Missing ‘Ethnographic Turn’ in Indian International Relations
| Author | Sudhir Kumar Suthar |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020881718759383 |
| Published date | 01 July 2016 |
| Date | 01 July 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Missing ‘Ethnographic
Turn’ in Indian
International Relations:
A Critical Analysis of
Post-Soviet Studies
Sudhir Kumar Suthar1
Abstract
This article provides a critical analysis of approaches of international relations (IR)
in India in general and studies of post-Soviet countries in particular. It is argued
here that methodologically the Indian IR has been dominated by the discourse
analysis. The critical questions of everyday forms of social life and its impact upon
transformation of state and institutions are at the margins of the disciplinary
analysis. This phenomenon can be related to an absence of the ‘ethnographic turn’
in the Indian IR scholarship. Even Soviet/Russian studies, despite history of very
strong India–Soviet/Russia bilateral relations, are quite narrow in their scope and
lack field-based ethnographic studies. This article further argues that promoting
usage of ethnographic method can be a useful methodological addition in making
IR study and research in India more broad, critical, relevant and grounded.
Keywords
International Relations, ethnography, post-Soviet Studies, Indian IR
Introduction
Russia/Soviet Union had great impact, not only on the Indian politics but also on the
society. Indian political leaders especially Jawaharlal Nehru, during and after the
British colonial rule, believed that the Soviet model of socio-economic development
can be an appropriate model for an underdeveloped society like India. It was this
belief, and not merely the geopolitical considerations, that led to fruitful cooperation
between both the states ranging from agriculture and rural development to science
Article
International Studies
53(3–4) 273–285
2018 Jawaharlal Nehru University
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0020881718759383
http://journals.sagepub.com/home/isq
1 Assistant Professor, Centre for Political Studies, JNU, New Delhi, India.
Corresponding author:
Sudhir Kumar Suthar, Assistant Professor, Centre for Political Studies, JNU, New Delhi 67, India.
E-mail: sudhir131@gmail.com
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