Re-imagining Border Studies in South Asia

This book presents a radical rethinking of Border Studies. Framing the discipline beyond conventional topics of spatiality and territoriality, it presents a distinctly South Asian perspective ? a post-colonial and post-partition region where most borders were drawn with political motives, ignoring the socio-cultural realities of the region and economic necessities of the people.

The authors argue that while securing borders is an essential function of the state, in this interconnected world, crossing borders and border cooperation is also necessary. The book examines contemporaneous and topical themes like disputes of identity and nationhood, the impact of social media on Border Studies, trans-border cooperation, water-sharing between countries, and resolution of border problems in the age of liberalisation and globalisation. It also suggests ways of enhancing cross-border economic cooperation and connectivity, and reviews security issues from a new perspective.

Well supplemented with case studies, the book will serve as an indispensable text for scholars and researchers of Border Studies, military and strategic studies, international relations, geopolitics, and South Asian studies. It will also be of great interest to think tanks and government agencies, especially those dealing with foreign relations.

1. Introduction Section I: Theorising Borders: The South Asian Perspective 2. The Chinese Concept of Sovereignty and The India-China Border Dispute 3. The Dialectics of mental borders in South Asia: A literary perspective 4. Theorising Borders: An Islamic Alternative Section II: Borders: Regional Economy and Connectivity 5. India’s Quest for Connectivity with Central and Southeast Asia 6. Sri Lankan Maritime Dynamics: Feasibility of Indo-Sri Lanka Mutually Beneficial Collaboration at the Palk Strait 7. South Asian Trans-border Energy Connectivity and Co-operation: Problems and Prospects 8. The Economic Border: A Lens to Understand Cross Border Trade and Investment (Non)Cooperation in South Asia Section III: Borderlands 9. Paradox of Development: Emerging changes and contestations among Tawang Monpas in Arunachal Pradesh 10. Borderland People and the Rise of the State: A Case Study of Thar Desert 11. Many Lives of a Border: Mentalities, Subjectivities of the Nation-State at the India-Bangladesh Border Haats Section IV: Securitisation and Borders 12. Conflicts, Cooperation and Territoriality: Understanding Borders and Security at Regional Level 13. Heterogeneous Security Complex: A Framework for the Analysis of China-India Water Conflict and South Asia 14. Globalisation, Internet and Nation-States: Theoretical exploration of the new Borders of Globalisation

Dhananjay Tripathi is Senior Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations, South Asian University, New Delhi, India.