Order Beyond Borders: Sovereignty & Citizenship in Asia & the Indian Ocean World

A series of emerging developments in Asia such as China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) project, Turkey’s neo-Ottomanism, Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union, and reconnection of Indian diasporas evince increasing regionalism across Asia. Many of these new regionalisms depend on channeling histories and memories of oceanic and territorial routes carved over centuries by movements of people, ideas, and goods across the interconnected terrain of Eurasia and Indian Ocean. Central to bringing this past to the present are transnational networks of trade, religion, kinship, and labor constituted over the longue durée. This interdisciplinary conference brings together anthropologists, historians, sociologists, and political scientists to conceptualize emerging regional political aspirations and infrastructure projects through the past of networks. By bringing regions separated in space and pasts disconnected in time, this conference looks to conceptualize how order is constructed beyond borders.
The conference is being held under the auspices of the Interdisciplinary Development Research and Action Center (IDRAC) at Habib University, Karachi. The IDRAC Center draws its name from the Urdu word ‘Idraak’ which is a polysemic word signifying the broad plurality of processes and connotations associated with “thinking”. The Center fosters thoughtful research and action on key development challenges facing Pakistan and the larger South Asian region. It aspires to serve as a bridge between academic scholars, policy-makers, and development practitioners so that these critical arenas of social analysis and change can come together in collaboration instead of operating in isolation. Drawing upon the multidisciplinary strengths of the Social Development and Policy faculty at Habib, the Center hosts a series of activities that strengthen existing efforts at social cohesion and sustainable development in the region, while also exemplifying the role of a university in
serving society and contributing to its meaningful well-being.