Sent on behalf of Dibyesh Anand, University of Westminster 
([log in to unmask]).

------------------------

A Conference on DEMOCRACY AND DISSENT IN CHINA AND INDIA: Resistance and 
Accommodation in Tibet and Kashmir

including C R Parekh Annual Lecture by Arundhati Roy

2 June 2011

University of Westminster, London


Organiser: Dr Dibyesh Anand, University of Westminster, London, UK. Email:
[log in to unmask] 

Sponsors: Nirman Foundation and Department of Politics and International
Relations' Centre for the Study of Democracy and Security and IR Programme

Conference Website:
http://chinaindiatibetkashmir.wordpress.com

Venue: Fyvie Hall, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London W1B
2UW


C R Parekh Lecture -- Arundhati Roy

Plenary speakers -- Bhikhu Parekh and Wang Lixiong

Panelists -- Tenzin Tsundue, Sanjay Kak, Nitasha Kaul, Mirza Waheed,
Jianglin Li, and Dechen Pemba


Dissent is integral to the idea of democracy. But what constitutes dissent? 
Who draws the line between legitimate and illegitimate dissent? Or for that 
matter, who defines the limits of democracy? Are democratic states better 
at accepting plurality and differences of opinion or are they better at 
managing them, and in the process, disciplining them? What do democracy, 
dissent, democratic dissent, and dissenting democrats mean in the context 
of world's two largest countries: China and India? As the two states become 
major economic and military powers, what significance does it have for the 
diverse peoples residing within and connected without? The keynote speeches 
by two foremost and internationally renowned writers and intellectuals from 
India and China -- Arundhati Roy and Wang Lixiong will discuss some of 
these issues.


Nationalisms of all kinds play an important role in how states include or 
exclude people as well as in how people control or resist the state. The 
problematic nature of inclusionary/exclusionary nationalisms and 
coercive/cooptive statehood in China and India are nowhere better 
illustrated than in Tibet and Kashmir. Kashmir and Tibet are places with 
people -- people who live in a system they may not necessarily identify 
with, people whose life and livelihood is extra-ordinarily precarious under 
an overbearing, people many of whom have been forcibly displaced or 
involuntarily exiled -- and yet for the international audience they are 
mainly intractable problems. What does it mean to belong to the 
'troublesome paradises'? How does the experience of exile affect displaced 
subjects' engagement with their homelands? What do the protests in Tibet 
and Kashmir since 2008 tell us about the aspirations of the people as well 
as about the myths associated with nationalism and statehood in 'rising' 
India and China? The panels on Kashmir and Tibet will bring together 
leading writers, filmmakers, poets, bloggers and intellectuals.


*Preliminary Programme*

0900-0930 Registration and Opening remarks


0945-1045 Plenary Speech by Wang Lixiong followed by Q&A


1045-1100 Tea break


1100-1245 Panel on Tibet (Tenzin Tsundue, Jianlin Li, Dechen Pemba)


1245-1400 Lunch


1400-1500 Plenary speech by Lord Bhikhu Parekh


1500-1645 Panel on Kashmir (Sanjay Kak, Nitasha Kaul and Mirza Waheed)


1645-1700 Tea break


1700-1830 C R Parekh Annual Lecture by Arundhati Roy followed by Q&A


1830-1845 Closing Remarks


*Pre-registration*

Attendance is free and open to all but requires pre-registration because 
the venue has a limited capacity. Attendees should send the following 
information to <[log in to unmask]>

Full name

Email

Affiliation (if relevant)

Sessions attending:

Option 1: Full day including C R Parekh Lecture

Option 2: C R Parekh Lecture only



-- 
Dr Fiona McConnell
Junior Research Fellow: Geography
Trinity College, Cambridge, CB2 1TQ

[log in to unmask] 
www.geog.cam.ac.uk/people/mcconnell/