[INDOLOGY] Call for Papers AAIS first Annual conference

Tue Jun 25 06:44:03 UTC 2019

Dear Dr Tyler Williams,

Your post below has many expressions that deserve response.

You accuse AAIS as an organisation that divides scholars studying Indic
Civilization into "we Indians" and "they the Western". The very fact that
the CFP is shared on this forum where a very big number of western scholars
are members and it is inviting all the members to contribute to the
conference, shows that no such attitude of only Indian no western
participation in the study of Indic Civilization exists in the CFP or in
the organization that shared it here.

While the CFP is being posted by a scholar dedicated to the study of the
discipline of History , you say that the CFP and the organization sharing
it are opposed to the discipline of History. " Religious Studies" is a
discipline that does not exist in any Indian university and exists only in
the west. The person sharing the CFP has a PhD degree in that discipline.
You say that the CFP and the organization sharing it are opposed to
'western' disciplines. You say that the organisation represented by the
scholar sharing the CFP calls "History", a western discipline and is
opposed to it while the fact is that she is a professor of that very
discipline History.

Your post characterizes and caricatures the Indology list as a forum of
left leaning intellectuals who consider only the left leaning/ Marxist
Indian scholars as "our Indian colleagues" . I don't think Indology list is
such, though, there is a possibility of scholars with such a leaning being
in good numbers here.

More agonizing is the repeated use of words such as "harassment" and
"violence" in your post. You say that this harassment and violence happens
to " our" non-Maoist  "  Indian colleagues" because of conflating them with
the " Maoist rebels ". You mention the word " Urban Naxals" which is the
title of a recent book by Sri Vivek Agnihotri. That book starts with the
description of an incident of violence against him. It is not clear whether
the violence against him described there was the act of Maoist rebels are
the Marxists who are not Maoist rebels but allowed they getting conflated
with the Maoist rebels. That apart, such incidents prove who, in Indian
academic institutions, for all the past decades after independence,  have
been in a position of committing "harassment" and "violence" against those
who disagree with them.

In any case, singling out the "harassment" and "violence" against only
scholars of a certain political leaning and ignoring harassment and
violence against scholars of other kind of thinking is blatently visible in
your post.  Baselessly linking the  "harassment" and "violence" against
only scholars of that political leaning with the organization sending the
CFP is what is objectionable in that approach.

You bring back the last WSC discussion saying , "in order to suggest that
the conflict was between Indians and westerners took on the quite literal
form of *not allowing the marginalized women to speak*." after the
organisers clarified that violence and not allowing were not facts and the
discussion in that regard was closed here after that clarification.

Your words

"In other words, in making the argument out to be between "we Indians"
versus "non-Indians," the organizers elide the fact that South Asian
knowledge systems, by and large as they come to us, were produced by elites
that were oftentimes involved in marginalizing other groups."

while putting into the mouth of the organizers the non-existing attitude
of  "the argument  to be between "we Indians" versus "non-Indians," ",

makes the perception

"that South Asian knowledge systems, by and large as they come to us, were
produced by elites that were oftentimes involved in marginalizing other
groups"

to be a fact.

What is the purpose of academic forums and conferences if it is not to
discuss such fact-perception differences and such  claims which are
contestable and debatable.

You list one kind of post-colonial studies

which has theorizations such as

1. colonialism (and its epistemological violence) were carried out by
European *together with *members of elite South Asian communities,

 2) due to that epistemic rupture it is no longer possible to access some
kind of "pure" indigenous knowledge or understanding,

as THE (only) post-colonial studies paradigm

and don't show the diligence that other approaches to post-colonial studies
are possible.

It does not reflect nuanced understanding and intricate understanding of
issues such as Orality and Literacy, history of accessibility of certain
kinds of texts in comparison to the other kinds of texts due to the history
of European scholarly attention to certain texts in comparison to the other
kind of texts and the projection of that colonial and European lack of
accessing and lesser prioritization as "silencing" by the authors of the
texts accessed by the Europeans.

Yes,   "academics have a responsibility to listen to marginalized and
formerly silenced voices of history (and the present)"

Paradigms alternative to  those of the post-colonial studies listed by you
under your # 1 & 2 above,

and countering views to the

views such as

"that South Asian knowledge systems, by and large as they come to us, were
produced by elites that were oftentimes involved in marginalizing other
groups"

that have been made into the global academic mainstream using the global
political power

are the ones currently globally marginalized  and global academics have
responsibility to listen to these alternative views.

On Thu, Jun 20, 2019 at 11:12 AM Tyler Williams via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear colleagues,
>
> With all due respect to the colleague who posted this announcement, I must
> express serious misgivings about the nature of the proposed "conference,"
> so serious that I am uncomfortable with the Indology listserve being used
> to promote this event.
>
> There is no delicate way to put it: the AAIS is a Hindutva ideological
> project with specious intellectual foundations that is not only hostile to
> the disciplines and work of many of the scholars on this list but that also
> aligns itself with a politics that encourages harassment and even violence
> against our colleagues in India.
>
> The AAIS, per its website, states the reason for its existence thus: until
> now, "Western" disciplines like history, philology, philosophy, etcetera
> have been used to understand Indic material and are not sufficient for the
> task; therefore a new academic program is necessary that uses "Indic"
> knowledge systems to understand Indian material. This well-worn nativist
> argument ignores two important things: first, systems of knowledge like
> history, philology, philosophy, etcetera were practiced in South Asia
> during the precolonial period-- a fact that many scholars of this list
> demonstrate in their research-- and second, the fact that many scholars
> working in so-called "Western" disciplines (because whether we work in
> South Asian or other universities, we all have to work in existing
> departments) actually use South Asian knowledge systems in their study of
> texts, history, social phenomenon, and the like. The fact that many of us
> were trained in South Asian institutions by traditionally-trained
> scholars--or by non-Indian scholars well -steeped in things like nyaya,
> kavyasastra, itihasa, etc.--should tell one that we do, in fact, take South
> Asian knowledge systems seriously.
>
> The AAIS's charter and mission are, in fact, anti-intellectual and built
> on highly dubious arguments. Like several similar organizations that have
> sprung up over the last several years with the rise of Hindutva politics,
> it appropriates the language of postcolonial studies while totally
> rejecting both the theoretical and ethical imperatives of postcolonial
> studies. Postcolonial studies argues 1) that colonialism (and its
> epistemological violence) were carried out by European *together with*
> members of elite South Asian communities, 2) due to that epistemic rupture
> it is no longer possible to access some kind of "pure" indigenous knowledge
> or understanding, and 3) academics have a responsibility to listen to
> marginalized and formerly silenced voices of history (and the present).
>
> In contrast, the AAIS poses such vague and theoretically problematic
> questions as "Would the academic presentation of the Indic civilization be
> different if it had been the work of scholars who did not use Western
> theories and categories?" and makes anti-historical assertions such as "The
> term “Indic” is a reference, not just to India as a modern contemporary
> country, but to the civilization that has been known internationally and
> historically by the river Indus. It refers to more than 5000 years of a
> continuous civilization whose kernel is a unique knowledge system which is
> beneficial to all humankind." The anti-historical, anti-intellectual, and
> nationalist implications of this should be clear.
>
> Most worryingly, the AAIS appears to ignore the most fundamental tenets of
> postcolonial criticism: to constantly and self-reflexively locate oneself
> as a scholar in institutions and dynamics of power. Groups like the AAIS
> imply that the only power differential is between "Western" scholars and
> "Indian" natives; doing so requires eliding or ignoring the massive and
> complicated relationships of power in South Asian societies. In other
> words, in making the argument out to be between "we Indians" versus
> "non-Indians," the organizers elide the fact that South Asian knowledge
> systems, by and large as they come to us, were produced by elites that were
> oftentimes involved in marginalizing other groups.
>
> This dynamic came out nowhere more vividly than on this list (and others)
> after the last WSC: those of the nativist Hindutva persuasion complained
> that allowing women who had suffered marginalization in the
> Sanskrit-learning community to speak about that marginalization was
> anti-Indian and part of a global conspiracy to malign the Indian nation. In
> this case, suppressing dissent *within* the Indian community in order to
> suggest that the conflict was between Indians and westerners took on the
> quite literal form of *not allowing the marginalized women to speak*.
>
> Finally-- and I realize the seriousness of this claim-- the AAIS and
> similar organizations ally with a politics that has encouraged the
> marginalization, harassment, and even violence against our colleagues in
> India, including colleagues on this list. The AAIS website specifically
> singles out "Marxism" as one of the evils of "Western" scholarship; this is
> (and has been) used as a dogwhistle to attack any left-leaning (or even
> centrist) scholars working in India. A few of the AAIS board members
> themselves have repeated and amplified calls for rooting out "urban
> Naxals," a term that conflates left-leaning academics with Maoist rebels in
> India. We are all only too aware of the real danger this kind of politics
> poses for the lives and livelihoods of Indian colleagues.
>
> I apologize for using the space of the listserve for a polemic; I am just
> tired of seeing the scholarly forum which Dominik and others have worked so
> hard to build used for a purpose that is directly hostile to the work of so
> many of us. The AAIS presents itself as a serious, progressive voice; I am
> afraid that it is anything but.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Tyler Williams
> University of Chicago
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 20, 2019 at 7:30 AM Lavanya Vemsani via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> Hello All,
>> Attached below is the CFP for AAIS conference. Please plan to join us for
>> the First Annual Conference.
>> Please circulate the CFP widely.
>> Thank you.
>> Lavanya
>>
>>
>> Call for Papers for the Inaugural Conference of
>>
>> American Academy of Indic Studies
>>
>>
>> The American Academy Of Indic Studies (AAIS) is a scholarly,
>> non-political, non-religious, and non-profit academy for scholars and
>> students interested in Indic civilization. We work with the objective to
>> promote study and research of Indic Civilization in Academia. More info at
>> www.AAIndicStudies.org <http://www.aaindicstudies.org>
>>
>> For its inaugural conference, AAIS invites proposals for scholarly
>> presentations on the issues of ‘Indic Civilization and Postcolonialism’. We
>> invite proposals from a broad category of academic disciplines to submit
>> their research in the processes and endeavors of postcolonialism of Indic
>> wisdom and traditions.
>>
>> The objective of this conference is to explore the influences of the
>> ‘Occident’ and ‘Modernity’ on the Indic intellectual culture and society at
>> large. It will be highly valuable to evaluate those influences and
>> investigate attempts towards drafting a long term agenda towards
>> postcolonialism. An inquiry into the structural, procedural, or attitudinal
>> obstacles to better incorporate postcolonialism is the prime intent under
>> consideration. The plan is to appraise what you think would be the ideal
>> arrangement for systematic investigation, publication, and dialogue over
>> the coming decade, in order to involve mainstream academia in the process
>> of postcolonialism.
>>
>> The deadline for abstract submissions is Oct 15th
>>
>> Conference Date: Feb 20-22, 2020
>>
>> Conference Venue: Dallas, Texas in affiliation with https://www.naaas.org
>>
>> Conference Proceedings: To be announced.
>>
>> *Lavanya Vemsani*
>> Ph.D (History) Ph.D. (Religious Studies)
>> Professor, Dept. of Social Sciences
>> Shawnee State University
>> President, *Ohio Academy of History *
>> Co-founder, *American Academy of Indic Studies *
>> Editor-in-Chief
>> *American Journal of Indic Studies*
>> Managing Editor
>> *International Journal of Indic Religions *
>> *Associate Editor *
>> *-Canadian Journal of History *
>> *-Air Force Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs*
>> http://www.shawnee.edu/academics/social-sciences/faculty/lvemsani.aspx
>>
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-- 
Nagaraj Paturi

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

Director,  Inter-Gurukula-University Centre for Indic Knowledge Systems.
BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra

BoS, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, Veliyanad, Kerala

Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies

FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,

(Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA )

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