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Understanding Tribal or Indigenous societies in India and their present trajectories of change

Understanding Tribal or Indigenous societies in India and their present trajectories of change

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Event Title
Understanding Tribal or Indigenous societies in India and their present trajectories of change
Event Details
<strong>North East India Studies Programme School of Social Sciences</strong> Invites you to a Talk on <strong>"Understanding Tribal or Indigenous societies in India and their present trajectories of change"</strong> <strong>Prof. Felix Padel</strong> Visiting Professor, North East India Studies Programme <strong>Abstract : </strong>Every aspect of this topic is understood in various, often conflicting ways. One often contentious aspect is terminology - "Adivasi", "Indigenous" Tribal"... Another is how these much "anthropologized" societies should be understood, and how they understand themselves. Another concerns different ways of understanding change. "Development" is the official is concept for understanding this; but it is a multi-faceted process, and in some ways these societies are undergoing a process that could be understood as "de-development", in as far as highly developed community systems and economies based on a symbiosis with the natural environment that endured for centuries are being undermined. In central India, "Hinduization" or "Sanskritization" have often been a lense for understanding; "Hindutvaization" is today's extension of that; Maoists and other groups radicalise communities; and the market and corporate world also have a huge influence. How to understand these &amp; other aspects of social change among these societies? Date: <strong>21st October, 2015</strong>

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.