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This chapter presents what is probably the first attempt at regionalization of the pattern of caste for any large area of India. It explains and illustrates some key variables associated with caste which were considered in the regionalization process and which are regarded as important in and of themselves. The chapter presents what is thought to be the first systematic attempt at a holistic mapping of those variations in the important, but arbitrarily delimited, area of the North Indian Plain. The number of variables—of kind and of degree—which have potential utility in the study and delimitation of caste regions is quite large, and choices of those which are most significant are bound to be more or less arbitrary. The major caste regions recognized are identified by letters A through E and the subregions by suffixed Arabic numerals.

The ability to create order is no less important to human survival than the ability to overcome famine, construct great edifices, write great books, or compose great symphonies. Norman Cousins, The Human Adventure The ability of the United Nations to function effectively is limited by several serious structural deficiencies. First, the one nation-one vote system of decisionmaking in the General Assembly (GA) is unrealistic, bearing no relationship to the actual distribution of power in the world. Hence, it is hardly surprising that its decisions are only recommendatory rather than binding. Second, the method of allocating seats in the more powerful Security Council is neither fair nor representative. Finally, the Security Council's legitimacy in dealing with many important issues is compromised by the anachronistic special status of the five permanent members and, in particular, by their being endowed with the veto power. The fact that so many nations consider themselves marginalized by the present system contributes significantly to anti-Western and, in particular, anti-U.S. sentiment. All of the foregoing deficiencies can and should be corrected by appropriate revisions of the UN Charter. In this article, I detail the case for the needed reforms, quantify and explain their likely systemic effects, discuss obstacles in the way of their acceptance, and suggest appropriate charter amendments. The key to the proposed reforms is to adopt a coherent system of weighted voting, by nations in the GA and/or by individual nations or caucuses of nations in the Security Council. Weighting would be according to objectively calibrated "entitlement quotients" (EQs), based on simultaneous consideration of three principles for representation: (1) the present legal principle of the sovereign equality of nations, (2) a population-based democratic/demographic principle, and (3) a capability principle based on contributions to the regular UN budget, which are essentially a function of national wealth. Ideally, the concept of EQs would be applied to both the GA and the Security Council, but it could be used for either of those two bodies alone should there be insufficient support for its application to the other. As regards the Security Council, in place of permanent membership, seats would be allocated to certain powers with EQs in excess of a stipulated threshold value and also to self-formed caucuses of nations whose combined EQs exceeded that threshold. The veto would be terminated or gradually phased out. The proposed system would be not only objective but also nuanced and flexible, thereby maximizing fairness and enabling changes consistent with changing demographic and economic realities. (1) While any radical shift in power within the UN would meet with vigorous initial opposition from certain nations, transitional arrangements are suggested that would preclude excessive shocks to the existing system. Moreover, because of demonstrably desirable trade-offs to which the use of EQs would lead, the global system as a whole would greatly benefit, leading to a more orderly and more democratic international order. In this anticipated outcome lies the hope that the suggested reforms will eventually receive the requisite support for their adoption. Reform of the General Assembly The Growing Need for Voting Reform The profound changes in the General Assembly since the founding of the UN were clearly not anticipated by those who drafted the UN Charter. By the year 2000, to which all figures used in this article relate (unless otherwise specified), the UN had become a virtually universal body, encompassing some 99.7 percent of the world's people (99.3 percent if Taiwan is excluded). (2) The number of members has almost quadrupled, and their geographic redistribution has shifted radically (see Figure 1 and Maps 1 and 2). Africa, for example, which accounted for a mere four members in 1945 (7. …

Prefatory Note: The following is a slightly modified and expanded version of my oral presentation at South Carolina. The color figures used to support arguments in that presentation are here replaced by redrawn, smaller scale, black and white figures appropriate for publication in this journal. Comments on and criticisms of my text and figures will be most welcome. J.E.S.

L'A. decrit les cartes de la Birmanie au XIX e siecle, qui representent une documentation sophistiquee des routes, du plan urbain, du reseau hydrographique et de l'orographie

In recent years, we have witnessed – in the deliberations of the UN General Assembly, in diplomatic negotiations outside the UN and in various academic forums – a plethora of ineffectual attempts to devise a broadly acceptable accord for making the Security Council more representative of the world’s nations and peoples.2 Almost all such proposals call for an expanded membership with permanent and rotating seats allocated, as at present, to specific member nations. While there is widespread acknowledgment of the excessive power wielded by nations of the ‘global North’, there is considerable disagreement on the regional allocation of seats and on which nations deserve new permanent or, in some formulations, ‘semi-permanent’ seats.3 Nor is there much accord on which seat holders shall be endowed with the veto and how the veto power might be responsibly employed.

The most detailed of six surviving Indian cosmographic globes is a goreless, painted, papier-maché construction at the Bharat Kala Bhavan in Varanasi. Believed to be of east Indian provenance and to date from the mid-eighteenth century, the globe combines two distinct cosmographic conceptions, one each for the northern and southern hemispheres. These derive from ancient texts known as Purānas. In addition to its primarily mythic content, the globe includes a geographic section for Bhāratavarsa (India), the portion of the northern hemisphere within an arc forty-five degrees from the intersection of the prime meridian and the equator. Iconographically, the globe belongs to the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Le plus détaillé de six globes cosmographiques indiens qui subsistent est une pièce sans godet, peinte et en papier maché, que l'on retrouve au Bharat Kala Bhavan, à Varanasi. Présumé venir de l'Inde de l'est et dater du milieu du dix-huitième siècle, le globe combine deux conceptions cosmographiques distinctes, l'une pour l'hémisphère nord et l'autre pour l'hémisphère sud. Celles-ci viennent de textes anciens, appelés 'Puranas'. En plus de son contenu principalement mythique, le globe comporte une section géographique pour l'Inde ('Bharatavarsa'), soit une portion de l'hémisphère nord comprise dans un arc de quarantecinq degrés à partir de l'intersection du méridien principal et de l'équateur. Du point de vue iconographique, le globe appartient à la tradition vishnouiste de l'hindouisme.

(1987). The US Constitution, A Model for Global Government. Journal of Geography: Vol. 86, No. 6, pp. 246-252.

Contrary to Marvin Harris's hypothesis, desiccation and population increase in India following 1000 B.C. are highly unlikely to have been the origin of the Hindu ban on cow slaughter and beef eating. In many places in present-day India,"wild" and stray cattle are serious problem to farmers. The sacred-cow concept contributes to a significant waste of beef and inefficiency in cattle breeding. Homes for old cows are basically religious institutions that divert funds from other needs of the nation. Indian cattle to compete with man for food, and most experts believe that there are significant numbers of surplus cows in terms of available feed and bullock-replacement needs. Such surplus cows make economic contributions, but religious belief, expressed in social and political action, cannot be over-looked as a factor contributing to their survival. As John Bennett has noted, the technoenvironmental model used by Harris seems unsuited to use for India. Especially deficient is Harris's ignoring of religion as a ...

(1962). THREE APPROACHES TO THE MAPPING OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA. Annals of the Association of American Geographers: Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 455-468.

IT HE institution of caste, as a steadily mounting body of social-science literature attests, retains a fundamental role in contributing to the character of Indian rural society.2 Despite the gradual weakening of the caste system in an urban setting, it continues to exert a major influence in shaping the lives of the nation's 375 million villagers, including a large number of Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians, to whom caste is theoretically anathema.3 Birth into a particular caste, be it high or low, is the cardinal element of one's karma-that is, reward or punishment for deeds performed in previous earthly existences. In the Indian view, which regards reincarnation as axiomatic, karma is both just and immutable. To play one's proper role in