse analysis. In the twenty-first century, global inequality and significant growth of religious and majoritarian nationalisms have been appended with a protracted economic slowdown and recession in many countries. Examining what went wrong in terms of secularism and distributive justice in India, this book critiques the Euro-American visions of democracy, global capitalism, and their so-called universality. As an alternative, it proposes a progressive politics of radical democracy for the Indian people. Reconsidering alternatives to capitalism, western secularism and the radical possibilities of Islamism, Political Theory and South Asian Counter-Narratives will appeal to students and scholars of political theory, international relations, global history, and South Asian politics.

Traditionally, far-right terrorism has been the black swan of terrorism studies—receiving less attention than Jihadi extremism. In this book, William Allchorn takes a deep dive into multiple geographical locales and the online space of far-right movements, uncovering the crisis narratives that are animating violent far-right extremist milieus and presenting solutions on what we can do to stop them. Using eight country case studies and the results of an online pilot project, this is the first book-length presentation and discussion of counter techniques to far-right narratives—exploring their effectiveness, the ethics of such techniques, and their ability to disrupt pathways from radicalism towards violent extremism. Coming at a time of a renewed global wave of far-right violence, this book is of use to scholars as well as practitioners in the fields of far-right studies, terrorism studies, and strategic communications.

The book provides an extensive analysis of extremism, extremist narratives and counter-narratives and their role in consolidating exclusive religious, cultural and social identities in Pakistan. Focusing on the construction and institutionalization of extremist tendencies, the book studies the process of the adoption of the narrow interpretation of religion and society, which subsequently was equated with national identity. It looks at the efforts of counter-extremism narratives, which tend to focus on violent extremism while overlooking non-violent manifestations. The author highlights that the main issue with counter-narratives is the difficulty in presenting extremism and its narratives as a threat since they have been normalized with the state being part of facilitating and building them. A valuable and much-required contribution to the existing literature on extremism and narrative building in Pakistan, this book would help students, academics and policymakers in identifying the limitations of counter-narratives in Pakistan, while providing them with a detailed overview of extremism and extremist narratives. It will also be of interest to researchers studying Security Studies and Asian Politics, especially in the context of South Asia.

This book provides analysis of the legal status of territories of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir, considering potential opportunities for Kashmir conflict resolution. Containing a detailed survey of relevant legislation and international documents, chapters throughout this book investigate the attempts and failures of Kashmir conflict resolution, holding up factors which could enable more peaceful relations between India and Pakistan with inclusion of the inhabitants of the erstwhile Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir. The book goes further than outlining how India and Pakistan determine the legal status of their portions of Kashmir by demonstrating the complexity of legal arrangements and why this protracted conflict is so difficult to resolve. As the Kashmir conflict is not only about territory and irredentism, themes such as cultural and national identity, power procurement, territorial security, communal rivalry, religious radicalisation, economic factors, and social issues are all taken into consideration. Law and Conflict Resolution in Kashmir will appeal to students and scholars of peace and conflict studies, international relations, international law studies, and South Asian studies. Chapter 15 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

This book examines the complex political structures of Pakistan and India that determine both the Kashmir conflict and the geostrategic environment underpinning it. Providing comprehensive knowledge on both historical and contemporary dynamics of Indo-Pakistani policies and relations, this book combines a brief history of the Kashmir conflict with thorough politological analysis. Analyses range from strategic dynamics in the aftermath of bifurcation of Indian-administered Kashmir, to ideologically motivated and state-led narratives, security dilemmas, regional and geopolitical dynamics. The book ultimately aims to investigates which policies India and Pakistan develop vis-à-vis the territories of former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir (PSJ&K) in a balanced and impartial manner. While placing the subject against the backdrop of Pakistan’s and India’s domestic and international policies, this book emphasises why Kashmir is so important to both countries and how it is manifested in their policies. Kashmir in India and Pakistan policies will appeal to students and scholars of peace and conflict studies, international relations, political science, and South Asian studies. Chapter 9 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

The book is a comprehensive study on human rights in Kashmir in relation to the dynamics of Indo-Pakistani policies, providing a structured and interdisciplinary approach to the subject. Whilst surveying some of the most appalling case studies of human rights abuses, the book offers a methodical analysis of the structural and structured human rights violations in the divided Kashmir and placing them in a much broader context of South Asian politics. The book examines root causes responsible for a human rights violations-prone environment and climate of impunity in which the actors perpetrate their crimes unpunished, unwrapping legal and extralegal nexus behind the crimes. Human Rights Violations in Kashmir will appeal to students and scholars of peace and conflict studies, international relations, human rights studies and South Asian studies.

This book examines contemporary issues and debates of terrorism in Bangladesh, including national and transnational terrorist outfits operating within the country, their narratives and counternarratives, ideologues, women and the youth, media representation, counterterrorism laws, and challenges. Bangladesh is a fascinating and often paradoxical case study for terrorism studies. The book examines major terrorist groups in contemporary Bangladesh and their international connections and narratives, as well as a case study of an influential ideologue who encouraged some Bangladeshis to engage in violence. The chapters discuss how women and youth play a role in Bangladeshi terrorism, how the internet is used for recruiting terrorists, the discourses of the media and state regarding terrorism, as well as the politics of law and counterterrorism initiatives, including critically evaluating non-state actors and government responses. In addition to providing an up-to-date analysis of terrorism and counterterrorism in Bangladesh, this book offers a balanced and unbiased perspective on this subject. It will appeal to academics and international policymakers who are researching violence and extremism in South Asia.