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CSLG is organising a seminar by Wendy Singer

CSLG is organising a seminar by Wendy Singer

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CSLG is organising a seminar by Wendy Singer
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CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF LAW AND GOVERNANCE
Jawaharlal Nehru University

 

SEMINAR SERIES


WENDY SINGER
Roy T. Wortman Professor of History and South Asian Studies, Kenyon College, US

 

on

 

Reservations and the Rights of Citizenship: Democratic Practice, Equal Access, and Social Reform

 

Abstract : Since India’s policy of Reservations, not only applies to jobs and education, but also provides members of relevant communities with seats in legislatures, it guarantees the continuing voice of interested parties in decision-making—both that concerns them specifically and the nation as a whole. This makes Reservations different from policies of social reform in other democratic states and has influenced its historical trajectory.  As a consequence Reservations are imbedded in the functioning of Indian democratic practice and in the enactment of the rights of citizenship.  Indeed the idea of reservations taps into longstanding trends in political organising (one early incarnation in the 1920s was in the Madras Municipal Corporation). Therefore, to understand the changing demands for reservations, one has to begin with the composition of governing bodies—what it means to participate in elections, administration, and decision-making. This paper argues that the narratives that people construct to make claims for Reservations reflect this long process of political organising and reveal different modes of access to power, changing notions of grievance and redress, and evolving group identities that are ultimately interpreted through rights as citizens. Reservations, then, are better seen as democratic process than social policy.

 

3.00 PM, Friday, 15 September 2017
Conference Room, CSLG, JNU

 

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Wendy Singer is an historian of India, whose research focuses on the culture and politics of the post-independence period.  Her most recent book Independent India, published by Routledge, is a thematic history that includes documents and images of the period from 1947-2000. Her studies of elections have appeared in a variety of journals and edited volumes, recently in the Election Law Journal.  Her earlier books include A Constituency Suitable for Ladies and other Social Histories of India Elections—a study of changes in election law and practice, especially for women, before and after independence—and Creating Histories: a book about oral narratives of peasant politics in the 1930s.

 

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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.