In the fifth episode of The Zanaan Wanaan Podcast, we discuss Political Science and International Relations as an academic discipline in the context of Kashmir. The episode discusses the role of identities in shaping up research interests, the merits of inter-disciplinary research within this discipline, research methodologies like action research methodology, auto-ethnography & feminist methodology, the importance of academic freedom, ethical considerations within institutions and the need to decolonise knowledge production as well as institutional mechanisms. For this episode, we were joined by three brilliant researchers:
Amina Mahmood Mir is a doctoral researcher at the Centre of Study of Democracy, University of Westminster. Her doctoral research is about the right to self-determination and regional politics in the Kashmir conflict. In addition to doctoral research, she is working on a couple of other projects focusing on the higher education sector’s challenges in the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. She also works as a digital learning student associate and very passionate about inclusive learning practices.
Ain ul Khair is a PhD Candidate at Central European University, working on the inter-generational transformation of the colonised body using Autoethnography as their methodological tool and decolonial turn as the theoretical framework. They are also the co-founder of South/South Movement which is a transnational student collective invested in promoting research and researchers from the Global South.
Madiha Nisar is an MPhil research scholar currently associated with Centre of Development Practice Ambedkar University, New Delhi. Her field-immersion work is along-with Gujjar Women based in Kashmir. She has spent time with Kondha Adivasi women in Odisha as a part of her research project. Her research interests are centred around co-thinking philosophical inquiries around gendered suffering, spirituality, and rethinking field methodology from “on” to ‘with”. Previously, she did her master’s degree in International Politics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. She has interned with various organisations in Delhi and Kashmir focussing on pressing politico-social issues.