India and Pakistan

Are India and Pakistan rivals or enemies? Despite a voluminous output of political and, in particular, historical accounts of this extraordinary and unique relationship in international politics, there has been little attempt to theorize the culture of violence between these two states. As a consequence, the study of India-Pakistan relations suffers from what the author labels historical reiteration - that is, the dispute is historicized in a way that reproduces the preconceived division of 1947. Duncan McLeod moves the debate away from historical reiteration to instead theorize on the levels, nature and culture of violence between India and Pakistan since partition and independence in 1947. He examines the politicization of culture, cultures of rivalry and conflict, enmity and unlimited conflict. The volume will appeal to students and scholars in the fields of political theory, Asian politics and political sociology.

Duncan McLeod is a visiting lecturer at the University of Bristol, UK and an analyst at Africa India Development Associates.