South Asia's economic and strategic relevance has grown significantly in recent years. While scholars often note India's economic resurgence and South Asia's struggle with terror, the region offers much more that is of enormous intellectual interest.

Among the important questions of politics, economics, and security in South Asia, the seminar continues to focus on the following questions:

• In what ways do political regimes—democractic or authoritarian—influence the process of economic development?
• In India, export-based, high-tech services have led the boom, unlike the traditional model of development led by manufacturing. What are the larger lessons of a services-led economic transformation?
• Has the equality principle of democracy undermined India's caste system, or have caste inequalities changed the script of Indian democracy, forcing it to differ significantly from the Western democratic experience?
• Serious regional disparities mark virtually the entire region. In India, compared to the northern and eastern states, the southern and western states have boomed, in economic as well as human development terms. In Pakistan, the Punjab region continues to excel ahead of the other regions. How does one explain such variations? What are the consequences of regional inequalities?
• The shadow of security over politics and economics is now dark and deep. Why has terrorism taken such root in Pakistan? Might it spread to India in a significant way? Is Maoism a form of revolutionary politics or a genre of terrorism, or both?
• The security situation in Afghanistan is now at the center of international attention. How does one understand the problem of instituting political order in Afghanistan?
• Why do South Asian democracies find it so hard to develop more robust human rights regimes?
• Why have South Asian societies struggled so hard to establish reliable legal regimes? Do their cultural and sociological norms seriously clash with the rule of law?
• Some of the world's most respected non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been working in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and India. What can we learn about what kinds of NGOs succeed and what types fail?
• How should we understand how India’s democratic longevity has coexisted with (a) party fractionalization, (b) long-lasting inequalities, and (c) low aggregate incomes?

Meeting monthly and supported by Brown, Harvard, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Joint Seminar invites not only academics and students but also public figures—from politics, business, journalism, security, and the NGO sector—to engage in a sustained conversation over the course of the academic year.

The conveners of the joint seminar are Ashutosh Varshney, professor of political science, Brown University; Patrick Heller, professor of sociology, Brown University; Prerna Singh, assistant professor of government, Harvard University; and Vipin Narang, assistant professor of political science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Current Academic Year

• 2011–2012 Seminar Schedule

Related Links

• Seminar Website

Past Seminars

• 2010–2011