South Asia's Hotspots

South Asia's Hotspots
Author: Muthukumara Mani
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2018-07-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464811563

South Asia is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Most previous studies have focused on the projected impacts of sea-level rise or extreme weather - droughts, floods, heatwaves and storm surges. This study adds to that knowledge by identifying the impacts of long-term changes in the climate †“ rising temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns †“ on living standards. It does so by first building an understanding of the relationship between current climate conditions and living standards across South Asia. The study also identifies the set of climate models that are best suited for projecting long-term changes in climate across South Asia. This novel understanding of living standards and climate change is then combined to project impacts of long-term changes in climate on living standards in South Asia. The study finds that higher temperatures will reduce living standards for most of South Asia, with the severity impacts depending on future global greenhouse gas emissions. The study projects “hotspots†?, which are locations where long-term changes in climate will have negative impacts on living standards. Many hotspots are in locations that hitherto have not been identified as particularly vulnerable to climate change. Moreover, hotspots have distinguishing features that vary from country to country. This detailed assessment provides a mosaic of information that enriches our understanding of how climate change will impact people and which populations are most vulnerable. The report also provides guidance on the kinds of actions are most likely to reduce impacts of climate change in each country. The study is a major contribution to our understanding of how increasing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns interact with social and economic structures at a fine granular level across South Asia.

South Asian Governmentalities

South Asian Governmentalities
Author: Stephen Legg
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2018-10-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 1108428517

This volume studies the reception of the works of the acclaimed post-colonial philosopher Michel Foucault by South Asian scholars.

Fierce Enigmas

Fierce Enigmas
Author: Srinath Raghavan
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 490
Release: 2018-10-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1541698819

The two-hundred-year history of the United States' involvement in South Asia -- the key to understanding contemporary American policy in the region South Asia looms large in American foreign policy. Over the past two decades, we have spent billions of dollars and thousands of human lives in the region, to seemingly little effect. As Srinath Raghavan reveals in Fierce Enigmas, this should not surprise us. For 230 years, America's engagement with India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan has been characterized by short-term thinking and unintended consequences. Beginning with American traders in India in the eighteenth century, the region has become a locus for American efforts -- secular and religious -- to remake the world in its image. The definitive history of US involvement in South Asia, Fierce Enigmas is also a clarion call to fundamentally rethink our approach to the region.

Disability in South Asia

Disability in South Asia
Author: Anita Ghai
Publisher: SAGE Publications Pvt. Limited
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019-01-17
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9789352807079

Disability in South Asia: Knowledge & Experience presents a comprehensive approach to various aspects of disability in South Asia. A critical work on disability studies, this book explores the full complexity of disability in its multi-layered, interactional dynamics. The book imparts understanding of the social, political and cultural construction of disability as opposed to the traditional perception of disability in terms of medical condition, biological trait, rehabilitation and special education. It focuses on foregrounding disability across various areas including education, law and sociology, critically exploring the interaction of gender and disability, and challenging the separation between theory and practice as well as academia and activism. The book shows how the inclusion of a disability perspective enriches scholarship by contributing to the understanding of social marginalization, oppression and the perception of difference. It highlights the lived experiences of people with disabilities to help readers develop a nuanced comprehension of disability.

Political Violence in South Asia

Political Violence in South Asia
Author: Ali Riaz
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2018-09-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 135111820X

Political violence has remained an integral part of South Asian society for decades. The region has witnessed and continued to encounter violence for achieving political objectives from above and from below. Violence is perpetrated by the state, by non-state actors, and used by the citizens as a form of resistance. Ethnic insurgency, religion-inspired extremism, and ideology-driven hostility are examples of violent acts that have emerged as challenges to the states which have responded with violence in the form of civil war and through violations of human rights disregarding international norms. This book explores various dimensions of political violence in South Asia, namely in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Each chapter either speaks to an important aspect of the political violence or provides an overall picture of the nature and scope of political violence in the respective country. Political violence is understood in the larger sense of political, that is, above and beyond institutions, and also as an integral part of social relationships where social norms and the role of individual agency play seminal roles. The contributions in this book incorporate both institutional and non-institutional dimensions of political violence. Exploring how everyday life in South Asian states and societies is transformed by the engagement with violence through direct and indirect methods, this book adopts an interdisciplinary framework; diverse methods are employed – from ethnographic readings to more macro level analyses. The phenomenon is explored from historical, sociological, and political perspectives. This book will be useful as a supplementary text in courses on South Asian Studies in general and South Asian Politics in particular.

Unruly Waters

Unruly Waters
Author: Sunil Amrith
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2018-12-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 0465097731

From a MacArthur "Genius," a bold new perspective on the history of Asia, highlighting the long quest to tame its waters Asia's history has been shaped by her waters. In Unruly Waters, historian Sunil Amrith reimagines Asia's history through the stories of its rains, rivers, coasts, and seas -- and of the weather-watchers and engineers, mapmakers and farmers who have sought to control them. Looking out from India, he shows how dreams and fears of water shaped visions of political independence and economic development, provoked efforts to reshape nature through dams and pumps, and unleashed powerful tensions within and between nations. Today, Asian nations are racing to construct hundreds of dams in the Himalayas, with dire environmental impacts; hundreds of millions crowd into coastal cities threatened by cyclones and storm surges. In an age of climate change, Unruly Waters is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Asia's past and its future.

A Glass Half Full

A Glass Half Full
Author: Sanjay Kathuria
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2018-09-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464812950

Trade has played a critical role in global poverty reduction. In harnessing the potential of trade, some of the most successful countries have developed strong trade relationships with their neighbors. However, many South Asian countries have trade regimes that often offset the positive impact of geography and proximity. This report documents systematically the gaps between current and potential trade in South Asia and addresses important specific barriers that have held trade back. These barriers include tariffs and paratariffs, real and perceived nontariff barriers, connectivity costs, and the broader trust deficit. This policy-focused report unpacks these critical barriers to effective trade integration in South Asia through four in-depth studies that produce new, detailed, on-the-ground knowledge. Three of the studies are based on extensive stakeholder consultations. Two also rely on tailored surveys. The fourth study, on tariffs, benefits from new data on paratariffs. The report also marshals new evidence showing how trading regimes in South Asia discriminate against each other. Given the South Asian context, incremental, yet concrete steps aimed at tapping the potential of deeper integration are appropriate. The report has been drafted in this spirit. It offers precise, actionable policy recommendations that could help achieve measurable progress in key areas of trade and integration that would be to the advantage of all countries in the region.