Comments on: Engaged Anthropology and Academic Freedom http://savageminds.org/2009/05/02/engaged-anthropology-and-academic-freedom/ Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog Sat, 26 May 2012 03:33:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Joanna Kirkpatrick http://savageminds.org/2009/05/02/engaged-anthropology-and-academic-freedom/comment-page-1/#comment-632915 Joanna Kirkpatrick Sun, 13 Jun 2010 05:38:08 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=1932#comment-632915 I notice that nothing has been posted under this topic of South Asia since last year. Like the place doesn't exist for anthros anymore? Today's Guardian newspaper published an article by Bianca Jagger on the fight for their lives and culture by the Dongria Khondhs of Orissa. At this point all Indian government agencies except for the Forest and Lands have given consent to Vedanta, a global mostly UK-owned but partly Indian-owned as well, bauxite mining corp., to bulldoze the Khondh's Niyamgiri Mountain. Survival International made a short film about these people's struggle, and updates have appeared on their site: http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/dongria Their film, "Mine" can be viewed on this website. The Guardian link for the Khondh story is here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/13/mining- aluminium-tribes-india-jagger The situation has been complicated by the fact that Maoist Naxal groups have been fighting police and special forces on behalf of the tribals in Orissa, Jharkand and West Bengal, as well as a government supported fake tribal group operating to destroy tribal settlements and people. The stakes are huge profits for multinational mining companies. Vedanta is not the only one. Suggest that anthropologists on this blog who are concerned by the march of global capitalism against the peoples and cultures that we presume to study should take note and see if they can help. If you are inclined, check with Survival International on their website. I notice that nothing has been posted under this topic of South Asia since last year. Like the place doesn’t exist for anthros anymore?

Today’s Guardian newspaper published an article by Bianca Jagger on the fight for their lives and culture by the Dongria Khondhs of Orissa. At this point all Indian government agencies except for the Forest and Lands have given consent to Vedanta, a global mostly UK-owned but partly Indian-owned as well, bauxite mining corp., to bulldoze the Khondh’s Niyamgiri Mountain.

Survival International made a short film about these people’s struggle, and updates have appeared on their site:
http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/dongria
Their film, “Mine” can be viewed on this website.
The Guardian link for the Khondh story is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/13/mining- aluminium-tribes-india-jagger

The situation has been complicated by the fact that Maoist Naxal groups have been fighting police and special forces on behalf of the tribals in Orissa, Jharkand and West Bengal, as well as a government supported fake tribal group operating to destroy tribal settlements and people.
The stakes are huge profits for multinational mining companies. Vedanta is not the only one.

Suggest that anthropologists on this blog who are concerned by the march of global capitalism against the peoples and cultures that we presume to study should take note and see if they can help. If you are inclined, check with Survival International on their website.

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]]> By: Joanna Kirkpatrick http://savageminds.org/2009/05/02/engaged-anthropology-and-academic-freedom/comment-page-1/#comment-628027 Joanna Kirkpatrick Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:05:35 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=1932#comment-628027 India also has a long history of persecuting adivasis, the latest being disguised as fighting Maoists. The hill tribes of Orissa and neighboring areas are fighting for their lives and lands against invading international extractive industries. These capital intensive indsutries arebeing suppoerted by both state and central government. As usual, adivasi women are special targets for rape and death. See this article by anthropologist Nandini Sundar in Outlook India: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?263777 The article is titled, "Chhattisgarh-- An Anthropologist In A Police State." India also has a long history of persecuting adivasis, the latest being disguised as fighting Maoists. The hill tribes of Orissa and neighboring areas are fighting for their lives and lands against invading international extractive industries. These capital intensive indsutries arebeing suppoerted by both state and central government. As usual, adivasi women are special targets for rape and death.

See this article by anthropologist Nandini Sundar in Outlook India: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?263777
The article is titled, “Chhattisgarh–
An Anthropologist In A Police State.”

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]]> By: small blue http://savageminds.org/2009/05/02/engaged-anthropology-and-academic-freedom/comment-page-1/#comment-616340 small blue Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:50:43 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=1932#comment-616340 "Do more"? "Not undermine"? Are you really so ignorant of the long history of violence by Hindu nationalists against academics and artists, carried out with the full support and complicity of the police and judiciary? Why exactly are western academics and media so invested in disguising the sheer scale and variety of violence in India and why is it done so glibly and with such practised ease? And yes despite all your pretensions Savage Minds falls squarely in this category. The latest is the acquittal of the Hindu nationalist student leaders who beat to death Professor Sabharwal in 2006 (http://sabharwalmemorial4action.org/). Of course, it finds no mention in any western discourses on India. As an Indian anthropologist, let me tell you that you are NOT doing us any favours in letting us get away with murder. “Do more”? “Not undermine”? Are you really so ignorant of the long history of violence by Hindu nationalists against academics and artists, carried out with the full support and complicity of the police and judiciary? Why exactly are western academics and media so invested in disguising the sheer scale and variety of violence in India and why is it done so glibly and with such practised ease? And yes despite all your pretensions Savage Minds falls squarely in this category.
The latest is the acquittal of the Hindu nationalist student leaders who beat to death Professor Sabharwal in 2006 (http://sabharwalmemorial4action.org/). Of course, it finds no mention in any western discourses on India. As an Indian anthropologist, let me tell you that you are NOT doing us any favours in letting us get away with murder.

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