The two French Research Institutes in India, Institut Francais de Pondichéry (IFP) and Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH) have taken a new and welcome turn in recent times. A large number of the scholars, coming to these institutes from France and other European countries, presently work on contemporary developmental and social issues. They no longer come with a strong 'French perspective', look forward to going back to Europe as Indian experts on topics that are of special interest to Europeans, publish papers in their journals and speak at European Conferences on South Asia. Quite impressively, many among them write in Indian research journals, challenge or confirm the findings of other Indian researchers and participate in policy-linked seminars along with local researchers, administrators and policy makers. Indeed, their broader vision and global experience sometimes enable them to look at events and data in a nuanced manner but their conclusions find place in the mainstream of social science research and make an impact on current policy debate.
It is often argued that research on socio-political and developmental dimensions in India is seriously suffering or constrained due to dearth of funds in recent years. Indeed, the funds available with the official research support organs of the state have not increased in consonance with the magnitude and complexity of social problems in the country. There has been, nonetheless, massive inflow of private funds, both from within and outside the country, including that routed through multilateral and bilateral development cum banking agencies. Further, multifarious interest groups in different parts of the globe are keen to know India better as it is predicted to be the second largest economy of the world with a strong political weight, offering opportunities of development cooperation in the next few decades. However, these fund flows have not been independent of specific development perspectives. The 'donor agencies' mostly have explicit or implicit agenda and many are interested in selling a specific development paradigm to Indian planners, policy makers and civil society organizations.
Indo-French research collaborations operationalized through the two French Institutes, getting basic support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and complementary funds from the Ministry of Research and Maison des Sciences de L'Homme in Paris, or the European Commission, building organizational linkages with several universities and research institutes in India, have been able to provide a research platform without imposing a definite developmental perspective. The themes have been identified by researchers, independent of political regimes in either countries and of players in global capital markets and these have been addressed with complete academic freedom.
The current need and urgency of mobilizing resources on the part of the two institutes through projects or seeking support from other international agencies due to financial crunch may, however, restrict the autonomy of these institutions, as it is happening in most countries in the Third World. One can only hope that a strong resolve on the part of “Indo-French” researchers would ensure that the autonomous research space created through sustained and watchful efforts and sincere commitment over long years would not be encroached upon by vested interests.
Contact: Prof. Amitabh Kundu, dean_sss@mail.jnu.ac.in
Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Member since 2005 of the Monitoring Committee of the French Institutes in India, whose ninth meeting was held in New Delhi on 29th March, 2007.
FOCUS
“Dynamics of Contemporary Islam and Economic Development in Asia, from the Caucasus to China” -an international conference organised by Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH) and India International Centre (IIC), at IIC, New Delhi, 16th -17th April, 2007.
The aim of this conference was to present the results of the international research programme “Dynamics of Contemporary Islam and Economic Development in Asia”, which was coordinated by the CSH in 2006-2007 and which involved around 20 researchers affiliated with major research institutions in France (Centre for Indian and South Asian Studies, CEIAS, Paris ; Centre for International Study and Research, CERI, Paris ; School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences, EHESS, Paris…) or with French research institutes abroad (French Institute for the Study of Central Asia, IFEAC, in Tashkent ; French Centre for the Study of Contemporary China, CEFC, in Hong Kong ; French Institute of Research on South-East Asia, IRASEC, in Bangkok ; French Research Antenna in Azerbaijan, Baku ; French Research Institute on South Africa, IFAS, in Johannesburg…). Another partner was the Institute of Strategic Studies, based in Islamabad.
This conference was primarily an opportunity for the participants of the programme to present the results of their fieldwork and to get them evaluated by leading experts in the field. In order to build bridges between scholars working on Asian Muslim societies and in the rest of the world, the organiser of the conference invited sociologists and specialists of Islamic studies more familiar with the Middle East (such as Dr. Sabrina Mervin, a research fellow at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, CNRS, based at the French Institute for the Study of the Near-East, IFPO, in Beirut) or with Muslim minorities in Europe (such as Dr. Valérie Amiraux, another CNRS researchfellow attached to the Centre for Research on Public Policy, Politics, Epistemology and Social Sciences, CURAPP, in Amiens). These exchanges, which were formalised during a round-table involving these two French scholars and leading Indian experts on South Asian Islam, Prof. Mushirul Hasan and Prof. Imtiaz Ahmad, proved to be extremely fruitful. The hypothesis of an “Asian Islam” was invalidated and the participants acknowledged the diversity of situations and the systematic localisation of Islam in specific social, economic and political contexts. Notwithstanding this process of localisation, the expressions of Islam in Asia come under transnational influences, be it from the Gulf countries or from regional reformist movements such as the Indiaoriginated Tabligh.
On certain issues, particularly regarding the usage of contested notions (such as fundamentalism, nationalism, secularism or tribalism), the participants agreed to disagree: these terms often take a different meaning in studies on the Middle East and scholars working on Asian and Middle Eastern Muslim societies will need to reach a consensus on this terminology if they intend to push their scientific collaboration further in the future.
Contact: Dr. Laurent Gayer, laurent.gayer@csh-delhi.com
RESEARCH
CSH
Political Economy of Financial Disbursements and Redistribution in India
In a quasi-federal democratic structure that India has, lobbying for central funds by the states are often done in a subliminal fashion because lobbying is not legitimized under such a structure. This project is an attempt to quantify lobbying by the Indian states through various proxy variables. After the construction of such variables, the money disbursed from the Centre to the individual states under the so-called ad-hoc funds can be related to the extent of lobbying done by the states. Significant results were obtained after carrying out panel regressions involving a period of 20 years and 14 major states. Extension of the exercise in the post-1995 coalition is expected to show interesting results too. Since coalition partners of various governments in India are mostly regional parties, they are expected to influence the bargaining process between the Centre and the states significantly in their own favour. This project also intends to explain the discrimination between various regions in India in terms of distribution of industrial licenses, letters of intent, disbursement by the Development Financial Institutions and Scheduled Commercial banks.
Closely related to the politics of lobbying at the centre is the issue of redistributive politics. Based on a reduced form model of how politics of redistribution ensures low-level equilibrium stability of inefficient governments, the project intends to build up similar models on redistributive politics and add finesse to the existing one.
This project also aims to build up theoretical models on the government intervention in stable and wealth-stratified jurisdiction formation.
Contact: Dr. Rongili Biswas, rongili@csh-delhi.com
The evolution of national identities through a comparative analysis of Japanese and Indian popular cultures
The comparative analysis of Indian movies and Japanese anime will focus on the evolution of national identities through the latest developments of cultural globalization. The multiplication of foreign references entailed by globalization raises issues in terms of the phenomenon of inclusion/exclusion of these references into popular culture or the definition of self. Bollywood and Japanese animation have experienced success outside the national territory, in both countries' traditional spheres of influence, and increasingly in the West. The researcher will attempt to examine the consequences of the exportation of both Medias on national identity, whether entailing a homogenization by adapting to the demand of foreign audiences, creating a kind of “global culture”, or by highlighting particular features of both national cultures. The question of the relevance of considering Japan and India mainly as “soft powers” will also be raised, and how the role that both countries aim at playing in the international order is reflected in the works.
Through content analysis, the researcher will particularly focus on a few themes such as: the relation that both countries developed towards modernization; the representation of the Other, embodied by the West or not; the use of tradition as a semiotic basis for promoting one's identity; finally, how changes entailed by globalization affect people and how desires and fears considered to be created by globalization differ or not in Japanese animation and Indian movies.
Contact: Romain Chappuis, romain.chappuis@csh-delhi.com
IFP
Modelling tree interactions and tropical forest dynamics by using long-term monitoring data from the IFP Uppangala permanent sample plot, Western Ghats of India
The need to assess the biological diversity of tropical rain forests and to understand its origins and functions have led scientists to establish Permanent Sample Plots (PSP) all over the world. The Uppangala PSP was born in 1990 from the vision of Dr. Jean-Pierre Pascal, Forest Ecologist and Director of the French Institute, working in collaboration with the Karnataka Forest Department. The site of 28-ha, which is embedded within the Kadamakal Reserve Forest (South-Kanara District, Karnataka), is one of the last undisturbed remnants of the low-elevation dipterocarp forest in the Western Ghats of India. Since 1990, more than 3,600 trees were mapped, tagged, botanically identified and fixed with permanent dendrometer steel belts, enabling a very precise measurement of girth annual increment.
16 years of thorough monitoring and subsequent modelling, provided insightful results concerning the fundamental processes of forest dynamics. But enhanced, more realistic predictions of tree growth are to be expected by explicitly modelling the influence of crown shape and tree social status. It is the topic of the ongoing Ph. D. project of C. Madelaine in collaboration with the UMR AMAP (botAnique et bioinforMatique de l'Architecture des Plantes), Montpellier. The ultimate aim is to integrate the fundamental mechanisms of crown development and light interception, namely the driving forces of forest dynamics, in a threedimensional spatially explicit individual-based model. The exceptional dataset of Uppangala PSP also gives the opportunity to test the applicability of modern technologies, such as very-high resolution satellite imagery or Lidar lasers to complex tropical forests.
Contact: Cécile Madelaine, cecile.madelaine@ifpindia.org
Between text and context. Therapeutic uses of gems and precious metals in Tamil Nadu
Gemstones are very commonly used in India as a remedy to control the influence of navagraha, the nine planetary deities of Hindu astrology. Precious stones and metals are deemed to be powerful substances having an impact on the body and on the life of individuals and families. These expensive remedies are nowadays especially popular among educated, “modern”, middle to upper-middle class families. Most jewellery shops in Indian cities hire astrologers or other kinds of specialists in order to advise the clients about the appropriate gemstones or jewels to wear. Magazines, TV programmes and Internet websites advertise the therapeutic properties of gems and metals in order to sell their products.
The use of gemstones and metals for therapeutic ends is a multifaceted phenomenon that can't be reduced to a folk, magical or superstitious belief. Like many other Indian therapeutic practices, gem-therapy is both a system of knowledge codified in Sanskrit and ancient vernacular literature, and a contemporary, globalised phenomenon where economic and ideological trans-national flows meet. This project intends to study gem-therapy in its two dimensions of a traditionally codified knowledge and a cosmopolitan, “modern” and commercial phenomenon. This research aims at analyzing how these two dimensions interact at a local level and contribute to the shaping of contemporary therapeutic practices in urban and rural areas of Tamil Nadu. The textual theory codified in gemmological and astrological treatises will be compared to the applied knowledge and savoir-faire of astrologers, jewellers, traditional goldsmiths, ayurvedic and siddha practitioners using gemstones and metals for their professional activities.
Contact: Dr. Caterina Guenzi, caterina.guenzi@ifpindia.org
Paninian grammars : the Prakriyasarvasva of Narayana Bhatta (17th century)
At around 350 B.C. Panini composed a grammar of the language of the Vedas and the spoken high-standard language (which we now call Sanskrit) that pushed other grammars into oblivion. In the course of the centuries several additions and adaptations have been made in the rules and in the list of roots. This gave rise to different forms and interpretations of Panini's grammar and also to grammars that appeared under a new title even if they are largely derived from and inspired by Panini's grammar. Among the available versions the Prakriyasarvasva of Narayana Bhatta of Melputtur (17th century) is as comprehensive as the well-known Paninian grammar of Bhattoji Diksita but differs from it in both method and substance. It represents a much neglected pragmatic approach (in contradistinction to the exegetic approach of Bhattoji Diksita). Since its object is Sanskrit as used not only by the three sages Panini, Katyayana and Patanjali but also by later authors of the Sanskrit tradition, it can be regarded as a Paninian grammar of living Sanskrit.
The aim of the project is to study, annotate and translate the different chapters of the Prakriyasarvasva in comparison with Bhattoji Diksita's work and other grammatical texts, and to lay the basis for the creation of a computer model of this version of Paninian grammar.
Contact: Dr. Jan Houben, j_e_m_houben@yahoo.com
EVENTS
(For more information on events, please consult our respective websites)
LECTURES/SEMINARS/ROUND TABLES/ WORKSHOPS
CSH
International Seminar on Urban Actors, Policies and Governance in Four Indian Metropolitan Cities, coorganised by CSH and India International Centre (New Delhi), at IIC on 23rd-24th January. This scientific meeting concluded a three-year programme conducted by an Indo-European team. The 19 papers presented converged on a series of observations: (i) new forms of civil society organizations have emerged, characterized by a new mode of engagement with the State; (ii) the democratization process is hampered by the contradictions between the representative and participatory forms of democracy; (iii) urban governance is today characterized by the coexistence of a series of mediators who play an important role in access to collective services; (iv) cities are undergoing a process of “middle-classization”; and (v) the changing modes of engagement between the private sector and the State call for an increased role of the latter in the coordination and regulation of the interactions of the many actors of urban governance.
Contact: Dr. Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal, tawalama@ehess.fr
Seminar and Round-Table on Uniting People: Jean Monnet and the construction of Europe organized by the Pavillon de France (Auroville), the CSH, the Embassy of France in India, the Delegation of the European Commission, Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and the India International Centre (IIC), at IIC on 2nd February. This seminar, gathering eminent scholars as well as former diplomats, was organized to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome and to recall the vision and contribution made to European unity by the exceptional personality of Jean Monnet. Three sessions dealt respectively with (1) the life, vision and approach of Jean Monnet; (2) the construction of Europe, providing the historical background of 50 years of ongoing European construction process; (3) today's relevance of Jean Monnet's project and the importance for nations to have a united approach. Par ticipants emphasized the importance of regional cooperation during the concluding round table.
Contact: Dr. Claude Arpi, claude@auroville.org.in
International Seminar on Democracy, Citizenship and Belonging in the Himalayas organized by CSH, the CNRS research unit "Environment, Societies and Culture in Himalayas", University of Bielefield (Germany) and India International Centre (IIC, New Delhi), with the financial support of the European Commission (EU-Asia-Link) and other institutions, at IIC on 19th-21st March. This was the first seminar of a wider project entitled The Politics of Belonging in the Himalayas, which gathered an international and interdisciplinary team of scholars working on the Himalayan region. Emphasis was put on the interaction between local, indigenous forms of belonging, and new modes of classification and ordering imposed through national integration and governmental modes of politics. 18 presentations focused on the social, cultural and political processes that have shaped the Himalayan societies and states in the past, and explored how the Himalayan people have experienced their sense of identity and belonging in changing contexts. A compilation of the papers of the seminar is expected to be published.
Contact: Dr. Gérard Toffin, gtoffin@vjf.cnrs.fr
Monthly Seminar Contemporary forms and objects of political mobilizations held at the CSH as part of the collective project on “India's democratic renewal in question”, coordinated by Dr. Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal. The seminar continued with two presentations:
- “The unfolding opportunities provided by constitutional amendments directed at local self government in rural and urban areas: a study of the working of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution and of the PESA in Chhattisgarh”, by Dr. Ilina Sen on 31st January. Dr Sen presented the preliminary findings of selected case studies carried out in the Dhamtari, Bastar and Dantewara districts of Chhattisgarh to assess the implementation of the provisions of the PESA Act, 1996.
- “Self-governance and the evolution of local political representation in Bastar”, by Dr. Samuel Berthet on 20th April. It questioned the decentralization of political representation at the local level in the 5th Schedule areas: do the Self Help Groups or do the Cooperatives act in connection with the Panchayati Raj institutions towards a renewal of the political elite at the village and district levels?
Contact: Dr. Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal, tawalama@ehess.fr
Monthly Seminar on Dynamics of Contemporary Islam in South Asia, held at the CSH as part of the international programme on “Restructuring of Contemporary Islam and Economic Development in Asia, from the Caucasus to China”, coordinated by Dr. Laurent Gayer.
The seminar continued with a presentation by Nida Kirmani on “The Role of Collective Memory in Narratives of the Urban Locality. The Case of Zakir Nagar in Delhi” on 14th February. It looked at one predominantly Muslim neighbourhood in Delhi, Zakir Nagar, and explored the multiple and interconnected ways in which its residents narrate their locality as well as their own shifting and multi-faceted identities. These discussions about the preference for living in a 'Muslim area' reveal a strong connection between collective memories of violent events, ranging from the Partition riots to the Gujarat pogrom, in the construction of contemporary urban space.
Contact: Dr. Laurent Gayer, laurent.gayer@csh-delhi.com
IFP
For more details on these events, please consult our website, at the following address:
http://www.ifpindia.org/-Seminars-.html
Workshop on After Tsunami: Lessons Learnt and Future Strategies at the IFP on 24th February. The French Institute of Pondicherry associated itself to the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai (IIT Madras), to a German NGO (VRD) and to the Goethe Institute in Chennai, to organise in it premises, a seminar devoted to the “after Tsunami”. This seminar was inaugurated by the French Consul General in Pondicherry and Chennai, and the German Consul in Chennai. The person in charge of the “Tsunami” dossier to the government of Tamil Nadu, was present. After several interventions on the causes and effects of the Tsunami on the Tamil Nadu coast, a critical debate was opened on rehabilitation measures (material, social, environmental,…) taken in the past two years, by the government of India, Tamil Nadu, and different NGOs. Some perspectives on what should be done…or not be done!- were highlighted. The debate on the strategies to adopt in the future, was largely echoed by the regional press.
Contact: Dr. Jean-Pierre Muller, ifpdir@ifpindia.org
10th Workshop of the Association of Young Indian Studies (AJEI), coin Pondicherry, from 27th February-2nd March. The AJEI, French Association of Young Indian Studies, was celebrating its 10th workshop in Pondicherry. Thematic workshops were organised, mainly at the IFP, where the first edition had taken place (C. Z. Guilmoto, IRD), and at the French School of Asian Studies (EFEO) on the theme: “Conflict, negotiation, cooperation. Challenges and methods for studying social relations in South Asia”. These workshops, which were designed to be a place for convivial exchange between students and researchers, gathered around 40 young researchers in social sciences working on South Asia, and around 10 “senior” researchers posted in France and in India. The international day, with conferences and debates in English, was granted by the presence of students and researchers from Norway, Germany, Spain, USA and India. The best communications of this workshop will be published. The funding of the workshop was assured by the IFP, the CSH in Delhi, the SST (Embassy of France in Delhi), the University of Nanterre (Paris 10) and the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme.
Contact: Lionel Baixas (CSH), lionel.baixas@csh-delhi.com
Lucie Dejouhanet (IFP), lucie.dejouhanet@ifpindia.org
Pierre-Yves Trouillet, ateliers2007@ajei.org
International Conference on Averting Biodiversity Meltdown in the Asian Tropics , held in Mahabalipuram from 6th-8th March. The IFP, strong of its 30 year-experience in the study of tropical forests of the Western Ghats of India, and of many reference studies in South-East Asia (Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam), was chosen by the International Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC), to co-organise with the University of Pondicherry, an important scientific conference, the objective of which was to reinforce exchanges and scientific collaborations on the theme of conservation of biodiversity in tropical Asia. More than 130 delegates from 20 countries (including India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and the US) attended this conference which was held in Mahabalipuram (South of Chennai, Tamil Nadu) from 6th-8th March. The majority of them visited Pondicherry and the IFP, the day after the conference, on 9th March. Beyond its role as a co-organiser, the IFP was significantly “visible” by means of assuming the scientific direction of a symposium, and of more than 10 communications and posters presented by its researchers and by the doctorates that the Institute hosts.
Dr. Pierre Couteron, pierre.couteron@ifpindia.org
International Conference on Facets of Tamil Diaspora, at the IFP on 14th-16th March. Tamil expansion all over the world, except Latin America, has been partly studied, but never systematically in a global perspective. Such was the aim of this Conference, gathering international academic participants from Europe to Sri Lanka. Cultural contexts of migration in the past provided the initial setting for the discussion on the panoramic view of Tamil Diasporic lives in Canada, France, Norway, Reunion and Seychelles Islands and that ranged from personal narratives to issues of language teaching. Cultural encounters took the centre stage of the discussions, with the new roles that Theatre and New Media like Internet have come to play in the social life of the Diasporic communities. The Conference was organised at the IFP by the Department of Tamil Literature, Madras University and by the IFP's Programme of Contemporary Tamil Culture. This strengthened collaboration with Indian academic institutions. The diversity of origin of the participants and a large audience of post-graduate students established the IFP as an international research forum.
Contact: Kannan M, kannan.m@ifpdia.org
Workshop on Local History, jointly organised by the IFP and the Progressive Writers Association of Tamil Nadu on 15th17th February. The significant changes that sweep through the society and culture of diverse communities under the regime of globalized finance are arguably perceived directly at the level of the locality. While attempts at both fragmentation as well as homogenization of diverse cultures are underway in contemporary culture, efforts of resistance also have come up. Understanding the complexities of the local pasts, therefore, render considerable strength to such resistance. How the writing of local history could gain relevance in contemporary Tamil culture is to be determined by the sustained attempts of integrating the local with the regional and the global. This was the thrust of the Workshop, in which some 60 participants, mostly writers and teachers from all over Tamil Nadu, were introduced to the fundamental tools and crafts of writing local history. Seven experts in history, archeology, epigraphy, oral and archival documents explained the contemporary debates in historiographical practice. An extensively planned field trip to Bahoor on the final day of the workshop, was useful to the participants in situating their newly acquired skills in reality.
Contact: Prof. Subbarayalu, ysray@ifpindia.org
Lecture on The commodification of materia medica in Ladakh: Institutions, entrepreneurs and exchange networks, by Calum Blaikie (University of Kent, UK), at the IFP on 23rd January. This paper offered some preliminary reflections on the relationships between the commodification of materia medica and recent shifts in medical culture in Ladakh (North-Western Indian Himalayas). The focus was on the reconfiguration of the social networks that animate the exchange of materia medica, changes in the modalities of medicine production and the implications of these reconfigurations for medical knowledge and practices. The paper explored the tensions and contradictions experienced by practitioners of a medical system in flux, both internally and in relation to wider institutionalisation and modernisation processes.
Contact: Calum Blaikie, cmb26@kent.ac.uk
Lecture on Biomedicalized Globalities : The Institutionalization of 'Good Science' in Contemporary Ayurvedic Research, by Ritika Ganguli (University of Minnesota, USA), at the IFP on 9th January. Within the larger set of concerns that explore the politics of knowledge and identity underpinning modern formulations of Ayurveda, this paper investigated how a 'modern' traditional medical system 'goes global'. Sociological and anthropological interest in the evolution of Global Ayurveda and non-western forms of healing has focused on understanding the “global urge” as a consequence of pharmaceuticalization. The author's research explores, however, how a context of globality is established within Ayurvedic research itself and how the global is imagined, performed, practiced and produced in communicating the results of medical research in Ayurveda.
Contact: Ritika Ganguly, gangu008@umn.edu
Visual Anthropology, film on The Dances of Saint Antony: Devotion, Affliction and Possession in Puliyampatti, , presented and authored by Brigitte Sébastia (Resident Research Fellow at the IFP), and directed by Christian Sébastia, at the IFP on 26th March. The region of Tirunelveli is scattered with numerous péy kôvil (“evil spirits temples”), which are the seats of deities that protect the communities that erect them, but also take possession of people who dare approach them. They provoke behaviours belonging to psychic disorders that are said to be treated in religious places, such as the catholic shrine of Puliyampatti. Religious therapy becomes the last attempt at healing for the patient. This movie showed how pressure and violence is exerted on the patients in order to prove that they are possessed and not mentally ill.
Contact: Brigitte Sébastia, brigitte.sebastia@ifpindia.org
IFP/EFEO
Training course on Manuscript Care and Conservation, held in Pondicherry on 22nd-23rd February, co-organised by the Madras Govt. Museum Manuscript Conservation Centre (MCC), the IFP and the EFEO. The main objective was instruction on the proper handling of manuscripts (paper and palm-leaf). On the first day, held in the IFP, the inaugural session was presided over by Dr. R. Kannan, I.A.S., Special Commissioner and Commissioner of Museums, Government Museum, Chennai. Thereafter Dr. V. Jeyaraj, of the MCC lectured on the history of conservation, on preventive and interventive conservation, on factors of deterioration and control measures, on the study of materials, on disaster management, storage, transportation, et al. He then discussed and demonstrated techniques for the conservation of paper manuscripts. On the second day, held at the EFEO, Dr. P. Perumal, Conservator at the Saraswathi Mahal Library, Thanjavur, spoke of the care of palm-leaf manuscripts. All participants learned about cleaning, oiling and inking in a concluding practical session.
Contact: Dr. Dominic Goodall, dominicgoodall@efeo-pondicherry.org
EFEO
Workshop on Early Saivism: The Testimony of the Nisvasatattvasamhita , held at the EFEO from 2nd to 12th January. The aim of this gathering was an extensive and detailed reading of the Nisvasatattvasamhita, apparently the earliest surviving scripture of the Saiva Siddhanta and perhaps even the earliest surviving Saiva tantra. This unpublished text survives in a 9th-century manuscript in the National Archives in Kathmandu and has been microfilmed by the Nepal German Manuscript Preservation Project. Over the course of the two-week meeting, the following communications were delivered: Prof. Alexis Sa n der s o n (All S o uls C olle g e , O xford) ‘ T h e Nisvasatattvasamhita and its Saiva Context’; Dominic Goodall (EFEO, Pondicherry), using summaries supplied by Prof. Kei Kataoka (Kyushu University, Fukuoka) “The Structure of the Nisvasa-corpus’; Prof. Jun Takashima (Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) ‘Early History of Saiva mathas 8th to 13th Century’; Prof. Harunaga Isaacson (Asien-Afrika-Institut, University of Hamburg) 'Language and Formulae in the Nisvasa-corpus’; Shaman Hatley (University of Pennsylvania) ‘The Brahmayamala and Early Saiva Literature with Special Reference to the Nisvasa’, Peter Bisschop (University of Edinburgh) ‘ “Puranic” Topography in the Nisvasa’; Andrea Acri (University of Acharya (University of Kyoto) ‘Pratistha in the Nisvasaguhya and in the Svayambhuva, an early unpublished source of the Pancaratra’. A first edition of three of the five major sections of the text, accompanied by some of the above papers, and edited by Dominic Goodall and Alexis Sanderson, is planned for 2008. For a fuller account of this workshop, see pp. 5-6 of the 3rd newsletter of the NGMCP (www.uni-hamburg.de/fachbereiche-einrichtungen/indologie/ngmcp/nl3light_e_e.pdf).
Contact: Dr. Dominic Goodall, dominicgoodall@efeo-pondicherry.org
WELCOME
…at the CSH
Marie-Marie ANDRASCH, a doctoral student at the Institute of Political Studies, Paris, has been affiliated to the CSH from February (under the agreement signed between the two institutions) in order to conduct her research on Access to Education of Young Muslim Women.
Rongili BISWAS, a Research Fellow in Economics, joined the CSH in January (see research section).
Romain CHAPPUIS, a doctoral student in Political Science, joined the CSH in February as the new Scientific Secretary (see research section).
Chetna CHOPRA joined the CSH as the new librarian in February.
Fabien GONGUET, a third-year student from the Ecole Polytechnique (Palaiseau), joined the CSH as an intern in the Economics division from April to June 2006, in order to participate in the studies of the impact on poverty of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) as well as on the measurement of the social value of urban amenities in Delhi.
Olivier TELLE, a Masters Student in the Department of Geography, University of Rouen was affiliated to the CSH from February to May (under the agreement signed between the two institutions) in order to conduct his research on The dissemination pattern of the Dengue Fever in Delhi.
…at the IFP
Angélique BERNARD, a student in Masters I of Geography at the University of Bordeaux III (UMR Ades-Tempos), France, joined the CITADAIN project from 19th January-3rd May, to work as a trainee on The contemporary metropolitan dynamics: the case of Chennai under the supervision of Dr. Kamala Marius-Gnanou.
Tiphaine HERVE, a student in Masters I of Geography at the University of Bordeaux III (UMR Ades-Tempos, France, joined the CITADAIN project from 19th January-5th May, to work as a trainee on The emergence of residential buildings in big metropolises: the case of Chennai under the supervision of Dr Kamala Marius-Gnanou.
Amandine MOMBELLI, a student in Masters I of Geography at the University of Bordeaux III (UMR Ades-Tempos), France, joined the CITADAIN project from 19th January-3rd May, to work as a trainee on The emergence of dynamic tourism on the Coromandel coast in South India under the supervision of Dr Kamala Marius-Gnanou.
Pere Ariza MONTOBBIO, a student with an environmental sciences degree from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, joined the Social Management of Water project as a trainee from 15th January-8th June to work on his research topic titled Water-users association and traditional irrigation institution in two villages of Villupuram district under the supervision of Dr. Olivia Aubriot.
NANAYA K.M, a GIS Engineer, joined the Managing Diversity in Mountain Landscapes project on 24th January, for a four-year period, to work on the The Management of forests and agroforests of the Western Ghats under the supervision of Dr Claude Garcia.
Nila SOUPRAYEN-CAVERY, a student in Masters II of Ecology from the University of Orleans, France, joined the Ordybio project from 22nd January-31st May, as a trainee, to work on Factors influencing the diameter growth of individuals of the Vateria indica tree species in the Uppangala permanent site under the supervision of Dr Pierre Couteron.
J. UMAMAGUESWARY, a PhD candidate from the Pondicherry University, joined the Contemporary Tamil Culture project from 1st February-31st December, as a librarian trainee, under the supervision of Mr Kannan M.
…at the EFEO
Cristina CRAMEROTTI, Chief Curator of the library, was in Pondicherry from 25th February-3rd March to install professional SUDOC software and help the library with the launch of electronic cataloging in Unimarc with the SUDOC.
Dr. Jacqueline FILLIOZAT visited Pondicherry to consult works at the IFP library about the different types of palmlaves for manuscripts in Asia.
Dr Valérie GILLET returned on a half-year contract to the EFEO from February to August in order to take charge of the photo-archives and to pursue her research on Pantiya iconography.
Dr. Thomas LEHMANN of the South Asia Institute at the University of Heidelberg returned to Pondicherry to work on Old Tamil with Eva Wilden and T.S. Gangadharan.
Dr. Rachel LOISEAU, EFEO scholar, returned to Pondicherry to continue her research on narrative cycles carved in low relief on the basis of Chola temples.
Wieslaw MICAL, doctoral student at the University of Hamburg and currently working in Kathmandu on Sanskrit texts related to the worship of Kurukulla, arrived in February to spend six months of study at the Pondicherry Centre.
Dr. Eva WILDEN, EFEO Paris, came back on a two-month mission in Pondicherry in March and April in order to continue her studies in Classical Tamil, by reading parts of the Patinenkizkkanakku with T.S. Gangadharan.
GOODBYE
…at the IFP
Calum BLAIKIE, a Ph.D candidate in Anthropology from the University of Kent (UK), left on 24th January.
Mohamed EL GOUCH, a Ph.D candidate from Marrakech University (Morocco), left on 14th February.
Pascale HANCART PETITET, a Ph.D candidate in Anthropology from the Centre de Recherche Cultures Santé Sociétés (France), left on 11th April.
Dr. Anne Cecile HOYEZ, a Post-doctorate from the University of Rennes II (France), left on 9th January.
Gita V.PAI, a Ph.D candidate and Fullbright scholar from the University of California (Berkeley), left on 15th December.
Dr. Sandrine PREVOT, Researcher from the University of Paris X Nanterre (France), left on 2nd April.
Dr. Kenneth ZYSK, Associate Professor of Indology at the Dept of Asian Studies, University of Copenhagen (Denmark), left on 9th March.
…at the EFEO
Anne CLAVEL, a doctoral student of the University of Lyon and scholar at the EFEO, left after a two-month stay in Pondicherry in order to study Jain philosophy.
Daniel CUNEO, a doctoral student of 'la Sapenzia' University (Rome), returned to Italy after a three-month stay in Pondicherry in order to study Indian aesthetic theory as presented in the Abhinavabharati, a treatise of the 10th century by Abhinavagupta, with H.N. Bhat.
Dr. Alexis PINCHARD, scholar of the EFEO, left after staying in Pondicherry for a period of two months to study the notion of sphota, an entity that some philosophers use to explain verbal communication, and for his work on a critical edition of kanda 18 of the Paippalada recension of the Atharvaveda.
Uthaya VELUPLLAI, a doctoral student of Paris III and scholar of the EFEO, left Pondicherry after a stay of six months in which she continued her study of the Shaiva temple of Cirkali.
OBITUARY
Loss of T.V. Gopal Iyer: One of the Last Tamil Pandits
On 1st April, T.V. GOPAL IYER (b. 22/01/1926), Tamil scholar of both national and international renown, succumbed to his final illness in a hospital in Srirangam. M. Iyer had been working as a pandit in classical Tamil for the EFEO over a period of almost 30 years, during which he published an astonishing number of books and articles on a variety of subjects, most notably in the fields of bhakti (devotional literature) and ilakkanam (grammar and poetics). In the face of advancing age, TVG continued enthusiastically teaching, working with numerous students, Indian and Western, taking great pleasure especially in the annual meetings of the Classical Tamil Winter Seminar.
A condolence meeting in his honour was held in 19 Dumas Street on 4th April in the presence of his brother T.S. GANGADHARAN and his sister T.V. KAMALAMBAL, both still working for the EFEO and the IFP respectively. The function was visited by more than a 100 people, among them not only the members of the two French institutions but also scholars, students and admirers from the Tamil research community. With the loss of M. Iyer, not only the EFEO but Tamil studies in general have sustained a terrible blow.
MILESTONES
CSH
Dr. Swaran SINGH (Academic Consultant at the CSH) has been selected to participate in the 3rd International Asia-Middle East Session of the Institute for Higher National Defence Studies (a think tank in political science and international relations attached to the office of the Prime Minister of France). This was held in Paris from 19th-29th March.
Dr. HIMANSHU (Post-doctoral Fellow in Economics), author of the article “Agrarian Crisis and Wage Labour: A regional perspective” in the Indian Journal of Labour Economics [48, 4, Dec.2006, pp. 835-854] has been awarded the Sanjay Thakur Young Economist Award for the best article published in this journal for 2006. In addition, the candidature of Dr. Himanshu has been accepted for the 2007 programme “Promising high-profile personalities” (Personnalités d'avenir) of the Centre for Analysis and Forecasts of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
IFP
The IFP's website: An increasingly efficient communication tool
Since the launching of its new website in mid-December 2005, the number of visits and unique visitors to the site, among other parameters, has been constantly on the rise. A record has once again been broken in March 2007, with more than 9165 unique visitors, 12782 visits recorded, and more than 107550 pages visited. This testifies to the increasing visibility of the Institute as well as the strengthening of its partnerships network.
Contact: Anand Pakiam, ifpcom@ifpindia.org
PUBLICATIONS
CSH
Eastward Bound: India's New Positioning in Asia
Isabelle Saint-Mezard
Manohar-CSH, New Delhi, 2006, 499p, Rs 1150
In this volume, Isabelle Saint-Mézard analyses the Look East policy in a comprehensive way, stringing together its various developments and nuances over one decade and a half. Her focus is on the politico-economic dynamics of the policy. At the same time, she acknowledges the multifaceted nature of the Look East policy and underlines its ideological and cultural dimensions, as well as its security-related aspects. Shifting in perspectives, her study also shows how countries and regional organizations in East Asia have responded to India's opening up. The repercussions of the 1997 financial crisis on the multidimensional rapprochement between India and East Asia have also been analyzed.
The study proceeds to evaluate the results of the policy. The Look East policy has no doubt stimulated economic, political, institutional and strategic ties with East Asia, and more importantly India has increasingly identified itself with Asia. Thus, the author shows that the Look East policy has become a major dimension of India's new external relations in the post-Cold war era. One of the most remarkable features of this policy is that it has been cleverly pursued in congruence with trends in regionalization and that it has helped India to reposition itself as a major player in Asia.
Globalisation in China, India and Russia: Emergence of National Groups and Global Strategies of Firms
Jean-François Huchet, Xavier Richet, Joël Ruet (eds.)
Academic Foundation, New Delhi, 2007, 364p, Rs 895
No study of globalisation is possible, nor is it thinkable, without referring to China, India, Russia, that is to say, without an analysis of their firms and including them in the global network of firms. The three countries under study had socialist economies and are now going through a process of transition towards a market economy with various degrees of success and, more importantly, using different methods as far as the relationship between the State and the firms is concerned. Also, to a large extent, researchers in economics have until now viewed these countries in a somewhat unbalanced manner and they have seldom been the object of a comparative study from the perspective of the globalization of their firms. The evolution in policy issues has been strongly backed by a similar evolution in economic theory, the effects strongly felt in former socialist countries, namely Russia and China, as well as in countries which had and still have a large 'public sector' like India. Neither the markets nor the States are nowadays seen as perfect, and this book deals at many places much more with their subtle interactions or coordination, than opposition.
La Ville en Asie du Sud. Analyse et mise en perspective / Cities in South Asia: Analyses and prospects
Véronique Dupont & Djallal G. Heuzé (eds.)
Purushartha no.26, Editions de L'EHESS, Paris, 2007, 440 p
Language: French and English.
The city in South Asia, descendant of the world's most ancient urban civilisation , is situated in a predominantly rural region, which nonetheless produces mega-cities. These large cities, which are at the forefront of the subcontinent's economic liberalisation process, are undergoing rapid changes in the face of globalisation. Three main themes engage with these transformations: urban re-structuring and social and spatial dimensions; urban conflict and social tensions; the reshaping of economic spaces.
The edited volume mobilizes various disciplinary fields in the social sciences and offers a comparative approach that aims to situate the South Asian urban experience in relation to trends observed elsewhere in Asia and on other continents as well.
IFP
Forest landscapes of the Southern Western Ghats, India: biodiversity, human ecology and management strategies.
Edited by B.R. Ramesh, Rajan Gurukkal, Collection Ecologie n° 40, 2007, xvii, 298 p. + CD-ROM
Language: English. 550 Rs (20 Euros)
The Western Ghats forests are endowed with large species and habitat diversity, which is nowadays under threat by increasing demographic pressure and changing land use. To address these challenges, a novel and comprehensive approach is sought from the principles of landscape ecology. Morphopedological features are used to delineate landscape units all over the Western Ghats of Kerala, among which the Western Anamalai region is chosen to elucidate the relative influence of physical factors, bioclimate and anthropogenic pressures on the characteristics of natural vegetation and on the status of the vertebrate fauna. Highlighting patterns of resource utilization by proximal and distant stakeholders, the book goes about identifying value-based management zones, while proposing management strategies for conservation and sustainable development.
Keywords: biodiversity, Western Ghats, human ecology, landscape ecology, forest management
IFP/EFEO
Mélanges tantriques à la mémoire d'Hélène Brunner. Tantric Studies in Memory of Hélène Brunner.
Sous la direction de / Edited by Dominic Goodall & André Padoux, Collection Indologie n° 106, IFP/EFEO, 2007, 582 p.
Language: English, French, German, Sanskrit. 750 Rs (27 Euros)
Theological and philosophical aspects of tantric literature are addressed in the contributions of Gerhard OBERHAMMER, Francesco SFERRA, and Raffaele TORELLA. Peter BISSCHOP and Marion RASTELLI throw light on connections between the tantric and puranic religious worlds. Diwakar ACHARYA has uncovered and published primary source material about initiation in pre-tantric Saivism. Iconography and tantric ideas that underly it is the subject of the article of Pierre-Sylvain FILLIOZAT. Leslie C. ORR and Richard H. DAVIS combine the evidence of inscriptions and tantric literature to present what we know of the participants in South Indian temple festivals in medieval times. Tantric speculations about the alphabet, particularly its written form at the time of redaction of the scriptures of the Trika, is the focus of Somdev VASUDEVA. A scripture of the Siddhanta, the 100-verse recension of the Kalottara, is edited for the first time by Dominic GOODALL. Judit TÖRZSÖK examines explanations given in the tantras of the “meaning” of ritual. The largest contribution of all, taking up a third of the book, is the magisterial survey of Kashmirian Saiva exegetical literature by Alexis SANDERSON.
Keywords: Saivism, Tantrism, pañcaratra
La victoire de Manasa. Traduction française du Manasavijaya, poème bengali de Vipradasa (XVe).
Par France Bhattacharya, Collection Indologie n° 105 , IFP/EFEO, 2007, xxxi, 468 p. .
Language: French. 600 Rs (22 Euros)
By way of some surprising episodes that involve a multifarious range of characters, the ManasaVijaya or Victory of Manasa(1495) portrays the cruel manner in which the Goddess of Serpents established a tradition of her worship in the world. This Bengali poem, intended for singing and recitation, belongs to the literary genre of the man?galkavya. Alongside Vedic, epic and Puranic myths, it borrows themes from the literature of Nath yogins, painting a large and vivid tableau of medieval Bengali society. This complete translation, the first into a European language, is accompanied by an introduction, notes, a bibliography and glossaries.
Keywords: medieval Bengal, epic poetry, Manasa, mangalkavya, serpent-worship
Pondicherry past and present. Pondichéry hier et aujourd'hui.
Jean Deloche, Collection Indologie n° 107, IFP/EFEO, 2007 [CD-ROM].
Language: English, French. 300 Rs (11 Euros)
In this bilingual (French/English) CD-ROM, we first show Pondicherry from its origins to 1824, the dazzling expansion of this modest textile centre which became, for a short period, the capital of a potential empire in the first half of the 18th century; then, we dwell on its slow death after its destruction by the British in 1761. This development is illustrated with the magnificent watercolour plans and maps preserved in French archives.
Next, we present Pondicherry from 1824 to the present day, a small colonial settlement now merged in the Indian Union; we point out the difficult stages of its rebirth, then, its slow expansion before becoming an Indian territory. This part is illustrated with old postcards and a mixture of recent and archival photographs.
Keywords: India, Pondicherry, urbanisation, colonial heritage
Aux Lieux d'Etre (with the support of IFP)
Les rondes de saint Antoine. Culte, possession et affliction en Inde du Sud.
Brigitte Sebastia, Aux Lieux d'Etre, 2007, 352 p. ISBN : 9782916063348
Language: French. 30 Euros (Published with the support of the IFP / Publié avec le soutien de l'IFP. Distr. Aux Lieux d'Etre)
In India, psychiatry does not enjoy a good reputation, in spite of the reforms to acclimatize it to the situation and to the Indian sensibility. Though recourse to psychiatry is not negligible, its failures do not inspire confidence, nor allay apprehension of psychic disorders. This leaves a large place for religious therapy. Patients and their families pin their last hope in it for the cure of disorders thought to be of supernatural origin.
Brigitte Sébastia has conducted research on a Catholic shrine dedicated to Saint Antony of Padua, venerated for his healing and exorcist powers, where impressive scenes of possession take place. Through a very precise study, the author explores problems within Indian society, the place of Catholicism and its acclimatization to Hinduism, the therapeutic systems available in the country, the representations of mental illnesses and the impact of the social and familial context on the emergence of psychic disorders.
Keywords: Catholicism, Indianisation, medical pluralism, possession
INSTITUTES
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