The demand of State autonomy has remained a highly contentious issue in Indian Politics right since the time when accession of Kashmir to the Indian federalism took place. This is a demand that often generate tension between Center and the State. It is felt that the autonomy for the State may actually come to mean autonomy for Kashmir region only. It may not flow to the regional and sub-regional levels. The autonomy that extends beyond the State needs a multi-layered package of autonomy that extends beyond the State to the regional or sub-regional levels. Autonomy is needed to inspire confidence to the people, to make the system more democratic, to ensure speedier and balanced development and to make the administration accountable to the people and thus more efficient and above all, to evolve a composite and harmonious personality of the State. None of these can be achiever in the present unitary system of the state and by centralization of power and administration. A more federalized and bottom-up approach is needed to solve the problem of the State. This book is an attempt to examine the relationship of Kashmir identity with the Indian Union, the regional identity of Jammu and Ladakh with the State. This book on the one hand is the description of the relationship between the Centre and the State and on the other hand is the description of relationship between the three regions, namely Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. My prescription is deeply federal and decentralizing in nature.

An all star cast of academic experts offer an important and timely analysis of the pursuit of autonomy. They argue that it is key to move beyond the primarily normative debate about the rights or wrongs of autonomous regions on the basis of cultural concerns, instead focusing on understanding what makes autonomy function successfully.

This book examines issues raised by feminist theory and contemporary political theory around questions of identity and autonomy. Drawing on Hegel, Wollstonecraft, Mill and de Beauvoir, it also features illustrative examples of real-world issues and dilemmas.

Jammu and Kashmir is a heterogeneous state with varied geographical regions and sub-regions, representing different climates, flora and fauna. People possess different ethnic backgrounds, profess different faiths, follow different cultural traditions and speak different languages. What is more significant is that people living in these regions are yet to attain a uniform level of economic development. The internal politics of the state, marked by intra- regional tensions, has influenced the attitude of the people on the question of their external affiliations. In each of the three regions of the state, Kashmir valley, Jammu and Ladakh, a different attitude on the issue of accession can be clearly noticed from the very day of the state's accession to India. A sort of local nationalism has developed in all the three regions of the state. People's alienation from the national identity has been constant problem in Kashmir since long. They tend to give more importance to ethno - religious and regional identities than to considerations of unified state and the nation. The present work provides a scholarly understanding of the nature of intra-regionalism and its framework for resolution. It also explores the way out for the larger issue of Kashmir problem while emphasizing the internal dynamics of Kashmir politics.

Focusing on autonomy in countries whose societies are marked by ethnic diversity, this work examines the effects of territorial solutions to the safeguarding of cultural identities. Contributors distinguish among types of autonomy and their impact on pluralism, democracy and unity of the state.

The end of the Cold War has changed the shape of organized violence in the world and the ways in which governments and others try to set its limits. Even the concept of international conflict is broadening to include ethnic conflicts and other kinds of violence within national borders that may affect international peace and security. What is not yet clear is whether or how these changes alter the way actors on the world scene should deal with conflict: Do the old methods still work? Are there new tools that could work better? How do old and new methods relate to each other? International Conflict Resolution After the Cold War critically examines evidence on the effectiveness of a dozen approaches to managing or resolving conflict in the world to develop insights for conflict resolution practitioners. It considers recent applications of familiar conflict management strategies, such as the use of threats of force, economic sanctions, and negotiation. It presents the first systematic assessments of the usefulness of some less familiar approaches to conflict resolution, including truth commissions, "engineered" electoral systems, autonomy arrangements, and regional organizations. It also opens up analysis of emerging issues, such as the dilemmas facing humanitarian organizations in complex emergencies. This book offers numerous practical insights and raises key questions for research on conflict resolution in a transforming world system.