EVENTS

Fourth All India Conference of China Studies

November 08-09, 2011?Hyderabad

CONCEPT NOTE

Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) has been organizing national level conferences on China Studies in India at regular intervals. After the first three conferences held in Delhi in December, 2006 and December, 2009, and in Kolkata in December 2010, ICS proposes to hold the Fourth All India Conference of China Studies in Hyderabad in November 2011, in collaboration with Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad. It has been one of the important events in ICS calendar in the last few years and the objective is to spread interest and strengthen research in China Studies in India. It is held once every year, preferably in December, in one of the institutions where research is being carried out in China Studies; this year adjustment of dates has been made keeping in view the academic calendar of the host institution, University of Hyderabad.

It is well-known that China Studies has been gaining importance all over the world. It is also known that in the decades since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, some countries of the West have had several Centres and Institutes dedicated to study and research of China. While over the years, their reasons for studying China have changed, they have been able to build a substantial body of expertise, not to mention the resources they have been able to garner. India, on the other hand, has had many limitations in its efforts to study China, in spite of the fact that India and China have shared a civilizational interaction for centuries. To begin with, India’s scholarship on China has been limited to a handful of experts in a handful of institutions who constantly face paucity of resources.

Yet, progress made in the last two decades has been extremely encouraging, with two new generations of China scholars coming to maturity and producing works on a wide range of themes. Moreover, many of these scholars have achieved commendable competence in Chinese language, enabling them to use primary source materials that are much more readily available compared to a few decades back.  No less important is the fact that the new generations of China scholars have had the benefit of sustained training under the supervision of senior China scholars who have set the standard of academic research and continue to do so. Subsequently, some of the existing areas of research have been strengthened, but more importantly, new areas of interest and importance have been identified and ventured into. Therefore, the body of research emerging out of our Centres and Institutes on China Studies in India have two points of departure compared to the past, first, it is becoming more and more interdisciplinary, and secondly, it is taking ample advantage of the abundant primary source material and language competence available today.

Needless to mention that China, as a nation, has gone from strength to strength; its stature in the international community, its great economic rise, its active participation in global trade and commerce, its cultural and social reinvention, its engagement with domestic, regional and international issues, all stand testimony to China’s growing importance in the world. As a result, the international academia has become fascinated with studying China. It is well-known that China has been developing very rapidly in the last few decades. While much discussion is taking place all over the world on China’s economic growth, it is important to study in depth the social development issues in China, such as trends in social inequality, regional disparity, democratic rights, cultural and ethnic issues and so on; no less important is to see how the Chinese are addressing them, especially from the point of view of the Indian experience and the experiences of other comparable developing countries, such as the BRIC countries.

Given this background, the exercise of dissemination of information on the research conducted in China Studies assumes extraordinary importance. For this year, ICS would like to propose a format for this two days event: the first part will be devoted to China Studies: State of the Field, while the second part will focus on the special theme of this year’s Conference, Social Development in China: A Comparative Perspective. The theme is considered appropriate also because it is being hosted in a department of Political Science which has a history and a foundation of research and scholarship on Social Development. Therefore, the format for the Fourth All India Conference of China Studies would be the following:

Part I: China Studies: State of the Field

a. New Researches in India

b. Major Research in China

c. Global Trends in China Studies

This part will include areas such as foreign policy, economic development, domestic politics, society and culture, environmental concerns, food and energy security and so on.

Part II: Social Development in China: A Comparative Perspective

This part will include areas such as social inequality, regional disparity, democratic rights, cultural and ethnic issues and so on.

We are hopeful that a large contingent of scholars from all over India will participate in the event and enrich the knowledge resources on China Studies. Papers are invited on any aspect of China Studies so as to reflect the recent research and future trends, as well as prospects and challenges. The proposals may please be forwarded to Convenor & Co-convenor of the Conference latest by October 15, 2011.

Convenor: Prof. Sabaree Mitra (sabareem@gmail.com, sabareem@hotmail.com )

Co-convenor: Prof. B. Chandrasekhar Rao  (chandra.brao@gmail.com)

Dates: November 08-09, 2011

Venue: University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad