Sameeksha is a platform for field realities, contemporary issues and emerging social paradigms. It is a unique event that unfolds the opportunities of facilitating exchange of expressions, views, thoughts and ideas, in all their specificity and abstraction.

At Sameeksha, students, field practitioners, academicians and other like-minded people come together to explore various themes. In the past Sameeksha has dealt with themes like the Green v/s Brown agenda, Polemics of Funding, Dynamics of Social Movements, Margins, Voices and Silences etc. The theme for this year’s Sameeksha is ‘Existence and Resistance: Exploring Alternatives’

Existence and Resistance: Exploring Alternatives

In the present dynamics between the individual, the community and the society resistance has become the chief modus operandi of existence. It has become inevitable to question the very essence for existence. The concerns vary from the significance of existence with identity, with degree of resistance and hence with the presence of alternatives. Question also arises that does ‘governing element’ generate the ‘process of marginalized existence’. There seems to be some kind of resentment brewing that manifests itself in the form of resistance whether it is in an individuals mind or in a society.

Existence survives at the transitional zone of resistance versus oppression and imposition. The case can be that of the Islamic and Sikh communities in USA post 9/11where they are victimized on racial grounds or that of Iraqi people fighting for themselves and their subjugation or that of Nepal. In India, the resistance comes from those whose land has been acquired and now it is a question of survival, or from those who have been thrown out of their own homes, those who face ridicule and discrimination daily because of their caste, their class, their religion or their gender. The instances are numerous the kalinga nagar killings, land acquisition under the special economic zones, the Special Armed forces Powers act in North East, the Kashmir conflict, or the basic question of human rights for dalits in the country, the strife to exist has become universal.

The craving for luxurious existence of humans has urged the nature to revolt for itself. Ecology and the environment is also showing its existence in the form of global warming, global climatic change which get manifested in the form of “natural disasters”, questioning the human existence itself.

In this context hence, the question is existence for whom and at whose cost? Whose development? Where do we locate ourselves in the whole discourse? Is everybody in a position to resist for their own existence?

At this juncture exploring alternatives becomes an important endeavour. An alternative to existence might be a fantasy but yes exploring alternatives to forms of resistance and therefore forms of existence can certainly be a reality.

Schedule

Day 1, 15th December, 2006

9:00 AM onwards – NGO Mela
5:00 PM to 8:00 PM – Inaugural Ceremony
9:00 PM onwards – Cultural Programmes

Day 2, 16th December, 2006

10:00 AM to 1:00 PM – Panel Discussion on Existence & Resistance
(Exploring the theme)
02:00 PM to 5:00 PM – Alternatives in Existence & Resistance
(Innovation in the field)
06:00 PM onwards – Cultural Evening

Day 3, 17th December, 2006

9:00 AM to 12:30 PM – Paper Presentation
12:30 PM to 1:45 PM – Closing Ceremony

GRAND LUNCH

NGO Mela runs parallel to all the other events

The Venue for the event will be the Conference hall and Main Lounge in Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

For details contact:
Ashwin Joseph – 09869698669
Sandeep. K – 09820561672
[email protected], [email protected]

SWSF, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, P.O Box No. 8313, Deonar, Mumbai