2026

Abstract: The democratic imagination assumes the existence of a freely deliberating citizen. This assumption is being attacked not just by the dissemination of fake news, but by a larger-scale, systemically-oriented reality, the active creation of cognitive spaces where independent thought cannot occur. Building off neuro-cybersecurity as analytic frame and the conceptualisation of cognitive warfare in the literature on international security, this paper states that the electoral ecosystem (…)

Abstract
The 130th birth anniversary of Morarji Desai provides a critical opportunity to reassess his contributions through the lens of political theory and democratic practice. As India

A reflective essay on theatre, memory, and the fragile persistence of shared spaces and human solidarities in contemporary Bengal.
Kerala, where I come from, remains a place where communities mingle freely, its social fabric woven across lines of faith and community with an ease that other parts of India seldom manage. Bengal

Granting the right to abortion by the division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice B.V Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, rendered in S vs Union of India on 24.04.2026, is a judgment of epochal significance for women

In September 2023, Parliament passed the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, widely known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, which sought to reserve 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women. While the move was supported across party lines, it was kept in abeyance until a delimitation exercise could be carried out after the next Census.
However, in April 2026, the Union government convened a special session of Parliament from April 16 to 18, bringing forward a fresh (…)

Moments of crisis often reshape the future of communities. For Indian Muslims, the period following the 1857 revolt was one such turning point. This marked not only a political decline but also the stripping of Persian as the language of administration, which turned the lives of many Muslims upside down. The whole generation of Muslims felt culturally, socially, and politically marginalised after these historical ruptures. Yet, it was also in this moment of crisis that new visions of (…)

The Westphalian treaty comprises a set of norms and institutions that have emerged in the aftermath of the World War II international order. It includes the network of the United Nations and allied institutions such as the International Court of Justice. The International order also created Geneva Convention and Genocide convention to protect the civilians and people belonging to different race.
The current West-Asian crisis threatens to dissolve the underlying order. Dissolution of order (…)

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Abstract
Global deregulation of economy, commerce and trade is bringing the hitherto uncharted natural resources of community commons within the realm of legal regimes so that these can be monetised and traded within the market frame. Recognition of community rights over the community commons and their resources, even while introducing democratised governance regimes, have also opened up the space for investment and ease of doing business. This has unleashed direct no-holds barred (…)

Interview in Shuddhashar / August 24, 2025
Marieme Helie Lucas was born and raised in Algeria, but she was forced to flee into exile after the rise of extremist Islamic politics in her country. Recently, Shuddhashar had an opportunity to interview her in-depth and engage in a lively conversation.
Marieme Helie Lucas is an Algerian sociologist. She was born

Tales of Sub-Lieutenant Ilyin
by F.F. Raskolnikov
This document, dated August 17, 1939, was first published in the Paris