Inter-Asian Political Cultures Working Group (2007-2008)
Co-Facilitators:
Paula Chakravartty, Associate Professor
Department of Communication
University of Massachusetts Amherst
pchakrav@comm.umass.eduKavita Datla, Assistant Professor
Department of History
Mount Holyoke College
kdatla@mtholyoke.edu
We are a working group of inter-disciplinary scholars based across the Five Colleges, engaged in discussions of political culture in the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia. Recent research across disciplines has emphasized the need to reconsider connections and parallels between these historically linked regions. Topics include the history and practice of non-western democracies, the rise of social movements within and beyond civil society, the centrality of political parties and organizations mobilizing around religion and community, and the political and cultural context of new forms of inequality, exclusion and political violence. As societies that share vibrant and complex political cultures that remain under-theorized, this group hopes to foster comparative discussions of how modern political practices are shaped and understood. These regions are central to any discussion of colonial and post-colonial states and societies, ethnic nationalism and political Islam, multi-party democracies, and the success or failure of secularism. Through this faculty seminar, those interested in presenting their research in the form of papers/chapters/books, or works in progress, send out a sample of their work in advance of the seminar and then present and receive feedback on their research during the seminar itself. All faculty and graduate students affiliated with the Five Colleges with research interests in these areas are welcome to participate. We will meet as a group three times per semester over the course of 2007-2008. Our first meeting was held at the Five College offices on September 26th, 2007; our second meting will be on October 23rd, 2007. For more information about the group please email Paula Chakravartty or Kavita Datla. We are grateful to Five Colleges, Inc. for supporting our efforts.
ICTs and Inequalities Working Group
This is a new working group that brings together faculty from the Center for Public Policy and Administration and the Department of Communication at UMass Amherst. More information on this group will be posted soon.