The Caste of Diplomacy

What does caste have to do with diplomacy? This special issue is an effort to guide discussions more systematically in thinking through the relationship between caste and diplomacy and, more specifically, Indian diplomacy. Accordingly, this introductory article lays out the reasons for interrogating Indian diplomacy through the prism of caste and reveals the ways in which diplomacy as a site has remained an exclusively upper caste space. In an effort towards de-sacralizing diplomacy, we look towards Begumpura , a utopia that provides space for an alternative tradition of ‘anti-diplomacy’.