26Jun 2012 by annual

Affirmative Action in Nepal: What Does it Mean for Dalits at the Grassroots Level?

Abstract

Khyam Bishwakarma The term "affirmative action" has been widely discussed in Nepal as a strategy to mainstream the marginalized people such as Dalits. Such discussions have focused on the socio-political structure of Nepal where the underlying causes of marginalization are supposed to have germinated. While it is largely true that Dalits at the bottom layer of social structure are treated as untouchable caste groups and hence suffer from socio-political discrimination, they have also become what Karl Polanyi (1946) calls "the victims of acute social dislocation" due to the recent development practices backed by neoliberal policies and globalization. Dalits as occupational caste groups would earn their livelihood from their indigenous skills on metal-works, carpentry, leather-works, and needlework. However, these occupations have been facing challenges due to the availability of imported goods…

26Jun 2012 by annual

Pursuing Equality in the Land of Hierarchy: Positive Discrimination Policies in India

Abstract

Anand Teltumbde Indian society is characterized by the continuum of caste hierarchy for over two millennia. In the source model of Hindu society, this hierarchy is kinked separating people into savarna and avarna (non-varna); touchable caste Hindus and the untouchable Dalits. Besides Dalits, who constituted the lowermost rung of the Hindu society and accounted for 16 percent of total population, there is a tribal community accounting for 7.5 percent, which traditionally lived in forests away from the caste society. Although the tribals did not suffer caste-based exclusion like Dalits, they were physically and culturally secluded from the mainstream. Both these communities, Dalits as the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and tribals as the Scheduled Tribes (STs), have been the focus of the positive discrimination (PD) policies in India. In the 1990s, these…

26Jun 2012 by annual

A Step Back from Ethnic and Indigenous Rights

Abstract

Alpa Shah This presentation will reflect on insights from the Indian case of adivasi rights to explore the relationship between ethnicity and socio-economic concerns. It will suggest that while the focus on indigenous or ethnic rights must be celebrated in particular moments in time, we equally need to reflect on and call attention to the limitations of struggles based on such rights. Drawing on more than a decade of field research in Jharkhand, Eastern India the presentation will address adivasi rights activism and the Maoist movement in India.

26Jun 2012 by annual

Affirmative Action and Women in India

Abstract

Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya The Indian Constitution promises equality to women in all spheres and makes specific statements reaffirming its commitment towards non-discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, class, sex, age etc. There are various institutions that have since been setup to promote this promise and also there exists a rich tradition of decrees and judgments enhancing the scope of this promise. However because of the variations in complex inequalities and social conditions, India poses completely different levels of challenges. In this paper I propose to highlight some of the efforts made to enhance the participation, equality and non-discrimination of women in India. I will also delineate the resultant gains made in the direction of participatory citizenship and inclusive politics vis-à-vis women. I propose to examine India’s electoral affirmative action…

26Jun 2012 by annual

Can We De-Stigmatise Reservations in India?

Abstract

Ajay Gudavarthy The “politics of recognition” that Other Backward Classes (OBCs) have set into motion has its own set of terms and dynamics that contrast well with that of the dalits’ political discourse. The politics of OBCs have now brought into the public domain issues that are likely to change the very terms of discourse in which the debate on reservations was carried out in the past. They emphasise the need de-stigmatise the discourse of reservations before de-stigmatising those availing the benefits of affirmative action policies.

26Jun 2012 by annual

The Simple Economics of Affirmative Action Policies

Abstract

Glenn C Loury When choosing which students to admit, employees to hire, candidates to slate, or firms to patronize, the social identity of those selected can be a matter of great importance. As a consequence, regulations intended to achieve more diversity in the ranks of the chosen -- policies going under the rubric of "affirmative action," or "positive discrimination" -- have been promulgated in many societies throughout the world. Affirmative action policies regulate the allocation of scarce positions in education, employment, or business contracting so as to increase the representation in those positions of persons belonging to certain population subgroups. Such policies are highly controversial. Consider a few examples. In nations with sharp sectarian divisions -- Lebanon, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iraq – political stability can hinge on maintaining ethnic balance in…

11Jun 2012 by annual

18-20 July: Inequality and Affirmative Action: Situating Nepal in Global Debates

Panels/Sessions 2012

Hotel Shanker, Kathmandu Sponsored by the British Academy UK-South Asia Partnership Scheme and organised jointly by the Central Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Tribhuvan University, and Social Science Baha with additional support from Goldsmiths, University of London; Yale University; Social Inclusion Research Fund (SIRF) (SIRF is funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Nepal and managed by SNV in Nepal), and Open Society Foundations, New York. The organising team of the conference consists of: Om Gurung (Central Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Tribhuvan University); Alpa Shah (Goldsmiths, University of London); Sara Shneiderman (Yale University); Mukta Singh Lama-Tamang (Central Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Tribhuvan University); and Deepak Thapa (Social Science Baha). There is general recognition of the need to address inequality due to marginalisation and exclusion resulting from various historical and social processes. The conference will…

11Jun 2012 by annual

21 July: Mixed Panels

Panels/Sessions 2012

2012 For the fourth day of the conference, 21 July, 2012, proposals were initially invited either as stand-alone papers or as panels. The papers/panels were selected by an international committee representing the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies (ANHS), the Britain-Nepal Academic Council (BNAC) and the Social Science Baha. PANEL PRESENTATIONS: HALL A PANEL A1: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE [sta_anchor id="Mahendra Lawoti"] 9 – 10:45 AM Chair: Rajendra Pradhan, Nepa School of Social Sciences and Humanities Discussant: Mara Malagodi, School of Oriental and African Studies [sta_anchor id="Jacob Rinck"] S.N. Presenter Paper Title 1. Mahendra Lawoti Professor of Political Science, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA [sta_anchor id="James Sharrock"] Neither Exclusionary Nor Inclusive: Political Elite’s Attitudes and Behaviour in Democratising Multi-ethnic Nepal, 1990-2002 2. Jacob Rinck Prospective Graduate Student, Department of Anthropology, Yale University, Connecticut, USA Remittances, Stability…

11Jun 2012 by annual

Contact

General

Please direct your inquiries to: Rita BhujelEmail: conference@soscbaha.org Telephone: 01-4472807

11Jun 2012 by annual

The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal and the Himalaya 2013

General

Social Science Baha organised the Second Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal and the Himalaya in partnership with the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies and the Britain-Nepal Academic Council. The conference was held in Kathmandu from 24 to 26 July, 2013. The 2013 conference, spanned over two and half days, will consist of eight themed panels on various social science disciplines. For the conference, proposals were initially invited either as stand-alone papers or as panels. These papers/panels were then selected by an international committee representing the three organisations. Attendance to this part of the conference was by registration only. The conference also included two keynote addresses delivered during the evenings (5 – 6:30 pm) of 24 and 25 July as well as a panel discussion during the afternoon (2:30 – 4:30…