Partitions Reshaping States and Minds

The partition of the Indian sub-continent, the collapse of the Soviet Union and erstwhile Yugoslavia, the reunification of Germany, the continuing feud between the two Koreas, the Irish peace process, the case of Israel/Palestine and the lingering division of Cyprus have together fuelled new thinking on the strategy and acts of partitioning countries, states, nations and continuities. They have also given rise to a huge body of literature. However, studies of partitions have usually focused on individual cases. This innovative volume uses a comparative analysis to fill the gap in partition studies and examines cross-cutting issues such as:
- Violence
- State formation and state building
- Regional politics
- Union and regional unification
- Peace policies
- Transitional strategies
- Geopolitics
- Historical experiences of de-colonization and transition
Forms of violence and violent transition are worthy of analysis in their own right; the impact of various forms of violence on current politics, such as ethnological and territorial conflicts or religious pogroms, is not confined to a locality that witnesses the partition of polity - its impact is global. And as there is a strong link between partition, local violence and globalisation, there is a real need for a cutting-edge comparative framework that goes beyond area-centric readings but is gender sensitive, and sums up the experiences and implications of partition.
This book will of great interest to historians, political scientists, philosophers, policy-makers, international relations experts and peace building institutions and practitioners, and political scientists.

The partition of the Indian subcontinent, the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the reunification of Germany, the continuing feud between two Koreas, the Irish peace process, the case of Israel/Palestine and the lingering division of Cyprus, have together given rise to a huge body of literature. However, studies of partitions have usually focused on individual cases. This innovative volume uses comparative analysis to fill the gap in partition studies and examines cross-cutting issues such as:* violence* state formation* union and regional unification* geopolitics* transition.

Introduction: The infamous event 1. Partition as a Form of Transition 2. Partitions: Categories and destinies 3. The Undefined Acts of Partition and Dialogue4. The Excess of Geopolitics: Partition of "British India" Conclusion

Stefano Bianchini is Director of the Institute for Eastern and Central Europe at the University of Bologna, Italy. Sanjay Chaturvedi is Reader in Political Science at the Punjab University, India. Rada Ivekovic is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Saint Etienne, France. Ranabir Samaddar is Director of the Peace Studies Programme at the South Asia Forum for Human Rights.