On behalf of the European Association of South Asian Studes (EASAS), SASNET successfully hosted the Ninth European PhD workshop in South Asia Studies, in Höllviken 30 km south of Malmö, Sweden, on 18–19 May 2015. SASNET has organised these EASAS workshops twice before. This was a two-day annual workshop for a maximum of 20 PhD candidates and six faculty members from European universities with an aim to give PhD students an opportunity to receive feedback on their theses from senior scholars and fellow PhD candidates who are also working on South Asian topics. Venue: Falsterbo Kursgård, Ljungvägen 1, Höllviken.
Dr. Jayakumari Devika from Centre for Development Studies (CDS) in Thiruvananthapuram, India, held a most interesting keynote speech on ”The 2014 Kiss of Love Protest”, and how this non-violent protest against moral policing which started in Kerala, later spread to other parts of India (photo).
The senior scholars were, besides Dr. Devika, Dr. Margret Frenz – Departmental Lecturer in Global and Imperial History at University of Oxford, UK; Professor Blandine Ripert from the Centre for South Asian Studies at CEIAS (CNRS-EHESS), Paris, France; Peter Mollinga – Professor of Development Studies at SOAS, University of London, UK; Professor Roger Jeffery from the the School of Social and Political Science at University of Edinburgh, Scotland; and Professor Rosa Perez from the Department of Anthropology at Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE), Portugal. The workshop was inaugurated by SASNET acting director Lars Eklund, and all practical matters were efficiently taken care of by Andreas Johansson and Olle Frödin from SASNET.
The full list of participants is given below.
General information
Participants were PhD candidates in their second or later year at a European university, working on any topic that has a strong relevance to South Asia. SASNET/Lund University invited European universities to nominate a maximum of three students each for the workshop. Each university should, if possible, also be prepared to send a researcher to participate in the workshop as a discussant. Lund University provided board and lodging for students and guest faculty members.
The PhD students did not present their own papers. Instead, they were given the responsibility of introducing the paper of another participant; and raising some questions. Each PhD student therefore was given someone else´s paper (well in advance of the seminar) and had a maximum of 15 minutes to present it. Afterwards the senior scholar acting as a discussant provided feedback on the introduced paper for a maximum of 15 minutes. Subsequently the paper giver was given a maximum of 15 minutes to respond. Finally there was a general discussion for 15 minutes.
Workshop programme
May 18th, 2015
10.30–11.15: Reception and registration (In room Altona)
11.15–11.30: Presentation of SASNET (In room Altona)
11.30–12.30: Lunch buffet (included for all the participants)
12.30–14.30: Session 1 (three parallel groups, see separate schedule below)
14.30–15.00: Coffee break (In room Altona)
15.00–16.00 Session 2
16.10–17.00 Keynote speach by Jayakumari Devika, from Centre for Development Studies (CDS) in Thiruvananthapuram, India. (In room Altona)
17.00–19.00 Free time
19.00–22.00 Dinner (included for all the participants)
May 19th, 2015
.From 07.00 Breakfast (included for all the participants)
10.00–12.00: Session 3
12.00–13.00: Lunch buffet (included for all the participants)
13.00–15.00: Session 4
15.10–15.30 Summary, coffee, thanks and farewell (In room Altona)
Group Schedules
Group 1
Senior scholars: Margret Frenz & Blandine Ripert
Room: Tingstäde
Session 1, May 18th 12.30-14.30
12.30-13.30: Sadiq Rahman: “Cultural Perspective on India in the German Pre-War Cinema: An Analysis of the Indian Films of Franz Osten“ presented by Sanchari De and discussed by Blandine Ripert
13.30-14.30: Fabien Provost: “The factualization of medico-legal opinions: displaying scientific objectivity to produce judiciary evidence” Presented by Sruthi Muraleedharan and discussed by Margret Frenz
14.30-15.00: Coffee break (In room Altona)
Session 2 May 18th 15.00-16.00
15.00-16.00: Hanns Kendel: “Security in Indian Legal History” presented by Francesca Fuoli and discussed by Margret Frenz
16.10-17.00: Keynote: Jayakumari Devika (In room Altona)
Session 3 19th May 10-12
10-11: Sanchari De: “The Shahbag Movement in Bangladesh and Visibility of Socio-cultural Struggle: An Attempt to Locate the Connection Between Political Mobilization and New Media Practices” presented by Fabien Provost and discussed by Blandine Ripert
11-12: Blake Smith: “Imitating Indiennes, Imagining South Asia: Orientalist Stereotypes and the French Production of Dyed Cotton Cloth, 1750-1800” Presented by Sadiq Rahman and discussed by Margret Frenz
Session 4 19th May 13-15
13-14: Sruthi Muraleedharan “Symbolic Encounters: defiance, performativity and ‘Dalit’ subjectivity in India” presented by Blake Smith and discussed by Blandine Ripert
14-15: Francesca Fuoli “British co-optation of Afghanistan’s Shia minorities. Politics and sectarian tensions during the second Afghan war (1878-1881)” presented by Hanns Kendel and discussed by Margret Frenz
Group 2
Senior scholars: Peter Mollinga & Roger Jeffery
Room: Viggen
Session 1 May 18th 12.30-14.30
12.30-13.30: Maruf Syed: ”Socio-Cultural Remittances and their Impact: A Study of Migrant Sending Communities in Rural Bangladesh” Presented by Sara Baiocco and discussed by Peter Mollinga
13.30-14.30: Jean Thomas Martelli: ”From Mobilisation to Demobilisation; Life and Death of Political Socialisation in an Indian Campus” Presented by Syed Mohammed and discussed by Roger Jeffery
14.30-15.00: Coffee break (In room Altona)
Session 2 May 18th 15.00-16.00
15.00-16.00: Mohammad Hoque: ”Contested Indigenous Sovereignty: Environmental Degradation and Marginalisation of Indigenous Peoples in Sylhet, Bangladesh” presented by Jean Thomas Martelli discussed by Roger Jeffery
16.10-17.00: Keynote: Jayakumari Devika (In room Altona)
Session 3 19th May 10-12
10-11: Sara Baiocco: “Computerisation and Labour in Indian Manufacturing” presented by Aditi Mukherjee and discussed by Peter Mollinga
11-12: Tommaso Amico di Meane: ”India and the European union fractal democracies: comparing apples with oranges?” Presented by Maruf Syed and discussed by Roger Jeffery
Session 4 19th May 13-15
13-14: Syed Mohammed “Family and Business: Materials and Social Forms” presented by Mohammad Hoque and discussed by Peter Mollinga
14-15: Aditi Mukherjee: “Lived-space, Segregation and Identity in a Post-colonial Metropolis: Refugee Colonies in Suburban Calcutta” presented by Tommaso Amico di Meane and discussed by Roger Jeffery
Group 3
Senior scholars: Rosa Perez & Devika Jayakumari
Room: Motala
Session 1 May 18th 12.30-14.30
12.30-13.30: Tanja Marielle Herklotz: ”Religion vs. Women’s Rights? An Analysis of Feminist Perspectives on the Personal Laws and the Uniform Civil Code in India” presented by Jay Lingham and discussed by Devika Jayakumari
13-14: Sarah Pothoff: “Place making between trust and confidence” presented by Mary Hanlon and discussed by Rosa Perez
14.30-15.00: Coffee break (In room Altona)
Session 2 May 18th 15.00-16.00
15.00-16.00: Mary Hanlon: “Fashioning power in cyberspace: Exploring online fashion-activism for labour rights in Bangladesh, post Rana-Plaza” presented by Sarah Pothoff and discused by Devika Jayakumari
16.10-17.00: Keynote: Jayakumari Devika (In room Altona)
Session 3 19th May 10-12
10-12: Nazia Hussein “Bangladeshi New Women (Re)doing Boundaries of Respectable Femininity: Self-fulfillment, Motherhood and Marriage Normativity” presented by Eva Rozalia Hölzle and discussed by Rosa Perez
11-12 Jay Lingham: “Gendered working lives in post-war transitions: Northern Sri Lanka 2009-14” Presented by Saba Hussein and discussed by Devika Jayakumari
Session 4 19th May 13-15
13-14: Saba Hussein “School Going Muslim Girls in Assam (India); Experiences at the Intersection of National Policy and International Islamophobic Discourse” presented by Tanja Marielle Herklotz and discused by Rosa Perez
14-15: Eva Rozalia Hölzle “Time, Violence and Militarization in Bangladesh” presented by Nazia Hussein and discussed by Devika Jayakumari
List of participants
• Sara Baiocco, University of Rome ‘Sapienza’, Italy, sarasofia.baiocco@gmail.com
• Sadiq Rahman, Universität Hamburg, Germany, whoelse.sadiq@gmail.com
• Saba Hussain, University of Warwick, UK, Saba.Hussain@warwick.ac.uk
• Tanja Herklotz, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, Germany, tanja_herklotz@gmx.de, tanja.herklotz@rewi.hu-berlin.de
• Nazia Hussein, University of Warwick, UK, N.Hussein@warwick.ac.uk
• Sanchari De, Lund University, Sweden, sanchari.de@kom.lu.se
• Sarah Potthoff, Bielefeld University, Germany, sarah.potthoff@uni-bielefeld.de
• Syed Maruf Ahmed, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany, maruf.syedahmed@yahoo.com
• Éva Rozália Hölzle, Bielefeld University, Germany, eva_rozalia.hoelzle@uni-bielefeld.de
• Jean-Thomas Martelli, King’s College London, UK, jean-thomas.martelli@kcl.ac.uk
• Tommaso Amico di Meane, Seconda Università degli Studi of Naples, Italy, tommaso.adm@gmail.com
• Francesca Fuoli, SOAS, University of London, UK, 271857@soas.ac.uk
• Sruthi Muraleedharan, SOAS, University of London, UK, 566332@soas.ac.uk
• Jay Lingham, SOAS, University of London,UK, 163998@soas.ac.uk
• Hanns Kendel, SOAS, University of London, UK, hk4@soas.ac.uk
• Mohammad Jahirul Hoque, University of London, UK, 222058@soas.ac.uk
• Aditi Mukherjee, Leiden University, Netherlands, aditi.mkj@gmail.com
• Syed Mohammed Faisal, University of Sussex, UK, S.F.Faisal@sussex.ac.uk
• Fabien Provost CEIAS, Paris, France, provost.fabien@gmail.com
• Blake Smith, CEIAS, Paris, France, blakesmith2018@u.northwestern.edu
• Mary Hanlon, University of Edinburgh, UK, m.f.hanlon@sms.ed.ac.uk
• Tsveti Bandakova, University of Edinburgh, t.bandakova@googlemail.com
List of senior scholars
• Dr. Blandine Ripert, CEIAS, Paris, France, ripert@ehess.fr
• Dr. Margret Frenz, University of Oxford,UK, margret.frenz@stx.ox.ac.uk
• Prof. Peter Mollinga, SOAS, University of London, UK, pm35@soas.ac.uk;
• Prof. Roger Jeffrey, The University of Edinburgh, UK, R.Jeffery@ed.ac.uk
• Prof. Rosa Perez, (CEI-IUL) University of Lissabon, Portugal, rosa.perez@iscte.pt
• Dr. Devika Jayakumari, Centre for Development Studies (CDS) in Thiruvananthapuram, India, devika@cds.edu
Contact persons:
The workshop conveners, working for SASNET were:
Dr. Olle Frödin, and PhD candidate Andreas Johansson.
