Author:
Ramnik Shah (Happy!)
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: Thu, February 23 2012, 12:41:46-4
In reply to:
Ramnik Shah
's message, "The 4th Biennial Conference" on Wed, April 20 2011, 12:51:21-4
Having previously expressed misgivings about the venue for this conference, it is right that I should put the record straight! As it happens, I did change my mind and attend and participate in the conference last week. It was an unqualified success, for which the organisers deserve plaudits in the superlative. Once again, Sharmina and Anjoom, together with their helpers, have pulled it off! How they manage to do it time after time is something to marvel at. Everything went off like clockwork, with no hitches. The management of the hotel also should be commended.
As for Dubai, of course there are some fundamental issues of inequality etc, but in the wider, global context, these are not radically so different from those in other parts of the world. In any case, it is a learning experience to see how the place functions.
On the nature and range of discourse, while a great deal was devoted to diasporic concerns, perhaps at the next conference, this could include `Gujarat studies` proper on such topics as the incidence of infanticide or abortion on account of the sex of the child or foetus and how such practices differ from or compare with those in other parts of India, or the image of Gujaratis in the eyes of the rest of the country, or Hindu-Muslim dynamics in Gujarat more than a decade on after the 2002 riots, or urban versus rural development and the place of Gujarat in the Indian Union etc!
That said, once again, congratulations to Sharmina and Anjoom, and all those involved in organising the conference, for a successful outcome. Hopefully the various papers presented there will see the light of day in the not too distant future.
RAMNIK SHAH
>I can`t say I am very happy about Dubai as the venue
>for the next GSA Conference. Why our extremely
>dedicated and hard-working organisers have chosen it
>remains a mystery. Perhaps they would care to explain!
> I have a principled objection to Dubai, based on its
>institutionalised unequal society in terms of gender,
>race and nationality and in particular its
>exploitative treatment of Indian and other non-Arab
>and non-Muslim workers.
>
>Maybe others have a different perspective - it would
>be intresting to know.
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
|
Feedback: 