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Colloquium organised by CSSS

Colloquium organised by CSSS

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Colloquium organised by CSSS
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Centre for the Study of Social Systems

        Thursday Colloquium (9th May, 2019)  

                                          

Prof. Huma Ahmed-Ghosh, Department of Women's Studies at San Diego State University

 

Venue: Room No.13, CSSS at 11:00 a.m.

 

Reflections on Muslim Women’s Lived Experiences in Afghanistan and India--Dilemmas of Democracy.

Abstract

 

Contemporary Afghanistan provides a good case study for looking at the growing demand for women's rights within a tribal, Islamic and modernizing framework. As was explicated by many women interviewed in Afghanistan, women’s rights can only be ensured through democracy and democracy can only be ensured through full participation of women in the political process especially when women comprise at least 60 percent of the country's population. In turn, they say that women's political participation is dependent on their economic empowerment and social and physical security. In the context of the current political situation in India, my research is questioning the very meaning of democracy as Muslim women’s insecurities increase and the Muslim community retreats into an abyss of conservatism and economic disempowerment. Toward that, this presentation will delineate the various debates on the human rights, its political complexities, cultural applicability and universality and its ability to translate to equal citizenship for Muslim women in India and Afghanistan.           

Bio

Prof. Ahmed-Ghosh has also published articles on gendered ageing in India, widowhood and domestic violence in India. Ahmed-Ghosh has published two edited books titled, Contesting Feminisms: Gender and Islam in Asia, and Asian Muslim Women: Globalization and Local Realities published by SUNY Press, New York (2015). She is currently working on an edited book titled, Transgressive Sexualities: Same Sex Love and Desire among Muslim Women. She is a recent recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to India to research issues of self-identity among Muslim youth growing up in the 1990s and beyond. She is currently affiliated with the Sarojini Naidu Centre for Women’s Studies at Jamia Millia University in New Delhi.

 

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.