2005: Workshop on 'Remembering Sadalakshmi'
T. N. Sadalakshmi was an important Dalit woman leader, active in many political movements in Andhra Pradesh, and also a minister in many governments. The workshop was conducted as part of G Shyamala's current work on writing a biography of Sadalakshmi. It brought together several members of her family, friends and colleagues, who spoke in some detail of their associations with her. The discussions were not limited to her personality alone, but offered insights into other political issues, thus providing important inputs to the biography project.
2003: National Conference. The Public and Private of Domestic Violence
This conference discussed the findings of the project 'Institutional Responses to Domestic Violence.' Presentations were made on the history of the concept of 'domestic violence' in India, the category of conjugality and its usefulness in understanding the dynamics of the family, and the many difficult questions relating to the law -- rights, legal frameworks, and apparatuses designed to 'respond' or 'intervene' in domestic violence cases. The conference also discussed the feminist understanding of domestic violence, and the possible new directions of thinking and strategising. Several publications have ensued from this study, both in the regional and English media. A report of this study, 'A Difficult Match: Women's Actions and Legal Institutions in the Face of Domestic Violence,' was published in the Ecomonic and Political Weekly, October, 2006.
2003: Workshop on 'Family and Mental Health'
This workshop was the result of the year-long discussions within the Study Group on Mental Health in Anveshi, where 'the family' emerged as a significant location for understanding mental distress in the Indian context. The workshop sought to look closely at the articulations of and negotiations with mental distress in the context of family and addressed concerns in understanding distress, the question of care, issues in working with families and the legal implication for the family as caregiver. Read a report of the workshop, published in aaina: a mental health advocacy newsletter.
2003: Workshop on 'Sexuality: Issues and Concerns'
The culmination of a long and scattered series of discussions at Anveshi and the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL), this three-day workshop was organised jointly by the CIEFL Film Club and Anveshi. It brought together work on sexuality with a focus on gay/lesbian issues in both academic and non-academic debates. Structured around panels interspersed by film-screenings, the workshop incorporated a diverse set of views on questions of desire, representational practices, law and political movements in relation to sexuality, particularly those sexual practices and politics that challenge the heterosexual norm.
2003: Symposium on 'Inter-Community Violence'
Held in the aftermath of the violence against the Muslim community in Gujarat, this symposium aimed to take a holistic look at communal and mob violence, and initiate action-research for understanding and preventing inter-community violence in India. It served as a platform for activists, administrators, trauma counselors, media representatives, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts and others interested in working against inter-community violence. The symposium was organised in collaboration with ThinkSoft, Hyderabad, Henry Martin Institute, Hyderabad, and the Confederation of Voluntary Organisations, Hyderabad.
2002: Workshop on the 'New Government Bill on Domestic Violence: Issues at Stake.'
This day-long workshop was organised to discuss the implications of the new Bill on Domestic Violence introduced by the then BJP government. Prior to the workshop, there was a series of meetings with women's organisations and human rights groups, where it was felt that the Bill had to be opposed in its proposed form. The workshop was attended by over fifty women. The well-known feminist lawyer Flavia Agnes and Veena Gowda, both from Majlis (Mumbai) were resource persons for this workshop.
2002: Workshops on 'Teachers' Perspectives on School Education'
Two workshops were held as part of the project 'Curricular Transactions in Selected Government Primary Schools.' The first workshop was held in February and discussed the problem of high drop-out rates in the schools. It yielded significant insights into the contexts in which children drop out of schools and the efforts schools make to bring them back into the education system. The second workshop was organised in April with teachers from the schools that were chosen for the project. Their opinions on a range of subjects such as the curriculum, examinations and evaluation, government policies etc were sought. More details about the workshops are available in the final report of the project, available at Anveshi.
2001: 'Listening Together, Talking Differences: A South Indian Young Feminists Conference'
Organised in collaboration with the Hyderabad Women's Collective, this three-day conference brought together about 200 participants who had been aligned with feminism for over a decade. Participants from various parts of South India attended in their individual capacities and as representatives of activist groups, and discussed issues ranging from engagements with and critiques of the women's movement, to personal spaces, questions of sexuality and singlehood, and women's struggles for control over economic resources.
2001: Workshop on 'Economic Reforms in Andhra Pradesh: A People's Review'
The main aim of this two-day workshop was to discuss the World Bank aided economic reforms in Andhra Pradesh and examine their impact on the people. The discussions contributed to understanding and building a shared perspective on issues such as governance, privatization, agriculture, public welfare, health and nutrition, poverty and livelihoods.
2000: Workshop on 'Information Dimensions for Women's Studies'
This workshop was organised in collaboration with CWDS and IAWS.
2000: Plenary session on 'Public Policy, Tribal Issues and the Women's Movement'
Anveshi organised this plenary session for the 9th annual conference of the Indian Association of Women's Studies held in Hyderabad. Various issues relating to lives, experiences, and political movements/rebellions of tribes in the North Eastern region, Bihar and other parts of the country were presented by the speakers on the panel (Jarjum Ete, Vasavi, Shyamala Rathore, Susie Tharu). The presentations and the discussions that followed undelined the importance of understanding women in their different locations, and raised larger questions of citizenship, justice and politics from a perspective that would engage with the margins.
