Undisciplining IR : Beyond Mainstream International Relations

This volume celebrates the groundbreaking contributions of Prof. A.K. Ramakrishnan, whose work has redefined International Relations through critical theory, postcolonial lenses, and transdisciplinary methods.

This volume celebrates the groundbreaking contributions of Prof. A.K. Ramakrishnan, whose work has redefined International Relations through critical theory, postcolonial lenses, and transdisciplinary methods. By centring the “unarticulated body” and subaltern experience, this volume invites readers to undiscipline IR—one critical perspective at a time. Challenging hegemonic narratives, the volume interrogates mainstream IR epistemologies—from Orientalist frameworks to neoliberal paradigms—while centring non-Western knowledge systems. Through themes like Political Islam, social movements, and intersectional identities, it bridges cultural studies, philosophy, and grassroots politics to reveal how West Asia’s contested realities reshape global discourse. The chapters dissect pressing issues: the Palestinian genocide, refugee experiences, artificial intelligence in conflict, and the suppression of dissent, while theorising agency through poetry, memory, and spatiality. The volume argues for area studies as the core of IR, dismantling “great power politics” to prioritise marginalised voices and organic epistemologies of the Global South. Designed for scholars, policymakers, and activists, this book is essential for reimagining IR pedagogy and praxis. It serves as a key resource for students and faculty in Political Science, Postcolonial Studies, and West Asia scholarship, offering radical methodologies to decode democratisation, religion, and resistance. Think tanks, journalists, and diplomats will find its critiques of policy formulation and Orientalist discourse invaluable, while civil society actors gain tools to link local struggles to global justice.