Episode 43: India and Pakistan

This is Episode 43 of the State of the Theory Podcast. Politics. Power. Popular Culture. And other stuff, probably. In this series, we’re like super nerdy philosophical DJs: mashing up Serious Academic Questions with the most topical news and trends in pop culture. Each week, we’ll tackle a new topic and collide it with ‘critical theory’ (we’re pretty loose with our definitions, though, so expect the unexpected). Our aim is to destroy the stuff we know, explore the stuff we don’t and unsettle everything we think we know about the world. We take the obvious, the commonsensical, the certain, and then we rip it all to shreds. We are your theory doctors and we are always on call. This week, we return to podcasting with our take on the growing hostilities between India and Pakistan. We focus on the coercive role played by the nation-state, and ask if the state is a rational actor or not? We discuss the use of social media in constructing patriotism, and developing a consensus around military violence. Theoretical texts we refer to in this episode are “The Origins of Totalitarianism” by Hannah Arendt (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Origins-Totalitarianism-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0241316758/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1551561291&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Origins+of+Totalitarianism) and “Imagined Communities” by Benedict Anderson (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Imagined-Communities-Reflections-Origin-Nationalism/dp/1784786756/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1551561355&sr=1-1&keywords=imagined+communities+anderson) Our theme music is "The Face of God" by The Agrarians (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Agrarians/The_Jovial_Shepherd/The_Face_of_God) State of the Theory is brought to you by Hannah Fitzpatrick and Anindya Raychaudhuri Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stateofthetheorypodcast) or Tweet us @drhfitz and @DrAnindyaR