Department of Political Science

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http://presiuniv.ndl.gov.in:4009/handle/123456789/2331

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Browsing Department of Political Science by Title

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    A Comparative study of Political Orientation of working women in select formal and informal sectors a case study of South Kolkata
    Basu, Pradip
    Political participation is a necessary ingredient of every political system for the successful working of democracy. Some empirical studies show that most people are not politically oriented and political participation is not a natural concomitant of citizenship. In this society, women are commonly constrained by the norms, beliefs, customs and values of the society creating separate codes of conduct for women and men (Kabeeer,2000). We have not been able to get rid of these characteristics even in this 21st century. The main purpose of the present study is to make a comparative analysis of political orientation of working women in select formal (teachers and bank employees) and informal(sector street vendors and domestic workers) sectors of South Kolkata. It aims to study her cognitive orientation (i.e. her knowledge about political parties, symbols, their stay in power and their judgements about political system), her socio-economic security ( i.e. her independent role in decision-making within the family in terms of investment , control over her income, taking major and minor decisions, nature of treatment meted out by family members or from the society at large, nature of such harassment if any and the kind of help received), affective orientation (her attachment towards the political system, issues and events, her interest in political and non-political forums) and evaluative orientation (her partisan preference and pattern of voting behaviour).Survey was carried by the researcher on 1000 working women from July 2016-July 2017 through structured questionnaire and informal interviews. Results:Women working in both the organised and the unorganised sectors play dual role looking after their children, elders in the family, husbands and also contribute to the family expenditure but they are bound to act as per the whims of their husbands or other male members of her family in decision-making. They consult their husbands, elder members of the family or the community before casting their vote and are not guided by individual preference or choice. Women do not yet exist as an effective political collectivity. Being treated as a deprived section, women are still denied from power indicating that they are relatively less entitled to make strategic choice.
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    Healthcare Policies in West Bengal (1991-2015): A Case-study of Women Care workers in select Formal and Informal Sectors
    Mahmood, Zaad
    This research has tried to explore how issues of healthcare have been addressed through policies by different regimes at the centre as well as at the sub-national level of West Bengal in India. Since healthcare is closely tied to a larger socio-economic and political system, it is a political problem, and healthcare policies are a component of a larger public policy agenda. The period chosen for the study is 1991 to 2015, which overlapped with post-liberalisation era. As a result, it would examine the changes brought about by the liberal reforms of the early 1990s in a state that had been influenced by welfarism since the time of independence. Any discussion on healthcare policies would be considerably limited if it does not include discussions on healthcare workers, as efficient execution of policies at the ground level heavily depends on them. Different categories of healthcare workers are involved on a daily basis, providing healthcare to different sets of people. Among them the two categories chosen for the present research are the categories of nurses and ayahs. Although medical care is important for saving lives, but the care provided by nurses is also important for healing and rehabilitation. Untrained, semi-skilled women or ayahs, forming the underbelly of care, working in the informal sector, operating in both public and private spaces are increasingly becoming crucial on the face of increasing demands for more personal care. Yet, the latter category of women is not addressed in policy documents. The nurses, performing crucial caring roles are barely involved in policy making processes. Thus, their experiences and conditions, which affect healthcare delivery at the grass root level, never get heard in the ivory towers where policies are framed. This research highlights the realities of theses careworkers, as without understanding them, a narrow analysis of policies would never complete the picture as to how healthcare is delivered.
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    Mapping the India USA Japan Strategic Convergence in the Indo Pacific
    Ghosh, Madhuchanda
    The study has focused on undertaking an in-depth analysis of the trilateral relationship between India, US and Japan that has evolved over the last decade in the backdrop of the shifting geopolitical landscape in the Indo-Pacific region. For this purpose, the study has examined the three states’ foreign policy approaches vis-à-vis the Indo-Pacific region with a focus on their trilateral framework of cooperation. The study investigates how these three democracies which share such core values as respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, respect for a rules-based order, international rules, and norms, have moved closer forging a trilateral relationship and what is the focus of their trilateral cooperation in the region. The study has sought to identify the possible pathways towards building a robust, comprehensive, and sustainable regime of cooperation between the three states. While the changes in their security policies are formed by balancing behavior towards China, the resurgence and collaboration of these three powers reveal an intricate and profound transformation of the regional order.
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    The Naxalite Movement (1967-1972): A Critique from the perspective of Postcolonial Theory
    Ghosh, Madhuchanda
    The Naxalite movement is an important part of the history of modern India in the post Independence era. There are many studies that have attempted to understand the movement from the Marxist or Nationalist theoretical perspectives. However, the Naxalite movement took place in postcolonial India as an aftermath of the semi-feudal and semi-colonial policies of the independent state. The postcolonial perspective and concepts can help in decoding the Naxalite ideology and analysing the Naxalite movement. The present work aims to address the following questions: How to appreciate the Naxalite Movement from the perspective of the Postcolonial theory? How to critique the Naxalite Movement from the perspective of the Postcolonial theory? This would be done by analysing the points of congruency and incongruency between the Naxalite Movement and the Postcolonial theory. The present study observed that there are great similarities between the Naxalite Movement and Postcolonial concepts of unequal power balance between the colonized/rural proletariat and the colonizer/State; resistance and opposition to Eurocentrism/Marxism and colonial modernity/ colonial education; emphasis on revolutionary violence and indigenous and cultural identity; mimicry; and hybridity. Also, the Naxalite movement is incongruent with the principles of the Postcolonial Theory like the Naxalites emphasized on classbased revolutionary violence, subscribed to the Western European principles prevalent in the Eurocentric and official mainstream Marxism, did not consider the specificities of the indigenous, cultural, local, socio-economic and political conditions of India, so the alternative project of radical transformation beyond the traditional and dominant Eurocentric Marxism could not be achieved. The hegemonic discourse of Eurocentric Marxism remained all-pervading, the epistemological power of colonial modernity remained dominant in the thoughts, writings and practices pertaining to the Naxalite movement, experiences of the communists of the People’s Republic of China were replicated, slogans like “China’s Path is our Path and China’s Chairman is our Chairman” were used which shows mimicry and dependence, swaraj in ideas was not achieved and lastly the Naxalites followed and depended on Sinocentrism.
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    Understanding Superpower-Regional Power Relations in the Post Cold War Scenario: A Case Study of the United States and India, 2000-2016
    Sinha, Satyabrat
    A superpower and the regional power is placed quite differently in the power hierarchy of international politics where by a superpower is motivated to retain its primacy and prevent the rise of new powers that may challenge its dominance and the regional power on the contrary is motivated to rise up the power hierarchy to achieve greater power status and influence. This inherent difference in their prime objective set them on a systematic conflictual course. The interdependent international order that emerged after the end of the cold war witnesses the United States as the superpower and India as an emerging regional power who despite their power asymmetry, difference in strategic objectives and preferred world order entail a global strategic partnership. This signifies that both the powers adopt certain engagement strategies to cooperate with each other while tidying over their differences. The study aims to understand super power regional power relations through the prism of engagement strategies to underline that application of suitable engagement strategies helps India and the U.S to cooperate and construct a commendable partnership despite the structural differences. What kind of engagement strategies are thereby adopted by a regional power and the superpower to cooperate with each other in an interdependent international system is the quest of the study. The work further highlights the growing agency of emerging regional powers which has led to widening of strategic understanding in the international order.