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Spatially Locating the 'Post' of Post-Secularism

Spatially Locating the 'Post' of Post-Secularism

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Spatially Locating the 'Post' of Post-Secularism
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<strong>CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF LAW AND GOVERNANCE Jawaharlal Nehru University</strong> SEMINAR SERIES <strong>NEERA CHANDHOKE </strong> Visiting Professor, Centre for Study of Law and Governance, JNU on <strong>Spatially Locating the 'Post' of Post-Secularism</strong> In his October 2001 speech titled 'Faith and Knowledge' Habermas piloted the concept of post secularism to the centre stage of political theory. 'We' he said in the aftermath of the attack on the Trade Towers in New York, are in a post-secular age. The 'we' certainly did not include the postcolonial world. Notably advocacy of the post-secular thesis has emerged from Western academia, and bears as its referent European histories of the 'divided self', the split between the Church and the state, wars over religion, migrations to the new world, and the political settlement that religion should be privatized and the public stamped with the logic of reason. The experience of the postcolonial world has been radically different. The leadership of the freedom struggle in India adopted political secularism as one of the mainstays of the new political order not because religion had become less, but more relevant as a form of identity politics. That is secularism was not a natural corollary of secularisation. The Indian case teaches us that though we have little choice but to accommodate religion in the public sphere, the outcome of the coexistence of secular and religious principles is, and has been extremely untidy and unwieldy, generating different sorts of political dilemmas and scenarios.This is in direct contrast to the way Western liberal philosophers design procedures that will enable voice to religious beliefs. What are then the implications of the Indian experience for the concept of secularism? <strong>Friday, 30 September, 2016</strong> <strong>ABOUT THE SPEAKER:</strong> Neera Chandhoke is formerly Professor of Political Science, University of Delhi, currently Professorial Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, JNU. She taught political theory and comparative politics, and has written and published widely on civil society, secularism, democracy, affirmative action, representation, social and economic rights, and on freedom from poverty as a human right. She is the author of State and Civil Society: Explorations in Political Theory Delhi, Sage, 1995, Beyond Secularism: The Rights of Religious Minorities Delhi, OUP, 1999, and The Conceits of Civil Society Delhi, OUP, 2003.

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.