Space and Culture, India
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Multicultural Brazil in the BRICS Countries: Potentials for the Social Sciences and Humanities
Get PDFThis study argues a case for multiculturalism as a possible approach for addressing the complexities of societies such as the BRICS, taking Brazil as a case study. It contends that knowledge derived from such a study can benefit Social Studies and Humanities worldwide, particularly considering that cultural diversity has been increasingly present due to globalisation, internationalisation and growing mobility of groups of people, including refugees all over the world, requiring new epistemologies and narratives in research. The paper firstly analyses the concept of multiculturalism, discussing its perspectives from more liberal approaches up to more critical, postcolonial and decolonial perspectives that focus on the challenge of prejudices that operate in terms of control and denial of pluralism. It discusses the multicultural composition of the population of Brazil as a BRICS country, analysing its main geographical and population characteristics. The main focus of the paper is to delve in the ways that Brazilian educational policies have been trying to address both international standards and the valuing of cultural identities and equity-oriented approaches that are inclusive and multicultural. It particularly focuses on the National Plan for Education and of the recent project for higher education institutions (called “Future-se”). Finally, it concludes by pointing out tensions and possibilities of such Brazilian endeavours in the context of the BRICS countries. Such a study may be relevant comparatively, hopefully providing reflections for new epistemologies and the potential value of these for the Social Sciences and Humanities
Minimising Intercultural Communication Difficulties when Teaching International Students with the Help of an Electronic Educational Complex
Get PDFThis study describes the use of an electronic educational complex for international engineering students. While doing so, it analyses whether the studied complex can reduce intercultural interaction difficulties and thus become a motivating factor in the educational process as a whole
Building Research Capacity in BRICS and Beyond: Lessons from the International Community
Get PDFResearch capacity building and research productivity are essential to the economic flourishing of any nation. Over the past decade, innovation and investment in research and development in BRICS countries – especially India and China – have strongly contributed to their economic growth. The scholarly literature shows that the five-member states have high numbers of (a) university graduates – especially in the fields of engineering and computer science – and (b) research outputs – mainly quantitative. The issue, however, is that the quality of BRICS graduates is sometimes questionable, and the nations are not considered as relevant global players when it comes to the research impact factor. To that end, it is essential to align quantity with quality in BRICS’ higher education institutions. As growing economies, BRICS need to increase their investment in higher education and research capacity building to maximise their economic prosperity. Researchers who are knowledge producers and innovators can be considered the foremost role players in transferring university research to society. Therefore, investing in quality development and support is of the essence. This article is based on the voices of 32 international scholars affiliated with the Comparative Education Society in Europe. The respondents shared their views via an open-ended survey about: (a) the development of globally competent researchers; (b) the expectations placed on present-day researchers; and (c) the demands researchers face in terms of research productivity. The findings indicate that, regardless of the context, researchers are confronted with similar demands, namely: to secure funding; engage in international and interdisciplinary research projects; and produce tangible outputs. It is also evident that research capacity building at respondents’ respective institutions needs enhancement in order to align with the current research demands
Problems Experienced by Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Exploring Social, Educational and Economic Variables
Get PDFThe study investigates the problems of adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from the perspective of ASD specialists and adolescent’s families. It comprises of 228 ASD specialists and 294 families of ASD adolescents. The sample represents all areas of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (henceforth – KSA): north, south, east, west and centre. Variables of the study are adolescents’ gender, age, residential area, as well as the qualification of ASD specialists and family members. To accomplish the study, the researchers designed a questionnaire that includes variables regarding six significant problems: Educational, Recreational, Economic, Health, Psychological, and Social. The results reveal that families rate the economic problems higher than average, while the recreational ones – lower; specialists rate economic problems higher than average and educational ones – the lowest. As for gender variable, specialists and families note the differences in favour of females; for age variable, specialists and families note that 15-18 years old ASD adolescents have more problems. The results show that qualification of specialists as well as family members is of significant relevance in relation to ASD adolescents. Both specialists and family members are mostly from the central regions
Colonial Intervention to a New Equation of Politics in India’s Northeast
Get PDFColonialism has its impact on Indian politics and society even after the colonialism. Pre-colonial Assam was able to maintain its independent status till 1826. After incorporating into the company’s holdings, colonialists gradually extended their controls to the hill areas surrounding the Assam and Bengal plains. Subsequent to annexing the hills, the areas were designated as “tribal” areas and continued to be ruled as a distinct administrative regime. However, the strategy of divide and rule system had fundamentally changed the practices of both hills and the plains. For segregating the hills from the plains, a line was drawn, known as Inner line of 1873. The gradual separation and sharpening of identity had led to the formation of ‘Bordoloi Sub-committee to render autonomy to the hill people. However, the recommendation made by the ‘Bordoloi Sub-committee’ were not able to fulfil the aspirations of the hill tribes, and they started demanding for more autonomy in the form of statehood, backed by insurgent activities, which paved the way for the reorganisation of Assam. And in the present juncture, the Plain tribes of Assam have been demanding for re-reorganisation of Assam. Hence, this study specifies the colonial subjectivity and subjugation and its consequences to new equations of contemporary politics
Marginality in Literary Discourses: Conversations with the Dead in Rabisankar Bal’s Dozakhnama
Get PDFRabisankar Bal’s Bengali novel Dozakhnama: Conversations in Hell (translated into English and published in 2012) is an imaginative biography of Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869), and Saadat Hasan Manto (1912-1955) recreated through their conversations from their respective graves. The narrative is enmeshed with the respective historical periods inhabited by the two writers, the first war of Indian independence in 1857 and the Partition in 1947 respectively. It is as if Ghalib bares his heart out to Manto from his grave, while the latter in turn realises that his life too has witnessed a similar kind of socio-cultural and literary marginalisation that destiny determined for both of them. The ‘narrator’ pieces together the traces left behind by the dead themselves and thereby constructs a compelling narrative that resonates in the larger literary and cultural life of India, along with the associated marginalisation of history, politics, and linguistic identities of their times. This study undertakes a comparative examination of the ‘lives’ of both Manto and Ghalib as recreated in the novel through the textual traces left behind by the persons themselves
Interpreting Culture, Society and Space: Folk Music Perspective
Get PDFCultural Geography per se is one of the marginal sub-disciplines of Geography in India and contributed mainly by practitioners from other disciplines like Anthropology, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Architecture, etc. Due to this reason, the sub-fields of Cultural Geography did not grow in this land of rich cultural heritage and traditions. One such field is the Geography of Music. The objective of this brief editorial note is to demonstrate the potential of folk music as a source of knowing the changing trends and patterns in society, culture, and economy and their spatiality. The examples cited are mainly from the Middle Ganga Valley, a region in which Bhojpuri is the language of the common populace, in which the author is currently based
Kannur: Inside India’s Bloodiest Revenge Politics: Ullekh N.P, Haryana: Penguin Random House India,2018, xviii., 223 pp., Rs.499 ISBN: 9780670090693
Get PDFKannur is a beautiful coastal district of Kerala, which made its way to the national headlines for its brutal political murders. The state has the highest social development parameters when compared to other states but despite this, what makes Kannur standout in terms of political happenings is a matter to be discussed