Description
The ‘Big Bangs of IR’ debate has urged for a rereading of international relations while at the same time emphasizing multiple and plural perspectives towards the development of the discipline. Yet, a focus on developing a plural perspective often neglects other ‘smaller’ histories and voices of minorities. In the context of a multicultural society like India, the demand for public space and voice by minorities is being strongly resisted by majoritarian politics and right-wing revivalist groups that have ‘captured’ such processes, politics, and norm-setting. As a consequence, this politics of exclusion and othering has recreated new structures of oppression and violence. This paper raises the concern of ensuring we consider multicultural diversity in developing plural histories. The paper therefore seeks to tie the local with the international by paying closer attention to how multicultural theories that stress recognition and representation may hope to pave the way for a more representative understanding of IR.
