News - Other Events Related to South Asian Studies
Post-doctoral and Senior Research Fellowshipsin Colombo, Cape Town, Bogotá and Budapest
Application deadline in each hub: Open until filled
Starting date of the selection of fellows: February 15, 2024
The OSUN Forum on Democracy and Development by CEU Democracy Institute (Budapest), Universidad de los Andes, (Bogotá), the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town and the Social Scientists’ Association of Sri Lanka (Colombo) invites applications for a total of 32 open positions: six post-doctoral and two senior research fellows at each of the four institutions for an 8-month residential fellowship program between October 1, 2024, and May 30, 2025. Focusing on the relationship between democracy and development, this initiative aims to redefinevdemocracy in its political, social, and economic dimensions, establishing a unique platform for interdisciplinary and cross-regional exchanges between scholars from the Global South and Global North.
The OSUN Forum on Democracy and Development is structured around four interlinked research themes hosted at four institutions:
Theme 1: New Patterns of Mobilization for- and against- Democracy, hosted at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá
Theme 2: Populism, Ideology, and Discourse in the Global South: Sources of Polarization and Their Mitigation, hosted at CEU Democracy Institute in Budapest
Theme 3: Democratizing the Developmental State, hosted at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance in Cape Town
Theme 4: Exclusionary Regimes and Autocratization, hosted at the Social Scientists’ Association in Colombo
For further information please click here
Workshop
European Modern Hindi Workshop 2024 Uppsala University
The European Modern Hindi Workshop 2024 will take place in Uppsala (Sweden) from August 5 to August 13. Teachers and PhD students working on issues related to Hindi literature are particularly invited to join in and suggest texts from their field of research for the reading sessions. The basic purpose of the serious of biannual workshops under this label is joint text reading. We usually go through the texts in detail, line by line, be it prose or poetry. The main languages of communication will be English and Hindi. Participants are invited to lead at least one of the reading sessions. Please register with us if you join the workshop and let us know how many sessions of roughly 90 minutes each you would like to conduct. Please also include a pdf of the Hindi texts you would like to be ready online and/or for distribution in class.
For further information please click here
CALL FOR PAPER
The Political Economy Of Ecological Change And Economic Security In The Global South
Cambridge University
Deadline for abstract submissions: February 5, 2024
Description
The intricacies of the political economy that play out across countries in the Global South have profound significance for understanding the nature of ecological change and economic security that confront our world today. In contrast to the misconception of homogeneity of production conditions and development trajectories in countries in the Global South, there have been regional and local specificities in ecologies that have given rise to particular forms of livelihoods and different types of natural resource management systems.
The current climate crisis has unleashed catastrophic effects on the livelihoods of these communities, the most vulnerable segments have been most adversely impacted and this has exacerbated existing inequalities in these nations. It also a grave threat to both economic stability and human security- and a paradox that faces the economies of Global South as they have minimal historical responsibility for climate change yet find themselves in a weaker position to mitigate its consequences. This paradox complicates economic security as countries must redirect resources towards adaptation and mitigation efforts, diverting already limited funds from essential social sectors. Despite these challenges and the arguably insufficient actions taken to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels, collaborations and mitigation initiatives are emerging within and between countries of the Global South, as well as between the Global South and North. Often backed by states or grassroots movements and indigenous methodologies, these efforts strive to address the crisis.
For further information please click here
THE CALL IS NOW CLOSED!
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Centre for Global South Asia Conference 2024
Renegotiating Sovereignty in the Global South
Proposal deadline: 15 January 2024
Call
We invite proposals that investigate the use of material culture, heritage sites, history or history-writing by former sovereigns, monarchs or rulers to renegotiate their roles under changed socio-political circumstances from the 1800s to the present. The context for change may include decolonisation, post-colonial nationalism, democratic reform, conquest, the abolition of monarchies, and the adoption of democratic or other forms of governance due to which they no longer rule/ rule at the apex of their government. We also welcome proposals that draw on older histories to explore how heritage, lineage, and cultural practices were mobilized to achieve social and political goals in our period of focus.
We seek to enrich our understanding of this phenomenon through comparison and juxtaposition and so the remit of this call encompasses the Global South. There are two important exceptions that we will include: studies that investigate how material culture or other heritage that originates in the Global North is deployed by former rulers in the Global South; and those dealing with First Nations (even if located in the Global North).
For further information please click here
THE CALL IS NOW CLOSED!
Call for papers
Knowledge Production, Ethics, and Reflexivity in South Asia
AJEI Joint Workshop
IISER (Bhopal) - CSH (Delhi) – IFP (Pondicherry) – Alliance Française de Bhopal
EHESS-CESAH (Paris)
5th, 6th, 7th MARCH 2024
Description of the Workshop
This workshop aims to discuss, outline, and debate young researchers' quests for Ethics and Reflexivity in their journey to produce knowledge. Knowledge production, ethics, and reflexivity are often framed as goals to inspire research at all stages, starting with the research design. Scientific skills and ethical qualities acquired in the field of social sciences and humanities research need a particular ethical reflection to acquire relevance: methodological rigor, evaluation, and selection of sources, context analysis, identification and choice of sample, selection of the field, disposition to non-judgmental observation, critical and non-prejudicial interpretation of data, responsibility in communicating results to stakeholders or public dissemination of the research, acquire in the social sciences and humanities a particular ethical relevance. These aspects, in addition to qualifying the methodology and its scientific value, are a constitutive part of the very integrity of research, whose ethical principles and rules of conduct direct the activity of all researchers.
Program Outline:
The workshop will be held at The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal (IISER Bhopal) Campus from March 5th to 7th, 2024. The program includes panel discussions, roundtables, and plenary sessions with senior researchers (convenors) and promotes peer learning. AJEI members and volunteers will be present "on-site" to guide and help the delegates during the entire Workshop and online to assist them in planning their conference trip to India. Beyond the academic setting, you are invited to attend cultural events and programs, thanks to the partnership with Alliance Française de Bhopal.
For further information please click here
‘Negative solidarities’. The age of anger and hate speech in the
Anglophone
globalized public sphere.
University of Naples L’Orientale
When in 2017 Pankaj Mishra published Age of Anger: A History of the Present, he devised an iconic title for a shared contemporary condition. In articulating a widespread sense of general angst and resentment, Mishra reconsidered notions of traditional political theory to compare the “unprecedented political, economic and social disorder that accompanied the rise of the industrial capitalist economy” to the perplexing present of new holy wars and ideological crusades which have left few democracies untouched. Rejuvenated forms of nihilistic political violence and parochial chauvinism are arguably infecting much vaster geopolitical realities and wider strata of the population, thereby propelling local and global waves of loathing and fear, shaping national and international forms of right-wing extremism and/or religious fundamentalism and terrorism. Although they travel transnationally, all over the world, forms of ‘negative solidarity’ (Arendt, Men in Dark Times, 1968) manifest themselves in local adaptations.
They prosper due to the weakening and severe limits of the impoverished welfare state which is unable to dispel a generalized perception of insecurity and disposability and produces systemic mistrust in personal agency and a correlated thirst for ‘problem-solving’ authoritarianism. Such insecurity and sense of disposability makes some individuals more prone to inventing scapegoats (e.g., intellectuals, elites, minorities such as Muslims, women, Blacks, Jews, and even mainstream politicians) for their real or imagined problems. Even the threat of global climate change tends to generate blind forms of social anxiety, pessimism and anti-scientific conspiracy theories instead of inspiring cooperative action. Moreover, neoliberal schemes of ruthless economic competition and free enterprise rhetoric create exasperated expectancies of individual self-distinction and economic realization fostering bitter feelings of resentment, disappointment, and frustration. The universalization of the culture of individualism has led to a frenetic pace of ever-accelerating rugged competition, and a clamorous, vociferous public sphere where social media accentuate social hierarchies thus catalyzing a toxic mix of anomie and sectarianism.
Deadline for abstracts 15 May 2023
Notification of acceptance 5 June 2023
To open the call and for more information, please click here
THE CALL IS NOW CLOSED!
CALL FOR PAPERS
Exhibit Asia: Partition and the Transition to Nation States in
South and East Asia
Deadline for Abstract 15 January 2023
We invite proposals for papers that investigate trans-national histories, regional dynamics and nation-state formation in partitioned and postcolonial regions in South and East Asia, by using the mechanics and processes of exhibitions as the framework of investigation. For example, India/ Pakistan and Taiwan/ China started out as contested entities that had to produce their own sense of national identity and culture from a shared past. What role did exhibitions, arts and material culture play in this process? What place did princely/ royal heritage have (if any) in constructing national narratives in partitioned regions?
‘Exhibitions’ may be interpreted broadly. They could be on art, archaeology, agriculture, industry, housing, or any other topic. They need not be limited to those held in museums, or by state organisations.
Papers could:
• Discuss an exhibition that produced competing national narratives.
• Discuss national narratives that resulted from an exhibition in one region, paired with an example from its ‘other’. This
could also be a joint paper between academics with overlapping regional expertise (for example, investigate two exhibitions in the two Koreas and the national narratives that they fed into).
• Discuss any exhibition in postcolonial South or East Asia, and its role in constructing post-partition national narratives.
• We welcome other relevant proposal ideas too. To discuss them, or in case of queries, please write to the organisers.
We invite proposals based on original, unpublished research that can be submitted as part of a journal special issue, planned as one of the outcomes of this conference. We welcome submissions from doctoral and early career researchers. Limited funding available.
To open the call and for more information, please click here
THE CALL IS NOW CLOSED!
The Pakistan Conference: 75 Years of Independence
November 29-30, 2022
Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute,
Harvard University
Call for Papers
This conference aims to bring a focused, though not exclusionary, lens to the study of the country, where in a regional context, Pakistan is overshadowed by its much larger neighbor. Taking a long view of 75 years since independence this conference will provide the space to reflect upon the past, but also explore the lingering legacies and challenges that continue to cast a shadow over the country. In doing so, the themes will be framed around the local, the regional, the international and the overarching influence of (pan)-Islamism that informs or influences all these spaces. This approach will provide us with the ability to bring together strong interdisciplinary research that extends into multiple genres.
We are interested in papers and panels which assess Pakistan with the long arc of 75 years covering the following themes, which are not exclusive and are to be broadly interpreted:
- Enduring legacies of Partition
- Interrogating questions of identity and Islam
- Role and place of minorities
- Development of politics
- Economic-Social change in society
- Challenges of extremism
- Demographic change and urban development
- The impact of climate change
- New tech and social media – especially its relationship with politics
The Process
To participate in the conference, please send a 200-word abstract to: harvardpakistanconference@gmail.com by midnight GMT on September 30, 2022. Replies will be sent by October 10, 2022. The conference will then take place on November 29-30, 2022 at the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. Both individual papers and panel proposals can be submitted, with panel proposals (3 papers plus a chair/discussant) to be submitted together by the convenor.
Please find the complete Call HERE.
Please also refer to the HOMEPAGE.
Hence, we decided to publish a monthly Bulletin, called South Asia Bulletin, to summarize, inform and analyze the key issues of the region.
You can access the Bulletin here
Call for Submissions
Second Biennial SAMSA Book Award
The South Asian Muslim Studies Association (SAMSA) announces its second biennial
SAMSA Book Award for a monograph published on the subject of South Asian Islam and Muslim societies during the calendar years of 2020 and 2021. Books from all
disciplines in the Humanities and the Social Sciences will be considered. Only single-authored monographs are eligible; edited volumes, works of translation, literary fiction and short
stories, or collections of poetry are not eligible. Monographs focused on all regions of South Asia (including Afghanistan) and time periods will be considered. Awards will be
decided on the basis of the novelty of the book’s intervention in the field, its intellectual rigor and its clarity and quality of writing. Award recipient will be recognized at a SAMSA meeting
and will be featured at a panel discussion. The award does not carry any monetary compensation. Submissions may be made by an author or by a publisher. To apply, please mail a copy of the
book to Dr. Raisur Rahman, Department of History, P.O. Box 7806, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA no later than July 15, 2022. Additional copies of the
monographs will be requested in due time.
Applicants must also email rahmanmr@wfu.edu with the following information: book title, author email and phone contact, and publisher’s email and phone contact.
Award will be announced in Spring 2023. For more information on SAMSA, click here: http://samsaweb.org/
CALL FOR PAPERS:
Cultures of Data and Datafication in South Asia
Date: 7th July 2022
Format: Hybrid Workshop (In-Person & Online)
Location: Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford
Aims and Objectives:
Over the last decade, a number of public commentators have argued that ‘data is the new oil’. Such a comparison, albeit facile, nonetheless captures data’s status as the principal coveted commodity in the contemporary world, its centrality to the modern capitalist economy, its diverse use value, and its ability to act as the lightning rod for fierce political debates. Much like crude oil itself, data does not present itself ready-for-use. It requires careful collection, cleaning, and processing before it is rendered usable. Implicated in this process are an assemblage of actors, institutions, and social imaginaries that seek to define, inter alia, what constitutes data in the first place, what attributes define its quality, and how it should be used. This workshop invites papers that critically analyse the conceptualization, collection, compilation, curation, and consumption of data in different spheres of life in contemporary South Asia.
The production and consumption of data has had a long genealogy in modern South Asia where it has historically been associated with state power – from the use of censuses that rendered the native population legible for colonial officials to the heavy reliance on macroeconomic indicators by the dirigiste developmental state. In recent years, however, there has been an explosion in the volume and granularity of available data and the trend of ‘datafication’ has permeated social life more generally. Policy experts in fields as different as higher education and financial markets claim to be ‘data-driven’. In particular, the entry of big-tech firms, the widening base of social media users, and the ascendancy of the gig-economy have dovetailed to make ‘Big Data’ popular in everyday decision making. At the same time, the lack of access to accurate data (e.g. COVID-19 deaths) has become a major stumbling block. This workshop aims to bring together scholars to interrogate and reflect upon the implications of these trends for the future of South Asia. We seek papers that will reflect on the transformations and changes (and the lack thereof) that the culture of datafication has brought upon different domains, such as politics, the economy, civil society activism, journalism, development planning, education etc.
Papers could explore themes including, but not limited to, the following:
- Historical genealogies of data and datafication in South Asia; political/social/intellectual histories of statisticians, debates on data use within state institutions (e.g. The Planning Commission, Indian Statistical Institute), and the evolution of the meaning of data.
- Ethnographic approaches that study the production of and/or producers of data in the sphere of development planning, bureaucracy, or the private corporate sector.
- Uses of data in electoral and party politics viz. psephology, public opinion, data-driven campaigning.
- State and governmental practices centred on data collection, control, and archiving.
- The way data practices affect the everyday life of South Asian citizens and consumers.
- Practices of civil society actors and new social movements that revolve around the use of data
We encourage scholars to draw upon diverse methodological approaches and sources. Disciplinary perspectives from political science, anthropology, sociology, history, and law are welcome, as are inter- and multi-disciplinary approaches from scholars in fields such as development studies, science & technology studies, and critical area studies.
Application Procedure:
Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words using the following Google form: link. Deadline: 20th May 2022. A limited number of travel bursaries will be available for workshop participants to fully or partially cover the cost of attending the workshop in-person. We anticipate to complete the screening of abstracts by the end of May. For queries, please email Amogh Dhar Sharma at amogh.sharma@qeh.ox.ac.uk. This workshop has been generously supported by the Economic and Social Research Council.
Call for Papers
Conversations: Searching for the Sacred in South Asia
We are excited to invite you to a postgraduate symposium on religion in South Asia, to be held in Cambridge on 1st October 2022. We seek to bring students together in a creative and collaborative way to discuss the variegated expressions of religiosity across South Asia, and to explore the dynamic intersections of religious discourse, creative arts, social location, ritual expression, and embodied practice. Participants may be affiliated to any faculty or department, and their research may span any time period.
Please submit abstracts of 150-200 words, by no later than June 1st 2022, using this submission portal. Any queries about the submission process should be directed to the organising committee at southasiasymposium2022@gmail.com.