Annual International Studies Convention 2014 at JNU, Delhi
Date : December 21-23, 2014
Annual International Studies Convention 2014 is being organised by the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), in partnership with various universities from 21st to 23rd December 2014 at Convention Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
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Concept Note : Power, Resistance and Justice in the International System: Perspectives from the South
The international system is conventionally understood in terms of underlying material and normative structures that reflect the distribution of power, institutions and value systems. But international politics has never been short of resistance to these material and normative structures. The multiplicity of resistance and struggle since the advent of such systems, in many ways, is a response to the prevailing injustice and inequities in the international system. These are attempts to alter the imbalance of power that exists in the system.
Traditionally, inter-state relations and ‘hard power’ were the exclusive focus in International Relations; today notions such as ‘soft power’ and ‘smart power’ have been introduced by theorists to describe the wide variations in the forms in which power manifests itself. Also, the study of power is no longer restricted to states but covers a wide range of actors such as trans-national corporations, non-governmental organizations, inter-governmental organizations, networks, and peoples’ movements. Further, the concept is studied in IR not as military power alone but also as power in the economic, social, cultural, technological, information and digital realms. For instance, it is acknowledged that the asymmetry of information impacts the power relationships between actors. Most recognized binaries in IR – ‘North’ & ‘South’, ‘rule-makers’ and ‘rule-takers’, ‘donors’ and ‘receivers’, ‘governmental’ and ‘non-governmental’ – are characterized by power differentials.
In the century gone by, global transformations have engendered contestation in multiple forms and at multiple levels while at the same time, contestations have affected, if not defined, the future course of transformation of the international system. This cycle of transformation and contestation in the realm of international relations is driven by the following key questions: Where does the ability to bring about transformation reside? (power); in what forms does contestation to transformation manifest itself and to what effect? (resistance) and what should be the nature of the transformations that ought to take place in the international system? (justice).
* This information is sent by Thounaojam Somokanta (PhD Research Student , CSSTIP , School of Social Sciences, Central University of Gujarat ) who can be contacted at somocug(at)gmail(dot)com
This Post is webcasted on October 06 2014
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