IIT Gandhinagar and Flinders University to organise a one-day international webinar on ‘Gandhi and the Adivasi Question’

Gandhinagar: Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) and Flinders University, Australia, with support from SPARC, Ministry of Education, Government of India, are organising a one-day international webinar on ‘Gandhi and the Adivasi Question’, on October 01, 2020, from 1 pm to 7 pm (IST). The seminar will discuss Gandhi and his disciples’ long-standing engagement with Adivasis and how his ideas have impacted the present day Adivasi social movements.

The webinar will have an interdisciplinary panel discussion on the subject, which will raise various topics, such as how Gandhian vocabulary has been used by Adivasi activists, the influence of the ‘Ashram’ system on Adivasi communities in western India, perceptions of Gandhi among Tana Bhagats of eastern India, and contemporary Adivasi understandings of key Gandhian texts such as Hind-Swaraj. The webinar will delve deeper into the question between the similarities and differences between Gandhian philosophy and Adivasi thought and cultural practice, and examine the many afterlives of Gandhi’s work.

Speakers include Dhananjay Rai, Central University of Gujarat; Bina Sengar, Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad; Sangeeta Dasgupta, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Arjun Rathva, MC Rathva College, Pavi Jetpur; Jitendra Vasava, Adivasi Sahitya Academy; and Ashok Chaudhari, Adivasi Ekta Parishad.

Dr Daniel J Rycroft, Chair, India Dialogue, University of East Anglia, UK, will deliver a keynote talk on ‘The Question of Human Dignity in Adivasi Studies’.

More details about the event, including programme brochure, schedule and weblink to join the zoom seminar is available at: https://events.iitgn.ac.in/2020/gaq/