South Asia Speaker Series: Nitasha Kaul on Bhutan
Dr. Nitasha Kaul joins us for a talk on her upcoming article on Bhutan to be featured in the Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs, Vol. 9.
About the Author: Dr. Nitasha Kaul is a multidisciplinary academic, writer, and public intellectual. She is Associate Professor (Reader) in Politics and International Relations and Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD), University of Westminster, London. Her work, over the last two decades, has been on identity, democracy, political economy, technology, Hindu nationalism, rise of the global right, feminist and postcolonial critiques, Kashmir, and Bhutan. Twitter @NitashaKaul
About the Article: What would it mean to study great power politics in a world where the existence, agency, strategy, and the priorities of small states were acknowledged and taken seriously? To understand the workings of great power, and to be able to anticipate socio-political dynamics and their influence upon the classical tropes of territory, conflict, alliances, and so on, it is essential to be much greater attention to the disaggregations that comprise of sub-regional shifts, including in public discourse, material flows, and human movement. Referring to the small and sovereign Himalayan state of Bhutan, I invite you to think about what I have previously called “subalternising geopolitics”, a theoretical position that advocates critically examining the Asian big power narratives for their historical blind spots, ingrained paternalist tropes, and reflexive insecurities, in order to pay attention to the sub regional dynamics. This allows us to better assess and mitigate the potentially complex political impacts of various transborder challenges that include not just territorial conflict and border disputes, but also increasingly, their intertwining with public discourse, human movement, economic and climate vulnerabilities.
To request accommodations due to a disability, contact Annalise Burke at annalise.burke@georgetown.edu no later than 03/19/2023. A good-faith effort will be made to fulfill all requests made after this date.