Arthashastra of Kautilya: Relevance in the 21st Century

Contents: Foreword. Preface. Section – I: Arthashastra and its Significance: An Outline. 1. Reflections on Arthashastra and its Relevance in the 21st Century/M P Muralidharan. 2. Between Theory and History: Formulating an Alternative Interpretation of Kautilya/Jayashree Vivekanandan. 3. Strategic Wisdom in Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Philosophical Roots and Political Implications/Medha Bisht. 4. Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Reflections on Contents and Significance/Suresh R. 5. Good Governance Perspectives in The Arthashastra: Kautilyan Ideology and its Applicability in The Present Times/Rajvir Sharma. Section – II: Foreign and Security Policy, Strategic Culture. 6. Contemporary Statecraft in Arthashastra/J.S Rajpurohit. 7. Locating Kautilya in Indian Strategic Culture/Harish K. Thakur. 8. The Mandala Theory Revisited/Pradeep Kumar Gautam. 9. Assessing Israel’s Foreign Policy: Correlating with the Mandala Theory and Kautilya’s Advocacy of Intelligence/Poornima B. 10. Kautilya’s Saptanga Theory in Understanding Comprehensive National Power/Nanda Kishor M S. 11. Relevance of Kautilyan Foreign Policy in Safeguarding India’s Maritime Interests/G. Padmaja. Section – III: Human Rights, Women’s Status, Good Governance, Tax and Treasury. 12. Kautilya and Evolution of Human Rights/Sudhir Singh. 13. Women and Statecraft in Kautilya’s Arthashāstra/Santosh Bharti. 14. Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Approach towards Good Governance/Deepak Kumar Pandey. 15. Arthashastra and Civic Responsibility/S. Venkata Krishnan. 16. Arthaśhāstra and Tax Collection/Yashvant Kumar Trivedi. 17. Treasury in Arthashastra and its Relevance/Mousumi Ghosh. Index.

It is true that in the study of Political Science, International Relations, Public Administration, and other related discipline Arthashastra is yet to receive due recognition in India and abroad. In this context, the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) Shimla had hosted a two-day National Seminar on 'Reflections on the Relevance of Arthashastra in the 21st Century'.
 
This volume is the collection of selected papers presented at the national seminar. The relevance of Arthashastra in the contemporary world has been well explored in the seventeen articles categorized in three sections. The first part deals with the relevance of Arthashastra in the present century. The second section of the book deals with foreign and security policy, strategic culture as portrayed in Arthashastra. The third section of the book deals with Human Rights, Women's Status, Good Governance, Tax, and Treasury as reflected in Kautilya's Arthashastra.