Why Indians abroad succumb to ‘Modimania’

Honorary Professor Andrew Whitehead writes: “Of all the world leaders who have visited Britain, only Nelson Mandela and the Pope have addressed bigger public gatherings than Narendra Modi’s rally at Wembley,” boasts a spokeswoman for the UK Welcomes Modi organisation. It is billed as a grand community reception, and 60,000 Modi supporters – almost all …

A new political turn for Indian Kashmir

By Dr Andrew Whitehead The 79-year old Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was sworn-in on Sunday (1st March) as the new chief minister of the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. Attending the ceremony in the state’s winter capital of Jammu was India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. For his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it was …

The State of the Taiwan politics field

Written by Dr Jon Sullivan, Contemporary Chinese Studies, University of Nottingham. As a western academic working on Taiwan, the health of Taiwan studies is something that has concerned me for several years. As a PhD student attending the European Association of Taiwan Studies conference in Madrid in 2009, I listened to the eminent American Taiwan …

Who is at the helm of Japan, politicians or bureaucrats?

Japanese political culture and bureaucrats Yuichiro Shimizu, Visiting Professor at Harvard University, gave a talk to IAPS on the linkages between the bureaucracy and the political class in Japan, Japan adopted a parliamentary system not unlike the United Kingdom after being defeated in WWII. The majority of post-war prime ministers in Japan were formerly bureaucrats.  …

Law, citizenship and democratic state building in India between 1910-1960s

Political Divisions of the Indian Empire Law, citizenship and democratic state building in India between 1910-1960s A one day workshop on 10th April 2014 Organiser: Dr Stephen Legg, School of Geography, University of Nottingham  This one day workshop was organized due to a generous grant from the IAPS staff funding scheme. It built upon a …

Tri-campus workshop on Identity and Recognition

This event has now been postponed.  An update will be posted when more information is available.  A tri-campus workshop will be held at the University of Nottingham UK under the auspices of the Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies (IAPS) and the Centre for the Study of Political Ideologies (CSPI).  We are inviting paper proposals from …

Ethno federalism in Nepal?

Dr Mara Malagodi came to talk to the Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies (IAPS) on the 30th January 2014. Dr Malagodi was speaking on the topic of The Making of New Nepal? State Restructuring, Identity Politics and the Constitutional Impasse.  Her talk focused on explaining why waiting for federalism in Nepal was like ‘waiting …