| For a few years (mostly since 2003) I have been associated with the activities of the Indigen Research Foundation, based in Pune, India and the Lokvidya Samvad/Vidya Ashram initiative based in Sarnath, Varanasi (also in India). While going directly to these organizations' websites will better acquaint you with their activities, let me summarize the work in short. A series of workshops titled, "Dialogues on Knowledge in Society" have been organized at the various World Social Forums since 2004. Two short papers I wrote for these workshop along with many other contributions of interest are available at this page as well as linked below. One main theme of interest is the nature of changes that the Information and Communications Revolution (variously called the "Information Revolution", the "Knowlege Revolution" etc) of the last fifteen or twenty years has brought about in the way Knowledge is perceived in society. Further, can Lokavidya or knowledge of the ordinary people, become a basis for a new type of radical politics in the "Internet Age"? Lokavidya goes Virtual? Indigenous Knowledge in the Gatesian Age - March 2006 (pdf format) This is an essay written for the second workshop on 'Dialogues on Knowledge in Society' held at the World Social Forum, Karachi, Pakistan. It explores the links between lokavidya (or people's knowledge) and the recent issue of the place of indigenous knowledge in sustainable development. The Information Revolution and creation of the uninformed society - Jan 2004 This is an essay written for a workshop on 'Dialogues on Knowledge in Society' held at the World Social Forum, Mumbai, India. Excerpt: Wisdom entails holistic ways of thinking, knowing and doing wherein the collecting of information and the production of knowledge is undertaken in the context of the needs and considerations of all those impacted by these activities. It implies an inclusive mode of thought that is antithetical to exploitation of resources or of human beings. Such wisdom can come most readily from knowledge systems that are people-centered and not in the service of the nhuman notions of profit or the State. A more current version of the same paper in pdf format is available here
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