Peace-Keeping: Principles, Problems, Prospects

Speaking on the principles, problems, and prospects of United Nations peace-keeping these days is not a very cost-efficient activity. The principles, prospects and certainly the problems now change so rapidly and so often that a prepared text would have a very, very short shelf-life

Energy Audits: The Key to Performance Contracting Projects

The term "Performance Contracting" relates to projects where the performance of various energy conservation retrofits result in eavings that exceed the implementation cost of the entire project when financed over a fixed term. Such projects minimize the risk to the customer by guaranteeing a fixed annual return on the investment. If the specified guarantee amount is not met annually, the respective energy service company writes a check to account for the difference in the savings shortfall

“To give the British credit for things that were never intended to benefit India is a mistake” – Shashi Tharoor

Dr Shashi Tharoor was recently in the UK to promote his new book Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India. While visiting LSE, he spoke to Sonali Campion about the need to challenge existing narratives about the British in India, the uniquely exploitative nature of the Raj and the legacies of Empire

Emergency Spills: Regulations, Reporting Requirements and Management Strategies�

Industrial Engineering and Managemen

"I don't believe that Hindutva is Hinduism" - Dr Shashi Tharoor

Dr Shashi Tharoor was recently in the UK to promote his new book Why I am a Hindu. With a general election coming up in India, the battle between Tharoor's Congress Party and the current government, the Bharatiya Janata Party, provides an interesting backdrop for the release of Tharoor's new book. Anishka Gheewala Lohiya had the opportunity to talk to Dr Tharoor at LSE about the relationship between politics and religion in India

[v]at is going on? Local and global ideologies about Indian English

ABSTRACTThis article examines local and global language ideologies surrounding a particular phonetic feature in Indian English, the pronunciation of /v/ as [w]. By focusing on how local and global participants – both individuals and institutions – imagine language variation through disparate framings of “neutral” and “standard,” it highlights how processes of globalization and localization are interconnected, dialogic, and symbiotic. Compared are (i) sociolinguistic constructions of Indian cartoon characters, (ii) American “accent training” institutes, (iii) Indian call center and language improvement books, (iv) American speakers’ interpretations of merged IE speech, and, (v) IE speakers’ attitudes about IE, “neutral,” and ”standard” language. The relative social capital of these populations mediates both how each constructs its respective ideology about language variation, and how these ideologies dialogically interact with each other. (Language variation, language ideologies, dialogic, standard language)1</jats:p

Media Matters: Perspectives on Advancing Governance & Development from the Global Forum for Media Development

Why is the media important in development? This report from the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) is the result of a year-long collaboration between media development practitioners and social, political and communications scientists. It asks why media matters, how its impact can be measured, and considers the key challenges across the sector. It argues that independent media are integral to good governance and can also prevent exclusion. Donors must therefore engage with the media sector.Media assistance aims to strengthen regional, national and local media to serve the public interest. Examples include support to regulatory reform, journalism training and media business management. It also covers support to community media, citizen journalism and media for sustainable development (on health and environmental issues, for example). It aims to ensure people have access to information and the opportunity to express opinions

The Psy-Security-Curriculum ensemble: British Values curriculum policy in English schools

Framed as being in response to terrorist attacks and concerns about religious bias in some English schools, ‘British Values’ (BV) curriculum policy forms part of the British Government’s Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, 2015. This includes a Duty on teachers in England to actively promote British Values to deter students from radicalisation. This paper, first, traces the history of Britishness in the curriculum to reveal a prevalence of nationalistic, colonial values. Next, an ensemble of recent policies and speeches focusing on British Values is analysed, using a psycho-political approach informed by anti-colonial scholarship. Finally, we interrogate two key critiques of the British Values curriculum discourse: the universality of British Values globally, and concerns over the securitisation of education. Findings indicate that the constitution of white British supremacist subjectivities operate through curriculum as a defence mechanism against perceived threats to white privilege, by normalising a racialised state-controlled social order. The focus is on ‘British’ values, but the analytic framework and findings have wider global significance

The soft power of popular cinema: the case of India

Among BRICS nations, India has the most developed and globalised film industry, and the Indian government as well as corporations are increasingly deploying the power of Bollywood in their international interactions. India’s soft power, arising from its cultural and civilizational influence outside its territorial boundaries, has a long history. Focusing on contemporary India’s thriving Hindi film industry, this article suggests that the globalisation of the country’s popular cinema, aided by a large diaspora, has created possibilities of promoting India’s public diplomacy. It examines the global imprint of this cinema as an instrument of soft power