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Politics of Distinction and Political Economy of Indigenous Cultural Rights in North East India

Politics of Distinction and Political Economy of Indigenous Cultural Rights in North East India

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Event Title
Politics of Distinction and Political Economy of Indigenous Cultural Rights in North East India
Event Details
<strong>NORTH EAST INDIA STUDIES PROGRAMME SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES</strong> a seminar on <strong>"Politics of Distinction and Political Economy of Indigenous Cultural Rights in North East India"</strong> Abstract : Identity-claims in terms of territorial distinction among small and marginalized ethnic and tribal communities in many places of North East India are slowly replacing claims of sovereignty and self-determination. The present peace process with ULFA, NSCN (I-M), UNLF and others are based on creating legal set ups to settle these claims of distinction. The lecture shall delve into political economy of territoriality based identity claims and its legal framing within the discourse of cultural rights that calls for a re-understanding of the logic of expropriation embedded in the natural and cultural resources of these communities. The lecture takes into account Khasi-Garo, Abo-Tani groups, Lushei-Mara-Paite groups and other smaller ethnic groups of Manipur, Assam and Mizoram and explains their logic of expropriation within the constitutional and political frameworks evolved by them. SPEAKER <strong>Prasenjit Biswas</strong> Associate Professor Dept. of Philosophy, NEHU, Shillong, Meghalaya &amp; Visiting Fellow, NEISP, J.N.U., New Delhi Date and Time : <strong>January 27th, Friday, 2017 (3:00 to 5:00 p.m.)</strong> Venue : <strong>Class room, Room no.324, SSS-I, JNU</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.