SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK

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Newsletter 47:

23 December 2004

SASNET News:

• Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2005
SASNET wishes a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2005 to all South Asia oriented researchers and educationists in our network. It is a pleasure for us to recollect the inspiring input you have given us during the four years since SASNET was created in January 2001. The web site has grown immensely, our planning grants have been instrumental in facilitating a large number of South Asia related research and educational projects, and our International networking was crowned by successfully arranging the 18th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies at Lund University in July 2004.
In the coming year we will continue our efforts to promote research and courses on South Asia related issues in all faculties and at all Swedish universities, as well as enhance existing links and networks with researchers and institutions in South Asia and globally. Your cooperation will be essential for us to succeed in this.
Lars Eklund and Staffan Lindberg

Community News:

• Large gathering of Swedish researchers on development issues in Stockholm
Stockholm University in collaboration with Sida invites for the largest gathering so far in Sweden of Third world oriented researchers, within fields such as Biodiversity, Children and youth, Climate, Corruption, Environment, Ethnicity, Food and water, Gender, Hazards, Health, Infrastructure, Law, Religion, Urbanity, War and violence, and Welfare, on 12–14 January 2005. It is a conference organised by Stockholm University’s Dept. of Social Anthropology focusing on ”Structures of Vulnerability: Mobilisation and Resistance”, and a vast number of South Asia related research papers wil be presented in the workshops.
This is the third conference in a series of conferences financed by Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, on the challenges faced by the research community in developing countries. The first conference was arranged with Göteborg University in January 2000, and the second, named ”Poor and Rich” was held at Lund University in January 2003 (more information on the Lund conference). Venues for the Stockholm conference: Aula Magna and the House of Geo Sciences at Stockholm University Campus Frescati. More information.

• Nordic Association for South Asian Studies organises conference in Aarhus
After a gap of four years the Nordic Association for South Asian Studies, NASA, arranges a conference 3–5 June 2005 in Aarhus, Denmark. The theme for the conference (that normally should be a biannual event) will be ”Contemporary Dramas of South Asia: Economic, Social, Political and Cultural Changes/Upheavals”, and it is organised by the University of Aarhus. The conference includes workshops on • Globalization, economic changes and socio-political upheavals; • States and minorities in South Asia; • Imagining Nations: middle classes and processes of nation formation in South Asia; • A South Asian security conundrum?; • Anti-oppressive movements; • Secularism in South Asia; and • Health, Globalization and Marginalization in South Asia. Keynote speakers are Dr. Christophe Jaffrelot, director of the Centre d’Etudes et Recherches Internationales (CERI), Paris; Professor Zoya Hasan, Centre for Political Studies, Jawarharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Professor Martin Sökefeld, Dept. of Anthropology, Hamburg University; and Professor Isabelle Clark-Deces, Department of Anthropology, Princeton University. More information on the NASA conference.

• Doctoral dissertation on religious practices in an Indian Durga temple
Göran Viktor Ståhle, Division of Psychology of Religion, Dept. of Theology, Uppsala University, defended his doctoral dissertation called ”The Religious Self in Practice at a Hindu Goddess-Temple: A Cultural Psychological Approach for the Psychology of Religion”, on Friday 17 December 2004. The thesis is a study of a Durga temple in Varanasi, India. Faculty opponent was Professor Nils G Holm, Dept. of Religious Studies, Åbo Akademi, Finland. More information with abstract.

• Doctoral dissertation on Christian Spirituality Informed by Buddhist-Christian Encounters
Ann Aldén, Missiology with Ecumenical Theology, Ecclesial Studies; Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University, defender her doctoral dissertation on ”Religion in Dialogue with Late Modern Society: A Constructive Contribution to a Christian Spirituality Informed by Buddhist-Christian Encounters”, on Saturday 11 December 2004, 10.15–13.00. Her study is focused on Thich Nath Han in Vietnam, and Aloysius Pieris in Sri Lanka, two persons involved in a dialogue between Buddhism and Christianity. Faculty opponent was Professor Paul Knitter, Xavier University, Cincinatti, USA. More information.

• Doctoral dissertation on NGO’s in Bangladesh and Nepal
Mojibur R. Doftori, Department of Social Policy, University of Helsinki, Finland, defended his doctoral dissertation on 12 November 2004. The title of the published dissertation is ”Education and Child Labour in Developing Countries: A Study on the Role of Non-Governmental Organisations in Bangladesh and Nepal”. Faculty opponent was Tuomas Takala, Professor of Comparative Education, University of Tampere. More information with link to full paper (as a pdf-file)

• Roskilde doctoral dissertation on 1947 Punjabi Migrants in Delhi
Ravinder Kaur, Graduate School of International Development Studies, Roskilde University Centre (RUC), Denmark, defended her doctoral dissertation on ”Narratives of Resettlement. Past, Present and Politics among 1947 Punjabi Migrants in Delhi”, on Friday 10 December 2004, 13.00. The Assessment Committee members were Steen Bergendorff, Roskilde University; Professor Paul Brass, University of Washington; and Professor Gyan Pandey, Johns Hopkins University, USA.

• 10th anniversary for Örebro University’s Sweden–India Project
Örebro University’s Sweden–India Project celebrated its 10th anniversary with a two-days seminar on ”Transcultural Sensitivity”, 16–17 December 2004. The Sweden–India Project is run by the Social Work programme at Örebro University but involves other Swedish universities as well, and consists of field based training programme for social workers, nurses, lawyers, doctors and teachers. The field practice has its base in Pune, Maharastra, India, and over the years altogether 450 participants have gone through the training. The seminar included a lecture by Prof. Seshadri Seetharaman from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (on the photo in the middle, together with the key persons of the Sweden-India project, Lakshmi Kumar and Anders Jonsson). More information on the Sweden-India Project.

• European Database on Indian Studies in the humanities and the social sciences
A database on European Studies on India in the humanities and the social sciences is now built by the Research Centre Vergelijkende Cultuurwetenschap, Ghent University, Belgium. It is called the European Studies on India Database, ESIND, and the aim is to include data of all scholars within the European Union that are engaged in research on India. The database will be freely accessible to all on the Research Centre's website, which is currently being set up. Anybody wanting to be included in the database should write to Ralf Gelders at Ghent University.

Educational News

Conferences and courses

• 37th Bengal Studies Conference at Stamford University, Dhaka
The 37th Bengal Studies Conference will be held at Stamford University , Dhaka, Bangladesh, 4–6 January 2005. Traditionally Bengal Studies Conferences, arranged since 1965, have always been hosted by institutions of higher learning in the USA and Canada – most recently the 36th Conference was held at the Academy of Bangla Arts & Culture in Irving, Texas, USA, on 4–6 April 2003. Now the conference for the first time will be hosted in South Asia, by the private Stamford University, founded in 1994. More information.

• Cultural Studies Workshop arranged at Bhubaneswar
The Centre for Studies in Social Sciences (CSSS) Kolkata, India, in collaboration with the Ford Foundation (India) and SEPHIS (the Netherlands), will hold its Tenth Cultural Studies Workshop 21–26 January 2005, in Bhubaneswar, India. The broad theme for the workshop will be ”The Governance of Cultures”. It is mainly intended for doctoral or post-doctoral students (preferably below the age of 35) who will be able to present a research paper for discussion.

• New Delhi Conference on ”Cultural and Religious Mosaic of South and Southeast Asia
An International Conference on ”Cultural and Religious Mosaic of South and Southeast Asia: Conflict and Consensus through the Ages” is arranged in New Delhi, India, 27–30 January 2005. The conference is arranged by South and Southeast Asian Association for the Study of Religion, and co-hosted by the International Association for the History of Religion, IAHR, and Unesco. It is also held in collaboration with K. J. Somaiya Centre of Buddhist Studies, Mumbai, and the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), New Delhi.

• 20th Annual South Asia Conference at Berkeley
The 20th Annual South Asia Conference at the University of California, Berkeley, is arranged 11–12 February 2005. The conference organised by the university’s Center for South Asian Studies will include panels on contemporary and historical topics in fields such as anthropology, political science, history, economics, and development studies, literature and language, history of art and architecture, geography, environmental management and health, film and communications, and religious and cultural studies.

• Göteborg Conference on Negotiating Gender Justice
The Centre for Global Gender Studies at PADRIGU, Göteborg University, Sweden, arranges a conference on ”Negotiating Gender Justice”, 28 February – 2 March 2005. This conference focuses on gender relations in countries in the South and aims at exploring how meanings of gender justice are negotiated at all levels of society, in parliaments as well as in bedrooms. Out of the 12 guest speakers from the Third World two are Indian: Dr. Kumud Sharma from the Centre for Women's Development Studies, Delhi, and V. Geetha Asia College of Journalism, Chennai.

• Stockholm seminar on Militant Islamism in Afghanistan
An International Seminar on the ”Emergence of Militant Islamism and its Relevance for Afghanistan” is held in Stockholm 10–11 March 2005. The seminar is arranged by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, with support from Sida. Invited speakers include Ahmad Moussalli, Sima Samar, Ahmed Rashid, Gilles Kepel, Jan Hjärpe and Magnus Norell. More information

• Sussex conference in recognition of the Santal Rebellion
The University of Sussex organizes a conference on ”Reinterpreting Adivasi (Indigenous peoples) Movements in South Asia”, 21–23 March 2005. The conference is held in recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Santal Rebellion in the present state of Jharkhand in eastern India. Deadline for paper proposals is the end of September 2004. Venue: Graduate Centre in the School of Humanities, and Graduate Centre in the School of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies, University of Sussex, UK.

• British Association for South Asian Studies meet at Leeds
The British Association for South Asian Studies (BASAS) organises its 2005 Annual Conference at the University of Leeds, UK, 30 March–1 April 2005. BASAS is the largest UK academic association for the study of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and the South Asian Diaspora. Some of the panels accepted so far: ”Nepali Identity in the Diaspora”, ”It's shining for some: an exploration of India's post-liberalisation middle classes”, ”Religion and Politics in Contemporary Pakistan”, and ”Maritime archaeology and ethnographic approaches in India”. Professor Staffan Lindberg, Director of SASNET, will take part in the conference. Last date for registration: 25 February 2005. More information.

• Singapore Conference on Political Legitimacy in Islamic Asia
An International Conference on ”Political Legitimacy in Islamic Asia” is held in Singapore 25-26 April 2005. The conference is organised by the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore. The aim is to explore the ways in which Muslim thinkers and statesmen have justified, and do justify, the exercise of power in the complex and plural area consisting of Asia east of Afghanistan, home of half the world’s Muslims. In this region areas of Muslim majority have over the centuries been ruled over by Muslims, both Sunni and Shia, by Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and communist atheists.

• International Sanskrit Conference in Bangkok
An International Conference on Sanskrit in Asia: Unity in Diversity is held in Bangkok, Thailand, 23–26 June 2005. The conference is organised by the Sanskrit Studies Centre at Silpakorn University, one of the earliest universities in Southeast Asia where Sanskrit has been offered as a major course in curriculum for almost half a century. More information.

• Uppsala University arranges third Balochistan conference
The 3rd international conference on Balochistan with the theme ”Pluralism in Balochistan” will be held in Uppsala 18–21 August 2005. Balochistan has throughout history been one of the important meeting points between the Indian Subcontinent and the Iranian Plateau. Today's Balochistan is divided between Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the conference wants to highlight various aspects of plurality in presentday Balochistan. Researchers are invited to present papers with a focus on socioeconomic, religious, linguistic, literary and cultural plurality in Balochistan. The conference is organised by the Iranian Studies division at the Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University. More information (as a pdf-file)

• Drainage Basin Management theme for 2005 World Water Week
The 2005 World Water Week will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, 21–27 August. The annual World Water Week in Stockholm has become a valuable meeting point and platform for the world’s water community, and includes topical plenary sessions and panel debates, scientific Stockholm Water Symposium workshops, seminars and side events organised by different international organisations, exhibitions and festive prize ceremonies honouring excellence in the water field. Usually a large number of the delegates come from South Asia. Abstracts for presentation are accepted until 1 February. The overall theme for the 2005 World Water Week is “Drainage Basin Management. Hard and Soft Solutions in Regional Development.” More information on on the World Water Week web site.

• Announcement soon to come for the 19th ECMSAS conference at Leiden
The 19th European Conference of Modern South Asian Studies (ECMSAS) will be held at Leiden University, the Netherlands, 27–30 June 2006. The first announcement will be published in January 2005. Read about the previous, 18th, ECMSAS conference arranged by SASNET in July 2004.

• Other conferences connected to South Asian studies arranged all over the World
See SASNET’s page, http://www.sasnet.lu.se/conferences.html#conf

New and updated items on SASNET web site

• More Swedish departments where research on South Asia is going on:
Added (and updated) to the list of research environments at Swedish universities, presented by SASNET. The full list now includes 133 departments. Go to the presentation page.

ƒ Marine Geology, Department of Earth Sciences, Göteborg University

ƒ Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, Dept. of Environmental and Regional Studies of the Human Condition, Göteborg University

ƒ School of Social and Health Sciences, Halmstad University

ƒ Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Karolinska Institutet Medical University, Stockholm

ƒ Dept. of Community Medicine, Lund University (at Malmö)

• Library to useful Internet resources on South Asian studies
SASNET’s Library page has been completely changed in order to make it more useful for students and researchers interested to get direct access to Internet resources on South Asian studies. We offer links to
• Information Networks on South Asia;
• Books and Journals on South Asia‚
• Country information on South Asia;
• Topics on South Asia (Arts and Humanities – History, Religion, Languages, Social Sciences, Agriculture, Environment, Public Health, Human Rights situation & Corruption, and Drugs situation);
• Maps, Statistics and Practical Information on South Asia;
• South Asian Development Research & Policies/UN agencies
Go to SASNET’s Library page!

Best regards,

       Staffan Lindberg           Lars Eklund

 SASNET/ Swedish South Asian Studies Network

SASNET is a national network for research, education, and information about South Asia, based at Lund University. The aim is to encourage and promote an open and dynamic networking process, in which Swedish researchers co-operate with researchers in South Asia and globally.
The network is open to all sciences. Priority is given to co-operation between disciplines and across faculties, as well as institutions in the Nordic countries and in South Asia. The basic idea is that South Asian studies will be most fruitfully pursued in co-operation between researchers, working in different institutions with a solid base in their mother disciplines.
The network is financed by Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) and by Lund University.

Postal address: SASNET – Swedish South Asian Studies Network, Scheelevägen 15 D, S-223 63 Lund, Sweden
Visiting address: Ideon Research Park, House Alfa 1 (first floor, room no. 2042), in the premises of the Centre for East and South East Asian Studies at Lund University (ACE).
Phone: + 46 46 222 73 40
Fax: + 46 46 222 30 41
E-mail: sasnet@sasnet.lu.se
Web site: http://www.sasnet.lu.se
Staff: Staffan Lindberg, director/co-ordinator & Lars Eklund, webmaster/deputy director