The twenty-first century has been witnessing a global federal resurgence, distinguished by conversations focusing on interdependencies, multiculturalism, overlapping jurisdictions, multilateralism, multiple centres of policy-making and multiple notions of citizenship. Any assessment of cooperative federalism needs to go beyond institutional structures by incorporating images of diversity, pluralism, identity, issues of empowerment and democratization. Cooperative federalism facilitates cooperation among the national, state and local governments. It perceives the federation and the states as complementary parts of an arrangement where sovereignty is shared. 2024 selection and editorial matter, M.J. Vinod, Stefy V Joseph, Joseph Chacko Chennatuserry and Dimitris N. Chryssochoou; individual chapters, the contributors.
Introduction The most significant recent development, a break with the past, in the study of sexual cultures has to do with the term culture itself: that we think of sexuality (and sexualities) as having cultures. Historically, both in academic and popular thinking, the term sexuality most frequently elicited responses that have to do with biology. That is, whether as an area of study or as a set of ideas people have about their intimate lives, sexuality was too easily detached from the social contexts where it belongs and presented as something of itself. There is a strong tendency to view our sexual lives as dictated by their own peculiar rules that (a) are biologically derived, (b) have been historically stable (that is, the same since the dawn of time), (c) are essentially about our private lives, and (d) are basically the same across different cultures. Ironically, while, on the one hand, we think of sexuality as a world-untoitself - such that it is regarded as a very narrowly confined domain that has nothing to do with, say, politics and economics, we also simultaneously think of it as something of very general significance that is absolutely fundamental to our being. We tend to both downplay its meanings as well as inflate its significance. So, for example, if one is a bad cook, its a minor blemish, but being bad at sex is seen as a major crisis which requires intervention (through seeking the help of sexologists, for example). The sexuality-as-a-drive perspective which was, most famously, both problematized but also institutionalized by Sigmund Freud presents itself in the Indian context in peculiarly Indian ways. It was, for example, at the heart of many of the arguments that were made - and continue to be made - about the difference between Hindus and Muslims, those between tribal and ?ontribal populations, and between the middle-class and poorer populations. So, with respect to the last point, the rise of sexology and the family planning movements are directly linked to the early-twentieth-century perception of the different sexual drives that supposedly characterized the educated and the uneducated (Ahluwalia 2013; Srivastava 2007). Sexology was intended to cater to the more evolved sexual desires of the middle classes, whereas family planning was directed towards controlling the uncontrollable drives of the poor, one that threatened nation-building. Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla 2020.
World politics in the twenty-first century represents a complex arena characterised by a diversity of paradigms. These paradigms entail a dynamic interplay of conventional and newer ways of engagement. Today, the globalising world witnesses newer imaginations of space and interactions where state actors continue to enjoy a preeminent status, adopting policies based on imaginations of space in terms of connectivity and gateways while maintaining their territorial integrity. They devise a whole array of mechanisms to define, redefine and secure their interests as well as elevate their aspirations of assuming newer responsibilities and bigger roles. What we witness today is dynamic endeavours by the states to hold on to and amplify their traditional roles and carving out newer contours of forging and consolidating relationships in the global framework of international relations. This also leads to the construction of new geo-strategic and economic hotspots. This complex interplay of the traditional and the newer interactions creates both synergies and discord. The Indo-Pacific represents such a hotspot in contemporary world politics, and Indias engagement with Southeast Asia is a significant area of interest therein. 2024 Taylor & Francis.
