Description:
The concept of community has generated immense interests in the academia across disciplines and over time raising methodological, analytical and theoretical concerns rife with differences in its treatment. Compounded by contemporary social dynamics such as pertaining to globalisation, economic changes, state, politics, migration, modern technology, gender, development, etc. and the emergence of new perspectives and new areas of research the understanding of communities has undergone significant changes.

With an association of the concept to notion of territoriality considered to garner extensive and deep cultural bonding and social interdependence giving a discernible visibility to community, the concept has at the same time given precedence to the symbolic quality denoting entities consisting of people who consider themselves as being part of the same history or destiny whether they are interacting with each other or not and irrespective of locality. Such treatment of the concept has broadened the perimeters of community studies bringing in diverse kinds of social entities within it, the boundaries of which may be permeable and indeterminate.

The issues of internal and external power (disparities) involving communities and between communities and other entities wielding power, the interplay with broader cultural formations, processes and signals, historicity, political economy, etc. shape up community specifics, the multilayered relations, its growth and shrinkage. It is also being recognised that it is near boundaries and across them, that community culture and identity were being determined.

North East India with its regional, political, cultural and historical differences and concomitances sets the context for the understanding of the multilayered and diverse communities that has contributed in defining North East India as an entity and its linkages beyond. This seminar seeks to explore and to understand North East India through an understanding of the communities and community relations within it and beyond it.

Topics:

We welcome posters and paper submissions for presentation on issues on or broadly related to any of the following themes-

• Conceptual and methodological issues
• Inter- community dynamics
• Intra community specifics and dynamics
• Communities within a community
• Diaspora
• Displaced communities
• Migration and communities
• Urban and rural communities
• Globalisation and its impact on communities
• Multiculturalism
• Technology and virtual communities

Full draft papers and posters should be submitted to the below mentioned address.

Submissions/e-mails should be entitled: Understanding Communities of North East India

Last date to apply: March 15, 2012

Seminar Coordinators:
Dr. Shabeena Y Saikia
E-mail- shaysaikia@hotmail.com
Ms. Kaberi Das
E-mail- daskaberi1985@gmail.com

Contact details:
Department of Sociology,
Gauhati University,
Guwahati- 781014.
Email: sociologygu12@gmail.com / shaysaikia@hotmail.comWebsite: http://www.gauhati.ac.in/sociology/index.htm