The Politics of Belonging in the Himalayas II

Fréjus, France 18^th-20^th September, 2008

An International Conference

Convenors : David Geller, Prof., Oxford University

                        Joanna-Pfaff-Czarnecka, Prof., Bielefeld University

                        Gérard Toffin, Director, CNRS, Villejuif

Venue : Villa Clythia, Frejus, France

Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris

British Academy

University of Bielefeld, Germany

Thursday 18^th September 2008

3.30pm-4pm

Arrival, short introduction to the conference

4pm – 7 pm:

Chair: Gérard Toffin

1. Language, Semantics of Belonging, and Symbolic Boundaries

Martin Gaenszle (Vienna University): ‘Local Speech Traditions and Global Archives: The Politics of Belonging in a Language Documentation Project in East Nepal’ (discussant: David Gellner, Oxford University)

Mark Turin (Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu): ‘Mother Tongue as Heritage Identity and Regional Language as Modernity: The Shifting Politics of Linguistic Competence, Language Loyalty and Belonging in Sikkim (discussant: Charles Ramble, Oxford University)

Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka (Bielefeld University): ‘The Semantics of Belonging in Ethnicity Discourses’ (discussant: Anne de Sales, CNRS)

Friday 19^th September 2008

9am – 10.30 am

Chair: Nirmal Tuladhar (CNAS, Kathmandu)

2.                  Migration, Identity, and Social Positioning

Sara Shneiderman (Cornell University / Cambridge University): ‘Circular Identities: Migration, Flexible Citizenship and the Challenges of Cross-Border Belonging for the Thangmi of Nepal and India’ (discussant: Ben Campbell, Durham University)

Pascale Dollfus (CNRS): ‘Being a Ladakhi, Playing the Nomad’ (discussant: Martin Gaenszle, Vienna University)

11am – 12.30pm

Chair: Véronique Bouillier (CNRS, MSH)

Jeevan Sharma (Edinburgh University): ‘Migration, Livelihoods and Masculinities: An Ethnography of Nepali Male Labour Migrants to the Indian City of Mumbai’ (discussant: Elvira Graner, Heidelberg University)

Chiara Letizia (Bicoca University, Milano) ‘Buddha, Dharma and a new Sangha in the Terai: On the Creation of Buddhist Ritual Specialists in some Tharu and Magar Communities (Rupandehi and Udayapur Districts)’ (discussant: Charles Ramble, Oxford University)

2pm – 3.30pm

3.                  Long-Distance Migration and the Discursive Re-Creation of Attachments and Identities

Chair: Deepak Thapa

Tristan Bruslé (CNRS): ‘Cultural and Professional Belonging among Nepalese Migrants in India and in Qatar’ (discussant: Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka, Bielefeld University)

Sondra Hausner (Oxford University): ‘Belonging and Solitude among Nepali Nurses in the UK’ (discussant: Keshav Lall Maharjan , Hiroshima University, Japan)

4pm – 6.15pm

Chair: Michael Hutt

Bandita Sijapati (Social Science Baha, Kathmandu): ‘Transnational Activism, Political Socialization and the Nepali Diaspora’ (discussant: Anne de Sales, CNRS)

Ben Campbell (Durham University): ‘Culture on Display: Nepalis as Multicultural Actors in Manchester’ (discussant: Mark Turin, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu)

Susan Hangen (Ramapo College of New Jersey): ‘Global Gurungs: Ethnic Organizing and the Production of a Diaspora’ (discussant: Sondra Hausner, Oxford University)

Saturday, 20^th September

10am – 12.15am

4.                  Development, Political Communication, and Ethnicization in North-East India

Chair: Martin Gaenszle, Vienna University

Bal Gopal Shrestha (Leiden University): ‘The Sikkim Newah Guthi: A Search for Identity in the Diaspora’ (discussant: Gérard Toffin, CNRS)

Vibha Arora (Indian Institute of technology, New Delhi): ‘Weepingsikkim.blogspot.com: Lepchas Protesting in Space and Cyberspace against the Teesta Hydel Project of Northeast India’ (discussant: Joelle Smadja, CNRS)

Tanka Subba (Sikkim University): ‘Who Does Talong Chu Belong To? The Panang Hydroelectric Power Project in North Sikkim and the Questions of Belonging’ (discussant: Martin Mills, Aberdeen University)

2 pm – 3.30pm

5.                  Political Authority and Membership

Chair: David Gellner, Oxford University

Michael Hutt (SOAS, London) ‘Himalayan Monarchies and Questions of Belonging’ (discussant: Véronique Bouillier, CNRS)

Martin Mills (Aberdeen University): ‘The Conundrum of the Dalai Lama’s Authority: Democracy and Sacral Kingship in Tibetan Diasporic Politics’ (discussant: Deepak Thapa, Kathmandu)

4pm – 5pm

Final session