The fine line between positivity and toxic positivity

John J. Mearsheimer’s The Great Delusion argues that while liberalism may succeed domestically, its global export causes conflicts and strategic failures. The realist critique of liberal hegemony is appreciated through this review but gaps such as oversimplification of the liberal theory is questioned analytically along with light on its limited emphasis on cooperation and institutional frameworks. Furthermore, the book needs to be read with caution because of its selective empirical...

Far from being a simple concern with hygiene, the disgust surrounding fallen hair reveals a broader disciplinary impulse to erase the material traces of women's bodies, thereby sustaining the illusion of domestic purity and feminine respectability. Credits: Kunlathida Petchuen Introduction: Your Hair is Everywhere What is a single strand of hair? Something almost microscopic, something that can only be visible if someone carefully notices it. How does a trivial thing like this provoke...

The Great Nicobar Project shows how easily indigenous consent can be reduced to paperwork. This piece argues that for the Shompen, who live in voluntary isolation and the Nicobarese, whose consent was withdrawn, development without genuine consent becomes a question of survival. Credits: Screenshot Introduction On 6 May 2026, the Calcutta High Court heard a petition challenging the consent obtained for the Great Nicobar Island Project (‘GNI Project’). The case has renewed attention to how...

Has easy access to entertainment desensitised us to the issues that plague the nation? Does unholy exposure to reels diminish true, meaningful resistance? Like a diptych painting, this piece explores modern-day escapism through the Breads and Circuses theory, speaking about the IPL, our collective screentime, the ethnic clashes in Manipur and protests over the Ken Betwa Link Project. Credits: Divya Ahriwat Introduction On a humid April night, the IPL is at its entertaining best, with Abhishek...

This article highlights the atrocities against women of the most marginalised population in contemporary India, i.e. the Dalit women. It explores how the sexualities of Dalit women are exploited, and their bodies are utilised as sexual tools to systemically subjugate and violate them by men of the dominant caste. Credits: Jugal Sarkar Introduction The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, is an act to prevent the commission of offences of atrocities...

Compensatory afforestation seeks to offset environmental loss, but often harms ecosystems by replacing diverse forests with monocultures and displacing indigenous communities. The article argues that current regulatory frameworks favour development at the expense of local rights, advocating for the recognition of traditional indigenous knowledge to foster true environmental justice. Credits: Landin.pk Introduction “The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a...

The article analyses the evolving dynamics between Afghanistan, Pakistan and India following the Taliban takeover in 2021. Growing Afghanistan-Pakistan hostilities, coupled with deepening Afghanistan-India engagement, have significantly altered the regional landscape. This transformation demands a strategic recalibration from all three countries. Credits: Ahemdabad Mirror Introduction The return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 marked a major turning point in South Asian...

credits: wikipedia This essay tries to analyse the importance of women in the Mughal Harem along with their diverse socio-political and socio-cultural pursuits and contributions. The essay tries to analyse and verify whether this space of women meticulously integrated both their personal and political dimensions in the Mughal society. Abstract Early colonial and orientalist perspectives reduced the Mughal harem to a space of sexual excess, domestic confinement, and female passivity. Such...

credits: researchgate(reche wommen in everyday activities) The historical silencing of the subalterns has structurally been produced through colonial extraction and postcolonial repression. Drawing on Spivak, Althusser and Butler; the paper argues how the subaltern expression persists but is systematically forced into becoming illegible within dominant structures of power. This study has been further analysed through the Bodies of Munoo (from Coolie by Mulk Raj Anand) and Dopdi Mejhen (from...

People from the LGBTQ+ community take part in a rally over Transgender (Amendment) Bill in Kolkata on Sunday. (Photo: PTI) ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.’ Introduction India– a nation whose very premise is built on the values of belonging, multiculturalism and community– now faces a lingering shadow where the colonial sun threatens to rise again. The Transgender Persons...

While the Constitution guarantees
secularism and ensures freedom of religion, environmental degradation is often justified under the guise of religious practices. This creates a tension between two important
constitutional values: the right to freedom of religion and the right to a healthy environment.

The article discusses how a healthy lifestyle is on the verge of becoming a luxury in India and how companies are selling health-hazardous products simply to locals. Where the constitution talks about clean water and healthy environment being a basic need, its own body FSSAI doesn't question the agents used in packaged foods which are banned in most of the countries.

The paper contends that climate change functions as a structural force within the Indo-Pacific security complex, reshaping threat perceptions, maritime strategy, and alliance behaviour. Climate stress catalyses securitisation, drives eco-geostrategic cooperation, and transforms regional institutions and partnerships amid intensifying geopolitical competition.

Abstract This commentary examines the institutionalised precarity of environmental migrants in the Yamuna Khadar, where the seasonal cycle of flooding (Baadh) is compounded by the hostile interventions of the state. Drawing on field observations from Chilla Khadar and Geeta Colony, the analysis argues that the residents' crisis is defined by a double-edged governance model. While the state provides minimal resources through legal documents and subsidized rations, it simultaneously acts as an...

The paper contends that climate change functions as a structural force within the Indo-Pacific security complex, reshaping threat perceptions, maritime strategy, and alliance behaviour. Climate stress catalyses securitisation, drives eco-geostrategic cooperation, and transforms regional institutions and partnerships amid intensifying geopolitical competition.

This paper explores the convergence of gender, caste, religion and colonial history in influencing the ritual labour associated with a significant regional festival in eastern India namely Chhath puja, through a thorough examination of religious traditions, folk customs, and historical data, how women's devotional rituals have been systematically converted into coerced labour under patriarchal and Brahmanical standards illustrating how fasting, culinary practices, and purity practices emerged a

The paper argues that although India’s Constitution promises integration and protection of tribal communities, the poor implementation of measures such as the Sixth Schedule and Forest Rights Act has deepened marginalisation. These failures erode land-based identity, weaken autonomy, and highlight the gap between constitutional intent and lived tribal realities.

This paper will delve into the motivations and implications of Akbar's key religious policies. It will explore the purpose and evolution of the Ibadatkhana debates, the significance of the Mahzar as a tool for reconfiguring political and religious authority, and the broader philosophy of Sulh-i-Kul. Through these topics, this paper aims to evaluate whether Akbar’s policies reflected genuine religious tolerance or were driven by political necessity.