Pol Science
Pol Science
Pol Science
Learning Objectives
This course introduces students to the historical and conceptual foundations of the discipline of IR.
It discusses the evolution of the discipline in the aftermath of the Second World War with theories
being its main foundation and the lens through which it understood and explained the world. The
disputations and challenges to these theories led to the emergence of “debates” which are then
discussed and understood as the disciplines’ dominant ‘self-image’. This is followed by an
elaboration of the discipline’s major theoretical frameworks, each giving a different picture of the
world — realism/neorealism, liberalism/neoliberalism, Marxism/Neo-Marxism and feminism. The
course then examines major concepts–such as power, state and human rights. Students will also
learn about the global governance with a case study of climate change negotiations. Finally, the
course introduces scholarship from India within the wider context of Global South towards the
development of a more inclusive IR from a Non-Western perspective.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students will be able to:
• Understand the ways in which IR as a discipline evolved from a Eurocentric vantage
point to the emergence of a critical movement to shape a more inclusive, historical and
a global IR.
• Appreciate the ways in which scholarship from postcolonial countries such as India
contribute to understanding the world around us.
• Analyse key concepts and concerns of IR such as war and peace, state, sovereignty
and human rights to understand how these forces shape the world towards more
efficient global governance.
• Develop critical understandings of power hierarchies and unequal relationships
through the lens of feminism and Marxism.
• Understand the important aspects of Non-Western IR that can help students
investigate and shape the future course of the discipline.
• Develop a basic understanding of the Indian contributions to the discipline of
international relations.
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SYLLABUS OF MDSC-5A
UNIT – I (9 Hours)
Disciplinary history of International Relations
1.1. What is International Relations?
1.2. Debates: Idealism/Realism & Science/Classical Methods, Inter-paradigm
Debate
UNIT – IV (6 Hours)
IR Beyond Eurocentrism
4.1 Non-western Perspectives
4.2 Indian Contributions to International Relations
Essential/recommended readings
Unit 1. Disciplinary history of IR
1.1. What is IR?
Essential Readings
Grieco, Joseph, John Ikenberry and Michael Mastanduno, (2014) Introduction to International
Relations: Enduring Questions and Contemporary Perspectives, New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, Chapter one, pp. 2-30.
Devetak, Richard, Anthony Burke and Jim George, (2007), An introduction to International
Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Introduction, pp. 1-18.
Additional Readings
Mansbach, Richard W. and Kirsten L Taylor, 2008, Introduction to Global Politics, New York:
Routledge, Chapter two, pp. 1-32.
Reus-Smit, Christian, 2020, A Very short introduction to International Relations, Oxford
University Press, Chapter one, 7-27.
1.2. Debates: Idealism/Realism & Science/Classical Methods and Inter-paradigm
Debate
Essential Readings
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Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki, and Steve Smith, (eds.) (2013), International Relations Theories,
Discipline and Diversity, Oxford University Press: UK, 3rd edition. Chapter one. pp. 1-13.
Mansbach, Richard W. and Kirsten L Taylor, (2008), Introduction to Global Politics, New York:
Routledge, Chapter one. pp 9-24.
Waever, O., (1996). The rise and fall of the inter-paradigm debate. In S. Smith, K. Booth, & M.
Zalewski (Eds.), International theory: Positivism and beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. pp. 149-185.
Additional Readings
Weber, Cynthia, (2005), International Relations Theory: A Critical Introduction, London:
Routledge. Chapter one. pp. 1-12.
Mearsheimer, J. (2005), “E.H. Carr vs Idealism: The Battle Rages On”, International Relations,
19(2), pp. 139-153.
Mingst A. Karen and Jack L. Snyder (2017), Woodrow Wilson: The Fourteen Points, Essential
Readings in World politics, 6th edition, US: W.W. Norton and Company, pp. 32-34.
Unit 2: Theories of IR
2.1. Realpolitik/Realism/Neo-realism
Essential Readings
Nirmal Jindal, (2020). Kautilya’s Realpolitik ’in Nirmal Jindal, Kamal Kumar, (eds.)
International Relations: Theory and Practice, Sage Publications, India. Pp.151-170.
Baylis, John and Steve Smith (2001), “Realism”, The Globalisation of World Politics: An
Introduction to International Relations, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 141-161.
Additional Readings
Malviya, Ritambhara (2020), “Realism and neorealism”, in Nirmal Jindal, Kamal Kumar, (eds.)
International Relations: Theory and Practice, Sage Publications, India. pp.151-170., Chapter
4, 59-74.
Richard Ned Lebow, “Classical Realism,” and John J. Mearsheimer, “Structural Realism,” in
Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki, and Steve Smith, (eds.) (2013) International Relations Theories,
Discipline and Diversity. Oxford University Press: UK, 3rd edition, pp. 59-93.
Waltz, Kenneth, An Interview on a Theory of International Relations and the Role of structure,
Online at http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people3/Waltz/waltz-con0.html
2.2. Liberalism/Neo-liberalism
Essential Readings
Baylis, John and Steve Smith (2001), “Liberalism”, The Globalisation of World Politics: An
Introduction to International Relations, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 162-181.
Robert Jackson, Georg Sørensen (2019). ‘Liberalism ’in Introduction to International
Relations, Theories and Approaches, Oxford University Press: New York, Chapter 4, pp.107-
142.
Additional Readings
Jon C. W. Pavehouse and Joshua S. Goldstein, (2018). “Chapter 3-Liberal and Social
Theories,” in International Relations, 11th Edition, Pearson: New York, pp. 83-121.
Doyle, Michael W. (1986), “Liberalism and World Politics”, The American Political Science
Review, December, Vol. 80, no. 4, pp.1151-1169.
Keohane, Robert O. (2012), “Twenty Years of Institutional liberalism”, International Relations,
26:2, pp. 125-138.
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2.3. Marxism/Neo-Marxism
Essential Readings
Hobden Stephen and Richard Wyn Jones (2014), “Marxist theories of International Relations”,
in John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens (et.al), The Globalization of World Politics,
Sixth Edition, UK: Oxford, pp.116-129.
Wallerstein, I. (2000), “The Rise and Future Demise of World Capitalist System: Concepts for
Comparative Analysis”, in Michael Smith and Richard Little (eds), Perspectives on World
Politics, New York: Routledge, pp. 305-317.
Additional Readings
Mark Rupert, (2013). ‘Marxism ’in Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki, and Steve Smith, (eds.)
International Relations Theories, Discipline and Diversity. Oxford University Press: UK, 3rd
edition. pp.153-170.
Davenport, Andrew, “Marxism in IR: Condemned to a Realist Fate?”, European Journal of
International Relations, 19 (1), 2013:27-48.
Goldstein, J. and Pevehouse, J. (2007), International Relations, New York: Pearson Longman,
pp. 494-496; 500-503.
Wallerstein, Immanuel (1995) , “The Inter-State Structure of the Modern World System”, in:
Steve Smith, Ken Booth and Marysia Zalewski (eds.), International Theory: Positivism and
Beyond, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.87-107.
2.4. Feminism
Essential Readings
Ann Tickner, J., (2008). ‘Gender in World Politics’, in Baylis, J. and Smith, (et al.). The
Globalization of World Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 262-277.
Peterson, V. Spike, ed. Gendered States: Feminist (Re)Visions of International Relations
Theory. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1992. Chapter one. pp. 31-64.
Additional Readings
Seema Narain, (2014) “Gender in International Relations: Feminist Perspectives of J. Ann
Tickner” Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Vol 21 (2), pp. 179-197.
Steans, Jill (1998), Gender and International Relations: An Introduction, Cambridge, Blackwell
publishers, pp.10-39.
Young, G. (2004), “Feminist International Relations: A Contradiction in Terms? Or: Why
Women and Gender are Essential to Understanding the World ‘We ’Live,” International Affairs,
80 (1), pp.75-87.
Unit 3: Concepts & Issues
3.1. State and Sovereignty
Essential Readings
Navnita Chadha Behera, (2020). ‘State and Sovereignty, ’in Arlene B. Tickner and Karen
Smith, eds., International Relations from the Global South: Worlds of Difference, London:
Routledge: pp.139-160.
Reus-Smit, Christian, 2020, A Very short introduction to International Relations, Oxford
University Press, Chapter four, 87-112.
Additional Readings
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Lake, David A. (2008), “The State and International Relations”, in The Oxford Handbook of
International Relations, Christian Reus Smit and Duncan Snidal (ed), London: Oxford
University Press.
Biersteker, Thomas, J, (2002), ‘State, Sovereignty and Territory, ’Sage Handbook of
International Relations, London: Sage Publications. pp. 207-234.
Osiander, A. (2001), “Sovereignty, International Relations, and the Westphalian Myth”,
International Organization, [online] 55(2), pp.251-287. Available at:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-organization/article/sovereignty-
international-relations-and-the-westphalian
3.2. War and Peace
Essential Readings
Joseph Grieco, G. John Ikenberry and Michael Mastanduno, (2015), Chapter 5 on “War and
its Causes” and, Chapter 6 “Pathways to Interstate Peace,” in Introduction to International
Relations: Enduring Questions and Contemporary Perspectives, London: Palgrave 2015, pp.
137-204.
Additional Readings
Gray, Colin S. (2012), War, Peace and International Relations: An Introduction to Strategic
History, London: Routledge, pp. 245-261, 279-306.
Robert Ayson, “The Changing Nature of Warfare,” in Devetak, Richard, Anthony Burke and
Jim George, (2007), An introduction to International Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, pp. 199-216.
Gurr, Ted and Barbara Hartff, (2018), Ethnic Conflict in World Politics: Dilemmas in World
Politics, Chapter one. 24-55.
3.3. Human Rights
Essential Readings
Brown, Chris, “Human Rights,” in Baylis, John and Steve Smith (2008), The Globalisation of
World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations, 4th Edition, New York: Oxford
University Press, pp. 506-521.
Baxi, Upendra (2002), “An Age of Human rights?” in Baxi, Upendra, The Future of Human
Rights, Oxford University Press, Delhi, pp. 1-32
Additional Readings
Clapham, Andrew, (2015), A very short introduction to human rights, New Delhi: OUP. Chapter
two and three - (The historical development of international human rights, Human rights
foreign policy and the role of the United Nations pp. 22-80.
Anthony J. Langlois, “Human Rights,” in Devetak, Richard, Anthony Burke and Jim George,
(2007), An introduction to International Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
pp.440-449.
3.4. Global governance and climate change negotiations
Essential Readings
Weiss, Thomas G, (2013) “What is global governance” in Global Governance: Why? What?
Whither?, New York: Polity, 90-127
Agarwal, Anil and Sunita Narain (1991), Global Warming and Unequal World: A Case of
Environmental Colonialism, Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi, pp. 81-91.
Additional Readings
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Heywood, Andrew, (2011) “Global Governance and the Bretton Woods System,” in Global
Politics, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 461-484.
Sengupta, S. (2012), “International Climate Negotiations and India’s Role”, in N.K. Dubash
(ed.), Handbook of Climate Change and India: Development, Politics and Governance, New
Delhi, Routledge.
Andonova, L. B., Betsill, M. M., & Bulkeley, H. (2009), “Transnational climate governance”,
Global Environmental Politics, 9 (2), 52-73.
Unit 4: IR Beyond Eurocentrism
4.1. Non-Western Perspectives
Essential Readings
Blaney, David L. and Inayatullah, Naeem (2009), “International Relations from Below” in
Christian Reus Smit and Duncan Snidal, (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of International
Relations, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 663-674.
Amitav Acharya and Barry Buzan, “Why is there no non-Western international relations
theory? An introduction”, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 7:3, September 2007, pp-
287–312.
Additional Readings
Bilgin, Pinar. “Thinking Past Western IR,” Third World Quarterly, 29, no. 1 (2007): 5–23.
Capan, Z. (2016), “Decolonising International Relations?” Third World Quarterly, [online]
38(1), pp.1-15. Available at:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01436597.2016.1245100 [Accessed 10 Nov.
2018].
4.2. Indian Contributions to IR
Essential Reading(s)
Behera, N. C. (2013) “Introduction,” in India Engages the World. (Political science: 4.) New
Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 1-55.
Additional Reading(s)
Kanti Bajpai and Siddharth Mallavarapu, (2019) (eds.), “Introduction,” in India, the West and
International Order, New Delhi: Orient Black Swan, pp. 1-52.
A.K. Ramakrishnan, “The Gaze of Orientalism: Reflections on Linking Postcolonialism and
International Relations,” in Kanti Bajpai and Siddharth Mallavarapu, (eds.), International
Relations in India: Bringing Theory Back Home, New Delhi: Orient Longman, pp. 223-274.
Reference Literature:
Kumar, Mahendra (2017). Theoretical Aspects of International Politics. New Delhi, Shiva lal
Agarwal Publication.
Held, D., Mc Grew, A. et al. (eds) (1999) Global Transformation Reader: Politics, Economics
and Culture, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Wenger, A. and Zimmermann, D. (eds.) (2003) International Relations: From the Cold World
War to the Globalized World. London: Lynne Rienner.
Smith, M., Little, R. and Shackleton, M. (eds.) (1981) Perspectives on World Politics. London:
Croom Helm.
Art, R. J. and Jervis, R. (eds.) (1999) International Political Enduring: Concepts and
Contemporary Issues. 5th Edition. New York: Longman, pp. 7‐14; 29‐49; 119‐126.
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Note: Examination scheme and mode shall be as prescribed by the
Examination Branch, University of Delhi, from time to time.
Learning Objectives
The objective of this course is to study important themes through individual thinkers. The course
has been designed to give students a glimpse of the richness and diversity within Indian political
thought. The thinkers have been consciously selected to represent a wide spectrum of ideologies
and vantage points within the modern Indian thought tradition. Selected extracts from original texts
are also included to be discussed in the class. This will help students to have experience in
understanding how these thinkers build up their arguments and develop their views on the
respective themes.
Learning outcomes
After reading this course, the students will be able to:
• Develop critical understanding about modern Indian thought.
• Thematically explore ideas in order to locate the topical debates on important subjects
on a historical trajectory
• Reflect over the diverse possibilities exhibited in the writings of the respective thinkers.
• Think about issues and debates in contemporary India from multiple vantage points
including its historical significance in the Indian tradition.
• Develop toleration and respect for diverse opinion and at the same time, to admire and
appreciate the plurality within the modern Indian intellectual tradition.
SYLLABUS OF MDSC-5B
UNIT – I (4 Hours)
Understanding Modern Indian Political Thought
UNIT – II (8 Hours)
Nation and Nationalism
Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and Gandhi
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State and Democracy
Jawaharlal Nehru, Deendayal Upadhyay, Ram Manohar Lohia, and Bhimrao
Ramji Ambedkar
UNIT – IV (8 Hours)
Rights
Rammohan Roy, Tarabai Shinde
UNIT – V (8 Hours)
Swaraj
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
UNIT – VI (7 Hours)
Hindutva and Hinduism
Savarkar
Essential/recommended readings
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Mukherjee, S. (2014), ‘The Social Implications of the Political Thought of Raja Rammohun
Roy’, Sydney Studies in Society and Culture, pp. 11-40.
O’ Hanlon, Rosalind (2002) A comparison between women and men: Tarabai Shinde and the
critique of Gender Relations in Colonial India Oxford University Press: New Delhi - Introduction
5. Swaraj
Parel, A. (ed.) (2002), ‘Introduction’, in Gandhi, freedom and Self Rule, Delhi: Vistaar
Publication.
Inamdar, N.R. (1986), “The Political Ideas of Lokmanya Tilak” in Thomas Pantham and
Kenneth Deutsch (ed.) Political thought in modern India, New Delhi: Sage pp. 110-121
Singh, S. P. (2017), ‘Tilak’s Nationalism and Swaraj’, in M. P. Singh and Himanshu Roy (ed.),
Indian Political Thought: Themes and Thinkers (Delhi: Pearson), pp. 194-205.
6. Hindutva and Hinduism: Savarkar
Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar. Essentials of Hindutva, 1922-23, available at:
http://savarkar.org/en/encyc/2017/5/23/2_12_12_04_essentials_of_hindutva.v001.pdf_1.pdf
Sampath, Vikram (2021) Savarkar: A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966, Penguin Random House
India: Gurugram
Additional Readings:
Mahopatra, Silika and Singh, Akash (2012), ‘What is Indian Political Thought’, in Self (ed.),
Indian Political Thought (New York: Routledge).
Parekh, Bhikhu (2012), ‘The Poverty of Indian Political Theory’, in Akash Singh and Silika
Mahopatra(ed.), Indian Political Thought (New York: Routledge), pp. 220-235.
Vivekananda, ‘The Nature of British Rule in India- II’, in Amiya P. Sen (ed.), The Indispensable
Vivekananda: An Anthology for Our Times (New Delhi: Permanent Black), pp. 63-69.
Tagore, R (2018) ‘Nationalism in India’, in Nationalism (New Delhi: Macmillan), pp. 97-130.
Madani, M. (2005), Composite Nationalism and Islam (New Delhi: Manohar), pp. 66-91.
Gokhale, B. G. (1964), ‘Swami Vivekananda and Indian Nationalism’, Journal of Bible and
Religion, vol. 32 (1), pp. 35-42.
Bhattacharya, S. (2016), ‘Antinomies of Nationalism and Rabindranath Tagore’, Economic and
Political Weekly, Vol. 51 (6).
Nandy, A. (1994), ‘Rabindranath Tagore & Politics of Self’, in Illegitimacy of Nationalism (Delhi:
Oxford University Press), pp. 1-50.
Nehru, J. (1991) ‘Selected Works’, in S. Hay (ed.), Sources of Indian Tradition, Vol. 2, Second
Edition (New Delhi: Penguin), pp. 317-319.
Kothari, Rajni (1964), ‘The Meaning of Jawaharlal Nehru’, The Economic Weekly, pp. 1203-
1207.
Jaffrelot C. and Kumar, N. (2018). Dr. Ambedkar and Democracy: An Anthology (Delhi: Oxford
University Press).
Mukherjee, A. P. (2009), ‘B. R. Ambedkar, John Dewey and the meaning of Democracy’, New
Literary History, vol. 40(2), pp. 345-370
Kumar, A. (2010), ‘Understanding Lohia’s Political Sociology: Intersectionality of Caste, Class,
Gender and Language Issue’, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. XLV (40), pp.64-70.
Roy, Rammohun (1902), ‘Petitions against the Press Regulation to the Supreme Court, and
to the Ring in Council, in J. C. Ghose (ed.), The English Works of Raja Ram Mohan Roy
(Calcutta: S. K. Lahiri), pp. 278-321.
Lele, Jayant (1998) Gender Consciousness in Mid-Nineteenth- Century Maharashtra in Anne
Feldhaus Images of women in Maharashtrian Society. The University of New York press: New
York
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Bayly, C. A. (2010), Ram Mohan and the Advent of Constitutional Liberalism in India; 1800 to
1830 in S. Kapila (ed.) An Intellectual History for India, New Delhi: Cambridge University
Press: pp-18-34
Pantham, T. (1986) The socio-religious thought of Ram Mohan Roy in Thomas Pantham and
Kenneth Deutsch (ed.) Political thought in modern India, New Delhi: Sage, pp-32-52
Chakravarti, U. (2007) Pandita Ramabai - A Life and a Time, New Delhi: Critical Quest, pp.1-
40.
Omvedt, G. (2008) ‘Ramabai: Women in the Kingdom of God’, in Seeking Begumpura: The
Social Vision of Anti Caste Intellectuals, New Delhi: Navayana. pp. 205-224.
Tilak, B. G. (1922) ‘Karma yoga and Swaraj’ and ‘Swarajya speech at Godhra’, in Bal
Gangadhar Tilak: His Writings and Speeches (Madras: Ganesh & Co.), pp. 245-248; 292-298.
Gandhi, M. K. (2006), Hind Swaraj (Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House).
Mukherjee, R. (2009), ‘Gandhi’s Swaraj’, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 44(50): 34-39.
Kapila, Shruti (2010), ‘Self, Spencer and Swaraj: Nationalist Thought And Critiques Of
Liberalism, 1890–1920’, in self (ed.) An Intellectual History for India (New Delhi: Cambridge
University Press), pp. 109-127
Piney, Christopher (2011), ‘The Tiger’s Nature, but Not the Tiger: Bal Gangadhar Tilak as
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s Counter-Guru’, Public Culture 23(2), pp. 395-416.
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