The evolution of India's great power identity : a powerful performance

Abstract

This research shows how Indian self-conceptions of 'greatness' have been derivative of India's own readings of an appropriate global role for itself at different periods during its history, rather than sourced from the dominant norms of 'great powerhood' in international society. It attempts to show how apparent shifts in India's identity can most aptly be understood as a process of India acquiring the material markers of a great power rather than actually becoming a great power. According to this reading, the Indian case diverges from the processes of socialisation typically associated with rising powers, whereby great power aspirants internalise the norms articulated by the existing community of great powers. In theoretical terms, the process of negotiation between the norms and values inherent in an Indian international self (an identity which I show to be relatively stable over time) and the norms and values of an international group of prominent states from which India seeks recognition of its 'right' to lead, is revealed as more complex than we might expect. By acquiring a deeper understanding of Indian conceptions of greatness, it is possible to reveal a more nuanced narrative of India's global ascendance and access complexities in India's conduct of external affairs that are sometimes missed by dominant frames of understanding in International Relations. The study demonstrates how attempts to narrate, observe or predict India's ascendance in the language of great powers can only incompletely capture the nuances of India's changing international identity and its potential role in the international system. As such, the research as a whole points to limitations in the theoretical rigour and the explanatory capacity of current dominant understandings of greatness as they are applied to rising powers such as India. Show more