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CSSS is organising a talk by Dr. Vijayakumar M. Boratti

CSSS is organising a talk by Dr. Vijayakumar M. Boratti

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CSSS is organising a talk by Dr. Vijayakumar M. Boratti
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Centre for the Study of Social Systems
School of Social Sciences

 

CSSS Colloquium

 

Vijayakumar M. Boratti  
(Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Mysore University)

 


Census, Caste and Politics of Representation

 

Date & Time: October 26, 2017 (Thursday), 3.00 pm
Venue: CSSS Committee Room (Room No: 13), SSS-II

 

Abstract: Census as an institutionalized mechanism to enumerate, codify and represent people, has been studied with varied academic interests in India. One of the ways through which census is debated and discussed in the contemporary period is its colonial history. The debates and controversies about validity and efficacy of census in contemporary period have historical relations as its mechanisms carry several aspects of colonial period. In the backdrop of recent debates, this paper focuses on multiple ways of interpreting a “text” (census) by several castes to shape their notion of identity; ways of resolving conflicts and influencing enumeration process. Census in Mysore Princely State and its reception by Lingayath community are given as reference markers here. The article tries to address questions such as: what did census stand for Lingayaths in colonial period? How did they receive it and what were the terms set by them to understand and negotiate census? Why were they agitated over ascriptive and assigned identities? The present article assumes historical importance in the backdrop of Lingayath community's renewed demand for separate religious identity in the 21st century.

 

Bio: Dr. Vijayakumar M. Boratti teaches English at the University Evening College, University of Mysore. He has obtained doctoral degree from Central University of Hyderabad on "Understanding "Literary" Controversies". Currently he is working on history of 'nursery rhymes as folklore' in colonial Karnataka. His recent publication on "Lingayaths and First World War" in Economic and Political Weekly is worth mentioning here.

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.