Présentation

Rob Jenkins est professeur de sciences politiques à Hunter College et directeur adjoint du Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, tous deux à la City University of New York. Spécialiste de l’Inde contemporaine, ses travaux portent sur les rapports État-société, notamment sur l’action publique et sur les mouvements sociaux. Il est l’auteur de plusieurs ouvrages dont Democratic Politics and Economic Reforms in India (Cambridge University Press, 1999), consacré à l’étude des processus politiques sous-tendant les réformes libérales en Inde. Son analyse très fine du fonctionnement de la démocratie, y compris son côté sombre, et des pratiques furtives des hommes politiques, est devenue une référence. Depuis, il a poursuivi ses recherches sur la démocratie indienne en développant des thématiques diverses dont on peut citer en particulier celles sur les mouvements de la société civile pour le droit à l’information et contre la corruption (cf. Reinventing Accountability: Making Democracy Work for Human Development (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2005, co-écrit avec AM Goetz). Tout dernièrement il a publié Peacebuilding: From Concept to Commission (Routledge 2012).

Programme

• The significance of India’s movements against corruption

le 7 janvier 2013, de 14h à 16h en salle 662, 190 avenue de France 75013 Paris

Dans le cadre de l’équipe du CEIAS « Représentations et pratiques de la citoyenneté en Asie du Sud »

This session will assess the evolution of India’s anti-corruption movements over the past decade and a half.  It will focus on the blurring of the lines between three different approaches to combating the abuse of public office for private gain: efforts to expose specific manifestations of corruption at local, state, and national levels; movements for legal, policy, and governance reform to undercut the root causes of corruption; and engagement in electoral politics on an explicitly anti-corruption platform.  Particular attention will be given to the significance of the recently formed Aam Admi Party, headed by «India Against Corruption» leader Arvind Kejriwal.

• India and human rights at the United Nations

le 8 janvier 2013, de 15 à 17h, salle Jean Monnet, 56 rue Jacob 75006 Paris

Co-organisé avec le CERI, (contact Ch. Jaffrelot)

India’s two years as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council concluded on 31 December 2012.  During this period, the Council was confronted with a range of crucial human-rights issues.  Most notably, the international community’s “Responsibility to Protect” was put to the test in Libya, Cote d’Ivoire, and Syria.  Less visible, but equally important to the protection of human rights, was the process of monitoring violations of Security Council resolutions on Children and Armed Conflict, and renewing the mandates of UN peacekeeping missions.  This session assesses India’s performance on these issues, including through comparisons with its two “IBSA” partners, Brazil and South Africa, both of which also recently served on the Council.

• Interpreting the politics of India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)

le 15 janvier 2013 de 14h à 16h, en salle 662, 190 avenue de France 75013 Paris

Dans le cadre de l’équipe du CEIAS « STAKES (Politiques socio-économiques et restructurations territoriales) »

The NREGA, passed by India’s parliament in 2005, is a landmark piece of legislation, extending the country’s social safety net and placing it in a rights-based framework.  This session will examine the significance of NREGA’s legislative provisions and the process by which the Act came into being.  It also analyses some of the many ways in which politics has influenced the Act’s implementation.  Special attention is paid to variations between Indian states; to the difficulties that arise in operationalizing NREGA’s accountability safeguards; to the role of local political institutions; and to the importance of social movements in shaping programme outcomes.

• The political economy of India’s current development trajectory

le 17 janvier 2013 de 13h à 15h, salle 662, 190 avenue de France 75013 Paris

Dans le cadre du séminaire de l’EHESS «L’Inde émergente entre croissance et développement» (L. Kennedy)

After a decade of unprecedented growth, India’s economy has slowed considerably over the past few years.  While this has partly been the result of a less robust global economic environment, the response of India’s policymakers to the circumstances they have encountered has generated no shortage of critical commentary.  The need to reorient India’s two-decades-old economic reform process is frequently mentioned, though opinions differ on what actions should be prioritized.  How political calculations have affected the nature of policy responses over the past few years, and how they may do so in the years ahead, is the focus of this session.  Particular attention is paid to coalition politics and to policymaking at the state level.