[Indonesian_open] Conference at The University of Melbourne

[Harsojo, Ida]

Untuk teman-teman yang berdomisili di Melbourne dan sekitarnya,
 
Salam,
  
Ida Harsojo
Languages Consultant, Indonesian
Curriculum K-12 Directorate
NSW Department of Education and Training
3a Smalls Road
RYDE  NSW  2112
 
Ph: 02 9886 7640
Fax: 02 9886 7160
Email: ida.harsojo at det.nsw.edu.au
 
 
---------------------------------
Asia EdNet Discussion Group 
--------------------------------- 
Dear Asia EdNetters

Please find below some information about an excellent conference to be
held at the University of Melbourne September 20-21. 

For those that are unable to make it to Linking Latitudes India
Conference take this opportunity to learn about contemporary India from
key experts from around the world.

See website and information below for further details.

Maureen Welch

Conference on Democracy, Development and Civil Society in India
(September 20-21, 2007)

Conference Venue: The University of Melbourne

In 2007 India will celebrate its sixtieth year of independence.  One of
its most notable achievements is the endurance of its democratic
institutions despite internal and external challenges to its democratic
governance. As this multicultural state with over a billion people picks
up economic pace at the start of the 21st century, international
scepticism about its economic and political prospects is giving way to
optimism about its future and increasing intellectual curiosity about
its democratic developmental experience.

With record high economic growth rates induced by the economic
liberalization program that began in 1991, Orientalist depictions of the
Indian economy have been abandoned for more positive metaphors.  In view
of the higher economic growth under democratic governance, several
important questions arise:

o Does India's experience herald an alternative model of development?
o How far can democratic governance accommodate competitive pressures
unleashed by economic liberalization?
o Can democratic governance alleviate poverty and deliver greater
equality at a juncture when market forces are increasingly dominating
the allocation of resources?
o What lessons can one learn from the Indian experience?


Under the neo-liberal policies espoused by some multilateral agencies
there is increasing pressure for the state to reduce its involvement in
market relations and at the same time for civil society groups to play
an active role in the interests of democratization.  In India civil
society groups have been active for many years under a democratic system
of governance.  This raises some important questions:

o What are the achievements of civil society groups in India?
o Do civil society organizations necessarily promote development?
o Are all civil society groups committed to democratic governance?
o Are they capable of taking on activities that are normally the
responsibility of the state?

The conference will address some of the challenges facing India and
provide a forum for debating the questions raised above with local and
international speakers. It aims to go beyond discussions of procedural
democracy and provide fresh perspectives by examining ways in which more
inclusionary forms of democratic participation and development might be
attained.

Confirmed International Guest Speakers

Professor Akhil Gupta (University of California, Los Angeles)
Professor Niraja G Jayal (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
Professor Shalendra Sharma (University of San Francisco)
Professor Zoya Hasan (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)

 
Conference Coordinators:
Dr Salim Lakha (salim at unimelb.edu.au)           Dr Pradeep Taneja
(ptaneja at unimelb.edu.au)

Conference website:
http://www.social-environmental.unimelb.edu.au/DDCSconference/index.html




-- 

Maureen Welch
Director

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