Suchergebnisse

Geographers, especially those working in developing country contexts have often encountered improvisation because it plays a critical social and cultural role. Engaging with James Scott's (1998) conceptualisation of metis – contextual, practical and flexible skills and knowledge – and techne – universal technical knowledge – this paper furthers the geographical scholarship on the politics of improvisation. The paper makes three main contributions. First, using metis and techne, it provides a new conceptual repertoire for making sense of improvisation. The paper places improvisation at the nexus of metis and techne. Second, it pushes the understanding of the morality of improvisation by attending to the role of relationships of power in morally and materially legitimising improvisations. Third, although states and experts celebrate and actively engage with improvisation, this paper demonstrates that they also create limits and boundaries for improvisation. These limits demonstrate a contradiction in experts' actions. This paper is based on a nine months ethnographic research on two energy projects carried out in 2012-13 in five villages in Bihar, an eastern state of India. It used participant observations, home tours, interviews and group discussions.

This article tracks the radical turn in Bengali politics and culture and from the late 1960s, ushered in by the ultra-leftist Naxalbari Movement in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. The movement initiated a search for a Maoist revolutionary praxis that could decisively liberate the dominant Bengali cultural sphere from its moorings in colonial and semi-feudal bourgeois class interests. The counter-hegemonic cultural praxis of the Naxalbari Movement repeatedly evaded its confinement within the diktats of a hardened party line (of the Communist Party of India – Marxist Leninist, which led the movement) but remained rich with multifarious possibilities, openings and narratives. The transgressive vision of this movement led to iconoclastic acts of destroying statues of deified cultural figures, publicly burning canonical books and assaulting higher academic institutions as sites of the propagation of a repressive culture. This article foregrounds the Naxalbari cultural debates along two distinct axes – the received tradition of Bengali culture from the colonial era and the internal schisms among intellectuals and cultural workers sympathetic to the broader objectives of the revolutionary culture articulated through the Naxalbari movement.

GST Stands for Goods and Services Tax (GST). The GST Act was passed in the Lok Sabha on 29th March, 2017 and came into effect from 1st July, 2017. It was termed as One Nation One Tax. The major impact of introducing GST in India is the transformation in the fiscal structure of the Indian federal setup. The fiscal right of the states and centre to deal with goods and services independently will be taken away and both the Governments have to depend on each other's for managing the so called goods and services tax in future. This is a very hard blow to the freedom of participating governments in the federal system. The perceived benefits are –  GST would eliminate to a large extent, the multiplicity of administrative mechanisms and tax rates across different states.  It removes many of the cascading effects of indirect taxation.  Its positive impact on retail as a whole will make supply chain more cost effective.  It is expected to address most of the complex issues in taxation like software, intangibles, composite contracts etc. and brings more clarity in the levy.

GST Stands for Goods and Services Tax (GST). The GST Act was passed in the Lok Sabha on 29th March, 2017 and came into effect from 1st July, 2017. It was termed as One Nation One Tax. The major impact of introducing GST in India is the transformation in the fiscal structure of the Indian federal setup. The fiscal right of the states and centre to deal with goods and services independently will be taken away and both the Governments have to depend on each other's for managing the so called goods and services tax in future. This is a very hard blow to the freedom of participating governments in the federal system. The perceived benefits are –  GST would eliminate to a large extent, the multiplicity of administrative mechanisms and tax rates across different states.  It removes many of the cascading effects of indirect taxation.  Its positive impact on retail as a whole will make supply chain more cost effective.  It is expected to address most of the complex issues in taxation like software, intangibles, composite contracts etc. and brings more clarity in the levy.

This paper reviews the boundary concepts that have emerged in interdisciplinary irrigation studies in South Asia, particularly India. The focus is concepts that capture the hybridity of irrigation systems as complex systems, and cross the boundaries of the natural and social sciences. Concepts capturing the materialisation of rights, design-management relations and the social construction of technology, the notions of landesque capital and (the valuation of) ecosystem goods and services, and finally the broader issues of space-time relations and a cultural politics of water, are explored. The paper takes the analysis forward by suggesting starting points for more comprehensive interdisciplinary social theory on irrigation. On the side of formal theory a focus on a combination the emerging concept of hydrosocial cycle with structure-agency theorisation as morphogenesis is proposed; on the side of substantive theory three avenues for investigation of the materiality of the social process of irrigation are proposed in the commodity form, a materialist institutionalism and the embodiment of agency. The paper concludes by listing five further research activities.

In India, the hereditary nature of political functions is a tradition dating back to the beginning of the Republic. The princes who entered the electoral arena after 1947 were the first to observe a practice well in accordance with their ancestors' dynastical logic. These heirs were nevertheless dismissed from the political game when they demonstrated a lack of any political devotion to the state. Such a rule is perfectly well illustrated by the Scindia lineage who recently inaugurated its third generation of members of parliament. The Nehru/Gandhi family incarnates the resonance of the dynastical repertory in the Indian policy in a more continuous way. But then again, nothing is automatic in the perpetuation of generations in power, either because the heirs are rejected by the electorate or they do not wish pursue their ancestors' activity. All in all, Indian politics seems to reflect a logic of lineage rather than dynasty, even if the modes of succession at the head of certain regional political parties has apparently been challenging such a model in recent years. Adapted from the source document.

Examines the development of Asian national human rights commissions as a state response to demands to conform to human rights norms, comparing the long-standing commissions of the Philippines, Indonesia, & India. At issue is the tension between state sovereignty & human rights. Why governments have responded by forming these commissions is explored, arguing that they are a result of a desire to appease international actors. Government efforts to preserve sovereignty are seen as having failed to some extent as national human rights commissions are, in fact, playing a role in transforming sovereignty. The sovereignty-human rights debate is reviewed before asserting that the international actors alone are unable to explain cross-national variation in the creation & strengthening of national human rights commissions; domestic factors play a critical role in this. Focus turns to the independent impact of India's National Human Rights Commission on changes to sovereignty & the recasting of state-society relations by providing a critique of the state within the state in the areas of agenda setting, rule creation, accountability, & socialization. 1 Table, 53 References. J. Zendejas

Draws on research conducted in Aruloor, a large multicaste village in Tamilnadu, South India, to examine the phenomenon of possession. It is argued that possession clearly shows that there is a strong bias against women in the religious sphere of all casts, both Brahmin & non-Brahmin; further, the various manifestations of possession indicate that lower castes do not share upper-caste assumptions about ritual purity. The nature, function, & mechanisms of possession are described, noting that purity is a precondition that allows possessed men to be pierced by metal hooks, spikes, skewers, or needles without shedding any blood. Both Brahmin & lower-caste men must "become female" in order to be possessed by the deity, & it is contended that this symbolic appropriation of "femaleness" marginalizes women in the religious discourse of all castes. However, upper-caste men stress ritual purity & the exact performance of ritual, while lower-cast men emphasize devotion, rather than ritualism, as the way to make a man fit for the deity. The political & gendered implications of possession are discussed. 16 References. J. Lindroth

Discusses the ecological crisis in Changar (India), located in the foothills of the western Himalaya, as an example of the problems in the region. The crisis model, which assigns responsibility to the local populace, is also challenged, arguing that the depletion of resources does not stem from overpopulation but from an imbalance between under- & overuse. Historical development, resource use, & differentiation of the populace according to property, caste, age, migration, & gender are described, & it is found that ecological imbalance is linked to socioeconomic imbalance. This involution is driven by state interventions, lopsided market integration of subsistence farmers, migration of labor, etc, ultimately weakening linkages between the productive sectors & the natural environment. The result is high population growth, a shortage of household-level productive labor, & a remittances economy where basic household needs are not being met & structural innovation is paralyzed. This scenario is compared with the agricultural involution of 19th-century Java. It is concluded that the blockages imposed by this kind of economy prevent the population, especially the women, from improving their situation. 55 References. Adapted from the source document.

Examining the linkages between external security threats, economic underdevelopment & internal security as they have affected the northeast of India, the author argues that crossborder cooperation offers a way to break what he terms a 'conflict trap'.

The current global challenges around dairy farming - and more broadly agriculture - tend towards more sustainable production systems that contribute to the development of territories in which they are embedded. The thesis objectives were i) to capture the dynamics of agricultural systems and their diversity, with a focus on dairy farming; ii) to develop a framework for analysing the contribution of identified dairy farming systems to their territories sustainability; iii) to apply it to two contrasting situations: the territory of Vinukonda (VM), in the state of Andhra Pradesh in Southeast India and the territory of Reunion Island highlands (RI), a French overseas island located in the Indian Ocean. The analytical framework developed combines the agrarian system approach and a multi-criteria sustainability assessment. The agrarian system approach i) highlighted the agricultural and more particularly dairy dynamics of the two study territories, ii) allowed the identification and characterisation of current production systems, and iii) led to the definition of the two study territories current issues. The multi-criteria sustainability assessment was based on the agrarian system approach for the selection of relevant evaluation indicators and for the primary evaluation unit: the production system. This evaluation finally translated the sustainability issues previously identified into explicit and comparable scores. From it, it was possible to propose levers to improve the contribution of the studied dairy production systems to the sustainable development of the territory in which they are embedded. Hence, dairy farming will better contribute to the sustainable development of territories when: production conditions such as access to fodder resources will be secured for all producers, especially the poorest (VM); milk price levels will allow sufficient labour remuneration to cover household needs and to invest in capital which in turn will improve production conditions (VM, RI); milk price levels coupled with territorial development policies will enable dairy farmers to move towards alternative production systems that consume less inputs, create products with high added value and therefore wealth, and are directly linked to consumers (RI); women, who provide the majority of dairy farming workforce, will be able to manage – on an equal basis with men – the income derived from dairy production (VM). ; Les enjeux globaux actuels autour de l'élevage laitier – et plus largement l'agriculture – tendent vers des systèmes productifs plus durables et qui participent au développement des territoires où ils s'inscrivent. Les objectifs de cette thèse étaient i) de capturer les dynamiques des systèmes agricoles et leur diversité, avec un focus sur l'élevage laitier ; ii) de développer un cadre d'analyse de la contribution des systèmes d'élevage laitier identifiés à la durabilité des territoires dans lesquels ils s'inscrivent ; iii) de l'appliquer à deux situations contrastées : le territoire de Vinukonda (VM), dans l'état de l'Andhra Pradesh au sud-est de l'Inde et le territoire des Hauts de l'Île de la Réunion (RI), île française d'outremer située dans l'océan Indien. Le cadre d'analyse développé combine l'approche système agraire et une évaluation multicritère de la durabilité. L'approche système agraire i) a mis en lumière les dynamiques agricoles et plus particulièrement laitières des deux territoires d'étude, ii) a permis l'identification et la caractérisation des systèmes de production actuels, et iii) a amené à la définition des enjeux actuels des deux territoires d'étude. L'évaluation multicritère de la durabilité a été nourrie de l'approche système agraire pour la sélection d'indicateurs d'évaluation pertinents et pour l'unité d'évaluation primaire : le système de production. Cette évaluation a finalement traduit les enjeux de durabilité préalablement identifiés en scores explicites et comparables entre eux, à partir desquels il a été possible de proposer des leviers pour améliorer la contribution des systèmes de production laitiers étudiés au développement durable du territoire dans lequel ils s'inscrivent. Ainsi, l'élevage laitier contribuera plus au développement durable des territoires quand : les conditions de production telles que l'accès aux ressources fourragères seront sécurisées pour tous les producteurs, en particulier les plus démunis (VM) ; les niveaux de prix du lait permettront une rémunération du travail suffisante pour couvrir les besoins des ménages et pour investir dans du capital qui, en retour, permettra d'améliorer les conditions de production (VM, RI) ; les niveaux de prix du lait couplés à des politiques de développement territorial permettront aux producteurs laitiers de s'orienter vers des systèmes de production alternatifs, moins consommateurs d'intrants, créateurs de produits à haute valeur ajoutée et donc de richesse, et en lien direct avec les consommateurs (RI) ; les femmes, pourvoyeuses majoritaires de main d'œuvre dans l'élevage laitier, pourront gérer, à l'égal des hommes, les revenus tirés de cette production laitière (VM).