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In Search of Indian Modernity

In Search of Indian Modernity

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In Search of Indian Modernity
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<strong>Centre for the Study of Social Systems School of Social Sciences </strong> <strong>CSSS Colloquium </strong> <strong>Prof. Vivek Kumar </strong> (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) a talk on <strong>In Search of Indian Modernity</strong> Date :<strong> April 9, 2015</strong> <strong>Abstract:</strong> The paper makes a modest attempt to problematize the way modernity has been defined in Euro-Americo centric notions. The cardinal elements of such modernity are individualism, egalitarianism, historicism, and this worldliness. Some social scientists have highlighted objective conditions of modernity as industrialization, urbanization, economic affluence and high level of literacy. The problem with such formulation is that there is only 'a type and source' of modernity. Moreover, the aforesaid perspective analyzes modernity in terms of rupture between tradition and modernity. Indian Social Scientists have readily accepted this euro-americo centric formulations of modernity by declaring Indian society as traditional. In this context this paper tries to evolve a working definition of modernity. Second, it makes an attempt to understand different sources and spaces of modernity. Further, taking clue from the available literature the paper makes a claim for an alternative source of modernity in India. <strong>Bio:</strong> Prof. Vivek Kumar (Ph.D.) is Professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems. As a recipient of Fulbright Teacher's Fellowship, Prof Kumar was Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and a resident at The South Asia Institute, Columbia University, New York, USA during the spring semester 2012. He also taught a course 'Social Exclusion and Inclusion in Indian Society' in the Department of Sociology Columbia University, New York. In May and June he also went to teach and research in Humboldt University, Berlin in Germany. Earlier, he has been Lecturer at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and a Visiting Professor at the Universities of Pune, Jammu, and Mumbai. His publications include, Caste and Democracy in India: A perspective from Below (2014), the edited volume Dynamics of Change and Continuity in the Age of Globalization: Voices from the Margins (2009), India's Roaring Revolution (2006), and Dalit Leadership in India (2002). He has also contributed many articles in edited books, journals and periodicals and is the author of four published working papers. He has recently completed a research project, "Social Status and Social Attitudes in India: A Study of Indian College Students," with Harvard University and University of British Columbia. Earlier he was involved in a project 'Building Global Democracy: Including the excluded' with University of Warwick, UK and eight other institutions located in different continents of the world.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.