Rita Manchanda – författare

Going beyond the mere mapping of the minority situation in South Asia, the essays in this volume explore the modern minority problematique in a democracy as integral to modern state-making processes, recognizing Nation and State as majoritarian concepts. Focusing on the South Asian context, they emphasize minority as a political category. Further, they move away from isolated national frames and explore the minority question as a foreign policy question. These second generation studies by authors who have defined the scholarly discourse on minority rights in the region invite comparative analyses and point towards the necessity of addressing the minority question regionally. The book reveals the limits of the strategy of political liberalism in delivering equality and justice to minority groups. But it also points to a positive shift in the politics of some of the minority communities-a moving away from the politics of difference towards a politics centred on egalitarian claims, and common issues of democratic governance. Some essays examine specific trends of minorities′ rights in countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, while others take a more general account of the intellectual trends of minority constitution, the development of the minority discourse and the accommodation of social, political, economic and legal aspects of this section of the population. The book encompasses issues such as stereotyping of minorities, state induced politics of polarization, development of an economy of collusion and co-operation, institutions enabling greater inclusion, etc.The book will be extremely valuable to policy-makers, NGOs, human rights activists and students of political science, sociology and international relations.

The No Nonsense Guide to Minority Rights in South Asia is a practical primer on issues related to minority rights in South Asian countries. It delves into all major concepts and cutting edge theories that constitute the evolving minority rights discourse. The ‘minority’ in South Asia is typically characterized by ‘non-domination’ and powerlessness, two major markers apart from language, culture, religion and ethnicity. This book explores the process of this kind of ‘minoritization’ in the region, evaluating the weaknesses of constitutional and legal frameworks that contribute to it. In doing so, it examines in detail the State’s role in the socio-political recognition, protection and exclusion of minorities.By taking a rights-based approach, the book argues that nation-building in South Asia has been devoid of the commitment to expand the democracy and equality agenda and has instead been dominated by majoritarian and authoritarian policies. While elaborating on such politics of recognition and inequality, the author goes on to explore and analyze the ethnic composition of each South Asian country—India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. She also highlights the role of minority agencies in resisting injustice and exclusion, thus providing a comparative and holistic understanding of the minority discourse in the region.This book is an important reference resource for students and academics working in the areas of politics and international relations, especially on human rights, minority rights and state-building. It will also be a useful guide for activists.

This book discusses the experiences of women negotiating conflict and post-conflict situations to deliver transformative peace.Inspired by the vision and values of women of the South Asian Peace Network, this volume fills a critical gap in the global Women, Peace and Security (WPS) discourse. The chapters focus on the region’s multifaceted experiences and feminist expertise on women negotiating post-war/post-conflict situations structured around interlinked themes - women, participation and peacebuilding; militarization and violent peace; and justice, impunity, and accountability.This volume looks at the efforts of women trying to deliver a transformative peace that questions gendered power relations while confronting the socio-cultural barriers that prevent them from participating in rebuilding conflict-affected societies to bring about just peace.