Dec 02,2019

You are cordially invited to a two-day international conference on "Gods in the Public Sphere: Political Deification in India and Beyond", being organised by CSSSC in collaboration with University of Oslo, at the Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre, 10 Lake Terrace, Kolkata 700029, on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th December, 2019. The conference is being convened by Professor Tapati Guha-Thakurta and Dr. Karthick Ram Manoharan of CSSSC and Dr. Moumita Sen of the University of Oslo. There are papers by invited scholars as well as by a selected group of student researchers. 

Those wishing to attend the conference are requested to register in advance with  Ranjana Dasgupta (jbmrc.office@gmail.com) or with Ritwika Misra (ritwikamisra@gmail.com) by Wednesday, 4 December. Registration is free.

Schedule is given below: 

 

Gods in the Public Sphere: Political Deification in India and Beyond

 Day 1

Friday, 6 December

9:45 am: Welcome and introduction to the conference

(1) Forging Powerful Icons: Charismatic Political Leadership


10 – 11 am

Panel I. Chair and Discussant: Professor Manas Ray, CSSSC.

Speaker:

• Dr. Soumyabrata Chowdhury, School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU, "Sacred Space, Holy Land, Aesthetic Nationalism, Iconic Globalisation: Iconography and Global Domination".

11:15 am – 1 pm

Panel II. Chair and Discussant: Dr. Trina Nileena Banerjee, CSSSC.

Speakers:

• Professor Tapati Guha-Thakurta, CSSSC, "The Goddess at her Minister's Service: Reflections on the Festival-Mode of Populist Politics in contemporary Kolkata".
• Professor Arild Engelsen Ruud, University of Oslo, "Bangabandhu As Eternal Sovereign".
  
  
  (2) Forming Counter-Cultures: Caste, Religion, Identity
  
  
  2 – 3:45 pm

Panel III. Chair and Discussant: Dr. Rajarshi Ghose, CSSSC

Speakers:

• Dr. Karthick Ram Manoharan, "The Noble Asura:  Periyar and Religion"
• Dr. Moumita Sen, University of Oslo, “A Necessary ‘Demon’: The Political Deification of Mahishasur in Bengal"
  
  

4 – 5:45 pm

Panel IV: Chair and Discussant: Dr. Satish Chennur, CSSSC

Speakers:

• Ammel Sharon, Ph.D. scholar, CSSSC, "’Collectors of Associations’: Gurus and

Manuscriptologists in Lingayat Communities"

• Praskanva Sinha Roy, Ph.D. Scholar, CSSSC, "Harichand-Guruchand: The Emerging Icons of

Dalit Politics in West Bengal"

 

Day 2

Saturday, 7 December

 (3) Claiming Spaces: Contested Sites of Devotion

 

10 – 11:30 am

Panel V. Chair and Discussant: Dr. Maidul Islam, CSSSC

Speakers:

Professor A. Srivathsan, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, " New Statues in Old Spaces: Politics as it played out in Chennai‘s streets"

Dr. Sarover Zaidi, Jindal University, New Delhi, "Of Flyovers and Muslim Mohallas:

Mapping the Political Horizons of Bombay.

11:45 am – 1:15 pm

Panel VI.  Chair and Discussant: Professor Rosinka Chaudhuri, CSSSC

Speakers:

Professor Kirin Narayan, Australian National University, "Vishwakarma at Ellora: Shifting

Sacred Spaces, Artisans’ Worship, and Caste Mobilization"

Sounita Mukherjee, ex-M.Phil. scholar, CSSSC, "Politics of Unending Festivities and

Transforming Neighbourhoods in Contemporary Kolkata".

 

(4) Negotiating the Public Sphere: Law, Media, Economy

 

2:15 - 3:45 pm

Panel VII. Chair and Discussant: Dr. Anirban Das, CSSSC.

Speakers:

• Kenneth George, Australian National University, "Theophany, Technophany and the Public Sphere: Some Ethnographic Notes on Vishwakarma Worship in India"
  
  
• Amit Bindal, Ph.D. scholar, CSSSC, "The Sacred Cow and Constitutional Faith".
  
  

4 – 5:30 pm

Panel VIII. Chair and Discussant: Dr. Prachi Deshpande, CSSSC

Speakers:

Amna Majeed, ex-M.Phil.scholar, CSSSC, “Voluntary Religious Groups and Environmental

Conservation: Baba Balbir Singh and his movement in Panjab”

 Jigisha Bhattacharya, ex-M.Phil. scholar, CSSSC, "Bazaar, Viradari and New-Media:

Understanding the New Public(s) of the Hindu-Right"