(De-)stigmatising the Outsider: Nuclear-armed India, United States, and the Global Non-Proliferation Order
Abstract
In this article, I employ an interactionist perspective from sociology to examine the dynamics of de-stigmatisation of nuclear-armed India after the 1998 nuclear tests. Drawing on Erving Goffman and other interactionist scholars, I study the social dimension of India's transformation from 'nuclear pariah' to a 'responsible' nuclear-armed power that plays by the global non-proliferation rules even though it remains outside of the NPT club.
I trace the interactive process of the normalisation of India's deviant identity in nuclear politics, highlighting the key role of the United States in the de-stigmatisation of India's outsider status, as well as the power-laden factors underpinning the process. Beyond the empirical contribution, I elaborate on discursive strategies that states employ to normalise their disvalued identities.
By conceptually unpacking the logic of normalisation and de-stigmatisation in international politics, I aim to contribute to the current debates in International Relations about norms and deviance in world order.