Nidhin Donald (നിധിൻ ഡൊണാൾഡ്) (Translated into Malayalam by Abhijith Baawa) ആമുഖം: സർവ്വകലാശാല എന്ന ‘ആശയ’വും ജനാധിപത്യം, ദേശ നിർമ്മാണം(nation building), വിജ്ഞാനോൽപ്പാദനം എന്നിവയുമായുള്ള അതിന്റെ ബന്ധവും സാമൂഹ്യശാസ്ത്രജ്ഞരും നയരൂപീകരണ വിദഗ്ധരും പലപ്പോഴും ആഴത്തിലുള്ളതും ചരിത്രപരവുമായ വിശകലനങ്ങൾക്കും സംവാദങ്ങൾക്കും വിധേയമാക്കിയിട്ടുണ്ട്.1 എന്നാൽ അത്തരം വിശകലനങ്ങൾ പലപ്പോഴും സർവകലാശാലകൾ സ്ഥാപിക്കുകയും രൂപവൽക്കരിക്കുകയും നിലനിർത്തുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നതിൽ അടങ്ങിയിരിക്കുന്ന സാമൂഹിക ഘടനകളുടെയും അതിന്റെ പ്രവർത്തനത്തിന്റെയും വ്യക്തവും (perceptive) ചരിത്രപരവുമായ പരിശോധനയായിരുന്നില്ല. മറ്റൊരു തരത്തിൽ പറഞ്ഞാൽ, യൂനിവേഴ്സിറ്റികൾ എന്ന ആശയം പലപ്പോഴും …
Diversity in Judiciary: Why is it Necessary?
Manoj Abhigyan Human beings are bound by the decisions of the judges. A judge’s decision has a tremendous impact on human life. If a judge makes important decisions over a person’s life then it is important that he is closely acquainted with every aspect of the matter. Diversity is very important in the judiciary …
Travails of Caste in the Corporate Sector
The Guilty Warrior After a long hiatus, I am writing something. I work in the Indian Corporate Sector in a fairly decent global multinational corporation (MNC). I work at a leadership level. This sector is supposed to be of people of integrity, secularism, respect for other cultures, diversity etc. It all sounds good on …
क्या भारत सभ्य है?
संजय जोठे (Sanjay Jothe) सोशल साइंस की एक कांफ्रेंस के बाद एक स्विट्जरलैंड के प्रोफेसर मित्र से बात करने का मौका मिला। बैठक के दौरान हमारी बात हो रही थी अलग अलग देशों की समाज व्यवस्था पर, वे मध्यकालीन यूरोप के सामाजिक ताने बाने की बात बता रहे थे। सामाजिक मानवशास्त्र के विशेषज्ञ के …
Indian Academia and Institutional Injustice
B. Prabakaran JNU has been celebrated for critical thinking, political activism and regarded as one of the premier institutions for higher education and excellence in research. Students also strongly believe that campuses like JNU would be a ‘cultural mechanism’ for interactions within the student community coming from diverse social groups, and a resourceful platform …
In the name of the Nation: Historicizing Caste in Indian Universities
Nidhin Shobhana In the name of the Nation: Historicizing Caste in Indian Universities (with special reference to Jawaharlal Nehru University) Setting up the Stage The ‘idea’ of a university and its connections to democracy, nation-building and knowledge production have been historically discussed and debated by several social scientists and policy-makers in great depth1. Such discussions have …
Rohith Act: An Ambedkarite Solution
The Conscious Four “The control of information is something the elite always does, particularly in a despotic form of government. Information, knowledge, is power. If you can control information, you can control people.” ~ Tom Clancy Tom Clancy might be an espionage thriller writer, but then what he says above is just the protocol when …
Caste Diversity in Indian Development Sector: Does it Exist?
Karthik Navayan Gramsci uses the analogy of civil society as a system of trenches and redoubts surrounding the state1. All political attempts by the underprivileged classes–castes in Indian context–to overcome the barriers are drowned by the development sector that claims for itself the status of the civil society. Does the civil society, popularly understood …
Unite and Fight for the Democratic Right to Choice of Food
[The ‘Committee for Democratic Right to Choice of Food’ (CDRCF) on the restraints imposed on the Beef and Pork festival in JNU and the crackdown by the administration on the students– Round Table India] CDRCF Friends, we condemn the crackdown by the JNU Administration on students who voiced their opinion for the availability of food …