Hello Folks<br>People on CPOV may be interested in this conference (see call for participation below) being organized by Vidya Ashram (<a href="http://www.vidyaashram.org">www.vidyaashram.org</a>)
in Varanasi, India this coming November. The call is also available in Spanish, Italian, German and
French (all the versions are available on <a href="http://lokavidyajanandolan.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://lokavidyajanandolan.blogspot.com/</a>). This is a political rather than academic conference, so several representatives from people's movements are expected to attend. But we are also hoping for some attendance from interested and sympathetic international academics and scholars. Those interested in learning more can contact me at <a href="mailto:abasole@gmail.com">abasole@gmail.com</a>.<br>
<br>Thanks<br>Amit<br>
<br><br><br>
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
h1
{mso-style-link:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
mso-outline-level:1;
font-size:24.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
span.Heading1Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-style-locked:yes;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1";
mso-ansi-font-size:24.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:24.0pt;
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
font-weight:bold;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 63.0pt 1.0in 63.0pt;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:1124157893;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:-1116192342 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level2
{mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level3
{mso-level-tab-stop:1.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level4
{mso-level-tab-stop:2.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level5
{mso-level-tab-stop:2.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level6
{mso-level-tab-stop:3.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level7
{mso-level-tab-stop:3.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level8
{mso-level-tab-stop:4.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level9
{mso-level-tab-stop:4.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
-->
</style>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><span style="font-size:20.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Calibri">CALL FOR
PARTICPATION</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:18.0pt;font-family:
Calibri">LOKAVIDYA JAN ANDOLAN </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:18.0pt;font-family:
Calibri">(PEOPLE’S KNOWLEDGE MOVEMENT)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Calibri">FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE<span style="color:red"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:red"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:
18.0pt;font-family:Calibri">12-14 NOVEMBER, 2011, VARANASI, INDIA</span></p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Vidya Ashram (<a href="http://www.vidyaashram.org/">www.vidyaashram.org</a>) invites you to
participate in the First International Conference of the <u>Lokavidya Jan
Andolan</u> to be held on<span style="color:red"> </span>12-14 November, 2011,
in Vidya Ashram, Sarnath, Varanasi, India. </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Calibri;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">We will also be
holding an online preparatory dialog from 1st July to 31st August. We invite
you to participate in this dialog as well. P</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold">lease visit </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Calibri;font-weight:normal"><a href="http://lokavidyajanandolan.blogspot.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold">http://lokavidyajanandolan.blogspot.com</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> or write to <a href="mailto:vidyaashram@gmail.com">vidyaashram@gmail.com</a> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold">for latest information.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"></span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri">SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND THE
KNOWLEDGE STANDPOINT</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri">In
India displacement of people from their land, their houses and their work has
emerged as the single largest concern of the social movements. Movements of
peasants against forced acquisition of land and for remunerative prices , movements
of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">adivasis</i> (indigenous people) and local communities for local
control of natural resources and against ecological and environmental
destruction, movements of slum dwellers for civic and social facilities, and </span><span style="font-family:Calibri">the movements of hawkers and artisans against
systematic demolition of the local markets </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Calibri">and inroads<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>by the corporations and the global market, have all converged to become
a single movement against displacement and eviction, though managed and
organized separately. Those trying to organize these people are struggling to
find pathways to confront the ruling dispensation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri">All
these people, the displaced, the communities they belong to, have never gone to
college and live by the knowledge they posses, called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">lokavidya</i>, which they have acquired from elders, from peers, in the
community, at the site of work, through experiments and by their own genius.
Displacement alters the conditions of their life in such a way that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">lokavidya </i>is no more able to serve their
life needs and thus turns them into sources of cheap labour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is this severance of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">lokavidya</i> from their lives, which needs
to be fought at all costs. In fact <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">lokavidya</i>,
that is people’s knowledge, skills, ways of thinking, values, methods of
organization, aesthetic and ethical sensibilities, in short, their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">world of knowledge as a part of their own
world</i>, is the main source of their strength.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal"> Lokavidya</i> is also what is common to this multitude, which is at
the receiving end. It is important to understand that the emancipatory pathways
today traverse through the world of knowledge. </span><span style="font-family:
Calibri">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Lokavidya</i> standpoint is
the people’s standpoint in the Age of Information.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style=""><i style=""><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-family:Calibri">LOKAVIDYA</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span style="font-family:Calibri">-KNOWLEDGE CLAIM</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri">Peasants
and indigenous people the world over are in a new mood of assertion.
Expressing, articulating and representing in ways that are their own, these
people are staking a claim to their inalienable right to live by their own
knowledge, values and belief systems and acquire knowledge that they deem fit
for them. Asia, Africa, South America, everywhere a new kind of turmoil is in
the making, promising to produce a new unity of the oppressed and the
dispossessed, this time based on what is common in their understanding of the
world around them, in their relationship with nature, namely based on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">lokavidya</i>. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri">This
means that peasants and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">adivasis</i>,
artisans and women, pavement retailers and workers need to stake a claim for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">lokavidya</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">This is not a claim for survival, this is a claim to build a new world.</i>
They need to claim that a radical challenge to capital and commercialization of
knowledge can be posed only by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">lokavidya</i>.
They need to also claim that only <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">lokavidya</i>
provides the knowledge bases for a society based on truth, on social and
economic equality. We need to understand that until these claims are staked we shall
remain prisoners of our preconceived notions of radical social change, without
effect. Such a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">lokavidya</i>-knowledge
claim can give birth to a new imagination, new thought in the realms of
economics, society, politics and culture. The process of giving shape to such
claims is the process of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Lokavidya Jan
Andolan.</i> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri">LOKAVIDYA
JAN ANDOLAN<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Calibri">(LJA)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri">The global economic and
ecological crises have exposed the thought and institutions that have enriched
a few by making the majority starve and by bringing nature to the brink of
destruction. Lokavidya Jan Andolan is a knowledge movement of this majority,
that is of those people, who have been dubbed as the ignorant masses by the
science establishments, the universities and<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>the modern state. The idea that there is a sea of knowledge
outside the university is not alien to most people in the world. Knowledge is
widely spread in society and the idea that knowledge is widely spread, has a
very wide spread too. That is, people know and they know that they know. And
yet neither these people nor the knowledge they possess have dignity in
society. Their knowledge has no economic returns, so people are poor. It has no
respect in the public domain, so people are culturally marginal. It has no
clear relation with peoples’ organizations, therefore people are politically
irrelevant. There is a need for a political movement, a space where people can
mobilize on the basis of their knowledge. This movement is the <i>Lokavidya Jan
Andolan.</i></span></p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">The conference is an attempt to
bring together the organizers of the movements of peasants and artisans,
indigenous peoples and small trades-people, women and youth on a knowledge
platform, which is a platform of their knowledge, lokavidya. It is from this
platform that the claim can be staked that it is in lokavidya that the solution
lies.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:
Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;color:black;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold"></span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri">KNOWLEDGE MOVEMENTS
WORLDWIDE</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:red"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Calibri">The world is witnessing a new kind of movement, a
people’s knowledge movement with entirely new political imaginations. The ideas
of lokavidya in India, Rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia, Rights of Nature in
Ecuador, Food Sovereignty by the International Peasants Movement Via Campesina,
and Cognitive Capitalism and the idea of Knowledge Liberation in Europe and
America are indications of a churning hitherto unknown to political debates. There
is an insistence in all these that people are knowledgeable and that their
knowledge and beliefs are not inferior in any way to knowledge doled out in the
name of science. There is an understanding that the damage done to people and
nature over the past centuries, which is multiplied manifold in this digital
era of the New Empire, is correctable only by those who have not been fully
subsumed into the systems of modern knowledge. </span></p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:24.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Lokavidya Jan Andolan argues that
these and all such struggles worldwide constitute a new fraternity </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">of
struggles, building a worldwide knowledge movement of the people, a movement of
people’s knowledge, a movement of knowledge in society.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"></span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri">THE
FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF LOKAVIDYA JAN ANDOLAN </span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Calibri;mso-ansi-language:PT-BR;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold" lang="PT-BR">VENUE: Vidya Ashram, Sarnath, Varanasi, India</span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">DATES: November 12-14, 2011</span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">SESSIONS: The first two days of
the conference will have three thematic sessions, namely </span></h1>
<h1 style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;
mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">The
idea of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">lokavidya </i>and people’s knowledge movement,</span></h1>
<h1 style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;
mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The struggles that underline and make
space for such an idea and </span></h1>
<h1 style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;
mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The strategy and organization of the
Lokavidya Jan Andolan</span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">The third day will be devoted to
the role and place of language, art, media and philosophy in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Lokavidya Jan Andolan. </i>Those not working
with the idea of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">lokavidya</i> will also
get ample time to articulate their views on the idea and practice of a people’s
knowledge movement.</span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:24.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Participants are expected to make
their own arrangements for travel to Varanasi. Vidya Ashram will take care of
local lodging and boarding. </span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">You can also contact the following
people for more information.</span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Sunil Sahasrabudhey<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold">Varanasi<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span><a href="mailto:budhey@gmail.com"><b>budhey@gmail.com</b></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>+91-9839275124</span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">B. Krishnarajulu<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Hyderabad<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri"><a href="mailto:kkbandi@gmail.com">kkbandi@gmail.com</a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>+91-9866139091</span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Amit Basole<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Boston<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri"><a href="mailto:abasole@gmail.com">abasole@gmail.com</a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>+1-6176867437</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"></span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">We look forward to seeing you in
Varanasi.</span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Calibri;mso-ansi-language:PT-BR" lang="PT-BR">Vidya Ashram </span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Calibri;mso-ansi-language:PT-BR" lang="PT-BR">Sarnath, Varanasi, India</span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri"><a href="http://www.vidyaashram.org/"><span style="mso-ansi-language:
PT-BR" lang="PT-BR">www.vidyaashram.org</span></a></span><span style="font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-ansi-language:PT-BR" lang="PT-BR"></span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Calibri;mso-ansi-language:PT-BR" lang="PT-BR"> </span></p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Amit Basole<br>Department of Economics<br>University of Massachusetts, Amherst<br><a href="http://www.people.umass.edu/abasole/" target="_blank">http://www.people.umass.edu/abasole/</a><br><a href="http://thenoondaysun.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://thenoondaysun.blogspot.com/</a><br>
<a href="http://vidyaashram.org/" target="_blank">http://vidyaashram.org/</a><br><a href="http://sanhati.com/" target="_blank">http://sanhati.com/</a><br><a href="http://www.edu-factory.org/" target="_blank">http://www.edu-factory.org/</a><br>