Prof. Carolyn Elliott, 17th November 2007.
Prof.Carolyn Elliott’s talk on “Markets, Communities and Empowerment” was based on her introduction to an edited volume entitled the Global Empowerment of Women: Responses to Globalization and Politicized Religions (forthcoming). She examined the contradictions between markets and communities, both theoretically and empirically, and the effects on women's empowerment, by considering case studies from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Middle East.
Prof. Elliott has specialized on India and women in developing countries in her long academic career spanning nearly 40 years, in the broad areas of comparative politics and women's studies. She has taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz and was the founding Director of the Center for Reaserch on Women at Wellesley College. She has also served as the Director of Indo-American Centre for International Studies, familiar to many here as ASRC.
Dr.Jayasree Kalathil, 14th September 2007.
Drawing on her work in the last four years, Jayasree spoke on “Race, Rights and Madness: Introducing the Context of Black Mental Health Work”. She spoke about her involvement in the Black mental health service user movement in the UK, placing it within the larger context of the UK survivor movement, mental health policies and recent campaigns. Much of the mental health work in the UK is within the frameworks of anti-discrimination and race equality, both conceptualised from a human rights perspective. Her talk will focused on the complexities of a rights-based framework in negotiating mental health services.
National Seminar on Histories, Cultures, Politics: Islam in South India,17th -18th August 2007.
The seminar was a two-day event, held on August 17 and 18th. There were two sessions on each day, with five papers being presented on the first day and six on the second. There was an additional presentation by the Telugu Muslim writer and poet Mr. S.K Yousuf Baba on the second day. The focus of the seminar was on various social, historical and theoretical concerns in the field of the study of Islam and Muslims in the main south Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. We also wanted younger scholars, who have just begun their research, for example, along with more experienced and better-known names in the field to come together at the seminar, so that one may both get a sense of the fresh research being done, as well as benefit from the perspectives provided by the way the field has been thus far researched.
The preparation for the seminar began about 10 months in advance, when we began a reading group. A regular group of ten to twelve people, from Anveshi, CIEFL and Osmaia University met once a month to discuss readings drawn from different books and journals, dealing with contemporary Islam, Muslims, and secularism in India and the world. The invitees- discussants and those who presented papers- were based mainly in the academy, that is, in various universities and research institutions across India (Prof. M.A Kalam from Madras University, Dr. Neshat Quaiser from Jamia Milia Islamia, Prof. Janaki Nair from CSSS, Kolkata etc.) However, we also had some freelance researchers and other professionals, whose areas of interest and specialization coincided with the topic of the seminar- for instance, S. Anvar from Chennai, who made a presentation on the history of Tamil Muslims, and Dr. J. Raja Mohamad from Pudukottai (Tamil Nadu), who retired as the Curator of the Government Museum in Pudukottai, and is the author of several books related to the history of Islam in Tamil Nadu. Students and faculty of Osmania University, University of Hyderabad and The English and Foreign Languages University, representatives of organizations such as COVA and several researchers and activists from Hyderabad, Bangalore, Bombay, Delhi and Kerala made up the rest of the numbers. For this diverse audience, we had arranged for Urdu and Telugu translations of the abstracts of the papers.
The Discussions in the Seminar: a brief account
As can be seen from the schedule, a variety of topics of contemporary relevance were discussed. Conversion; the dominant discourses of secularism and modernity through which Islam and Muslim issues are discussed in India and the world over (Aisha Farooqi and Nigar Ataulla’s papers- and the very interesting responses to them); the way that archives of art (paintings, murals, sculpture), architecture (the planning of cities, eg. Mysore), monuments (cave-temples, mosques, viharas etc.) can be delved into to excavate various historical narratives about Muslim life in the South (S. Anvar’s presentation and Dr. Nair’s paper). However, by far the major topics of discussion over two days were 1) the question of history and memory- can one serve as a ‘corrective’ to the other, or are their operations and significance in completely different registers? And if this is so, then how do we take account of both in the contemporary forms of ethical and political subjectivity that become available to Muslims in the south- whether in Kerala, or Hyderabad, or Tamil Nadu? 2) The question of caste in relation to Muslim life and identity; how does one think in terms of political alliances, shared lifeworlds (or not), conflict, negotiation, or overlaps? Do we have the theoretical equipment to begin thinking about these questions?
M.A Moid’s paper on the ‘Muslim Situation in Hyderabad’ and Prof. Susie Tharu’s response to it aroused a great deal of interest and discussion, especially around the post- Accession history of Hyderabad. In an earlier session, Dr. Shamshad K.T had discussed the role of women’s memories of the Mapilla Rebellion of 1921, as an important archive to gain some understanding of an event that has been much written about. Both papers, though coming from completely different disciplines, with a different set of concerns and arguments, raised discussion about memory and memorializing events- how is an ‘event’ remembered by the group of people affected by it, and what can be the various consequences/ implications of this memory?
The discussion that followed Prof. M.A Kalam’s paper, as well as B. Venkat Rao and Shefali Jha’s papers, centered on the question of caste and Muslims in India. The poet S.K Yousuf Baba’a presentation, on the political stance of a group of vocal Telugu Muslim writers and poets, expressing solidarity and shared social spaces and lives with Dalits in AP, was also an important intervention in this regard. There was some discussion about whether various ‘occupation groups’ within Muslims could actually be equated with castes, and what was the relationship between these groups, and whether we had enough research and theoretical thinking in this area to engage with this question and its implications; the more interesting discussion was about how one could begin thinking in terms of alliances and politically shared agendas.
Workshop on ‘Dalit Women and Governance: Discourse of Empowerment’,1st August, 2007 (The detailed report of the workshop is available)
A day long workshop was organized on the theme Dalit Women and Governance: Discourse of Empowerment. This workshop was organized to enable a discussion with activists, NGOs and scholars working on the issues of Dalit women and empowerment. The discussions in the workshop focused on the questions: how do we understand the lived realities of a Dalit woman Sarpanch and the local resources that she mobilizes in order to stay in power? In what ways do we understand the support that Dalit women require from the families and communities to enable their political participation? Drawing on wide ranging experiences of working in rural areas, all the presenters drew attention to issues of caste relations that shaped the working of the dalit women as sarpanches. A.Suneetha welcomed the participants, giving a brief overview of the debates on women and empowerment and the context in which the discussion is being organized. Subhadra drawing on her interviews with nearly 35 dalit women in Telangana districts pointed out that all the dalit sarpanches had to learn, struggle to exercise power in the face of opposition of the landlords in the village’. Quite a few women wanted to continue in politics, despite the resultant troubles and subservient or reluctant entry. Sujatha’s presentation on East Godavari district where she found the dalit women not interested in challenging either caste relations or male dominance in the family evoked a heated discussion. Jhansi’s (Dalita Stree Shakti) presentation on cases of atrocities on dalit women sarpanches drew contrast with the picture that Sujatha’s study showed, where dalit women are being prevented from entering the office, beaten and sometimes killed. Veera Swamy’s (Sphoorti, Suryapet) presentation on efforts to mobilize electoral support for dalit contestants drew attention to the difficulties of mobilizing from outside the specific context of the village.
The discussions at the workshop, Shyamala concluded, threw up two perspectives on empowerment – one, that looks at dalit women’s entry into local politics from below; the other, from the structural power angle. There are signs of hope as well as despair on empowerment.
The other participants at the workshop were Dr.Samata (OGH); Satyavathi (Editor, Bhumika); K.Sajaya (independent film-maker), Jajula Gowri (dalit writer); and those working in various initiatives of Anveshi, including K.Sudha, A.Suneetha, Vasudha Nagaraj, Praveen Kumar, K.C.Bindu, S.Jaya, Shefali Jha and R.Srivatsan. This workshop was organized on 1st August, 2007.
Flavia Agnes, 2nd November 2007.
Flavia Agnes, the noted feminist and senior matrimonial lawyer in the country who has been consistently writing on aspects of women's engagements with the law, the politics of gender justice and the Uniform Civil Code, the possibilities of law reform from within the communities and many other issues relating to the structure and implementation of law. She was also one of the key persons who coordinated the efforts between the Christian communities and the State in enabling amendments to the Divorce Act, 1869. In this talk she spoke about the study that she had done in the last five years about the functioning of family courts in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal and lately Andhra Pradesh. The study is both a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of issues related to functioning of a court: budgets allocated; staff and infrastructure, the number of people (men/women, Hindu/Muslim/ Christian) who use the courts, the reliefs sought and granted, and the time period in which they are granted. Family court Judges were interviewed as part of this study to understand their responses to the functioning of the family courts. In Andhra Pradesh the study was conducted in 2003-2004. The report is now due for release. Flavia presented the findings of this study and discussed the efforts that can be made to strengthen this institution.
Rekha Raj, July 2007.
Dalit writer and activist from Kerala, Rekha Raj, who has published several articles on gender and caste in Malayalam spoke at Anveshi on July, 2007 on the theme Gender and Caste: Dalit Feminist Experience in Kerala drawing on various aspects of Dalit status in Kerala and the mainstream partys’ response to such activism.
Dr. Vithal Rajan ,24th March 2007.
Dr. Vithal Rajan, in commemoration of the International Women’s Day, organized a show "Male Lens, Female Lens" in Anveshi where he compared the photographs taken by pioneering women photographers with that of famous male contemporaries. Featured on the show were many artists such as Cameron Talbot, Abbot Atget, Model Weegee, Levit Evans, Lange Salgado, Monotti Weston, Bourke White-Smith, Arbus Winogrand, Cunnigham-Bellocq, Sherman Friedlander and Homai Vyavarawalla.
National Seminar on Exploring Masculinities,30th -31st March 2007.
Exploring Masculinities, A South Asian Traveling Seminar was hosted by Anveshi and CIEFL. The Traveling Seminar on Exploring Masculinities was a unique concept designed to introduce diverse questions of masculinities and gender relations within the university system. The seminar was designed as a platform to introduce current theories and practices on the theme of masculinities and its relationship with gender based violence, reproductive health and gender equality/justice to the university community and hoped to generate interest for further work in the area. This seminar intended will travel to ten universities in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Anveshi collaborated with this group, Aakar, along with Centre for Cultural Studies, Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages to host this seminar. The speakers and discussants included, Prof.Shohini Ghosh, Prof.Susie Thrau, Dr.Muralidharan Tharayil, Dr.Radhika Chopra, Prof.Shasheej Hegde, Prof.Deepak Mehta, Dr.Aparna Rayaprolu, R.Srivatsan, Rahul Roy, Dr. Pushpesh Kumar and Prof.Madhava Prasad among others. The seminar brought together a range of speakers interrogating the concept of masculinity from different locations.
Dr. Katti Padma Rao,19th March 2007.
An important programme in the Dalits and Minorities initiative is the Dalit lecture series. To introduce Telugu readers to the debates in Dalit Studies, Anveshi has initiated a Dalit Lecture Series, which include interactive sessions and public lectures with leading Dalit scholars and activists. In March we invited Dr. Katti Padma Rao, a leading Dalit intellectual in Andhra Pradesh and the founder of the Dalit Mahasabha, to deliver a talk. The talk was organized in a central and accessible location, Press Club. The meeting could be counted as an extremely successful one as more than 200 people participated. What was significant about the gathering was that most of them were Dalit students and activists. Mr. Katti Padma Rao spoke on the subject The Historical Necessity of the Dalit Socio-Cultural Revolution. Padma Rao spoke for about three hours reflecting on the politics of untouchability and its linkages to language, the philosophy of Ambedkar and the project of Dalit empowerment. An important message of his talk was that the Dalit youth should begin to write their particular social histories. Wide publicity was given for this talk so that many could attend.
Visit of Florence Howe & Shirley Mow, Feminist Press, 29th to 31st January, 2007.
Florence Howe, who heads the Feminist Press, New York, accompanied by Shirley Mow, another member of the Press, visited Anveshi to celebrate the release of four volumes of Women Writing Africa. They acknowledged that the inspiration for these four volumes came from Women Writing India, which was first published by the Feminist Press. In the meeting organized by Anveshi, the publishers spoke about Women Writing Africa and interacted with women writers in Hyderabad. Anveshi also organized meetings in EFL University with Florence Howe to enable students to interact with her and also learn about feminist publishing. Anveshi also arranged for Shirley Mow to speak on their project on Women and Science in US at the University of Hyderabad and this was attended by a large number of women Science faculty.
Professor Stacey Blakebeard , 19th January 2007.
Stacey Blakebeard, a Professor from the Simmons College of Management, Boston, USA spent time at Anveshi interacting with the Fellows, exchanging notes on the possibilities and problems of mentoring on January 19th 2007.
Dr Ann Rossiter, January 4th 2007.
Dr.Ann Rossiter, a leading socialist feminist from Ireland visited and spoke at the public lecture that Anveshi organized on Political Islam in Britain: State Policy, Cultural Representation and Feminist Responses. She focused on the persecution of the Muslim community in England in the register of terrorism on January 4th, 2007.
Dr. R. Srivatsan
Dr.R.Srivatsan, a senior research Fellow at Anveshi presented on the topic Art, Autobiography and Authenticity in the Digital Age at a public meeting organized by Anveshi. He raised the question: What constitutes an autobiography in art? How is it different from the self-portrait? How does the question of authenticity- of the self, but also of the 'nation'- play itself out in this terrain? And how does the medium of digital art inflect these questions about the self and authenticity, and 'art' itself? The presentation discussed these questions through the work of artists like Raja Ravi Varma and Amrita Sher Gil, and contemporary artists such as Vivan Sundaram, Pushpamala and Priyaranjan Lall.