The Internationalisation of Dalit and Adivasi Activism

25-26 June 2012

Senate House, University of London

Jointly organised by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London and the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS.

This inter-disciplinary conference aims to advance social scientific understandings of key dimensions of the internationalisation of Dalit and Adivasi activism that has gained momentum in the past two decades. These dimensions include the dilemmas of activism in a changing global context, conflicting or competing activist frames, divergent interventions by international actors, and the influence of emerging international norms on state policy. This conference seeks to discuss aspects of the internationalisation of both types of activism, with three major foci:

The relationship between international and national/local activism: How do constraints in the international system differ from those faced by Dalit and Adivasi activists domestically? How have different constraints shaped activism and mobilisation at different levels?

The role of international organisations: How do international organisations navigate caste-based discrimination and the specificity of indigenous rights? Do international organisations take different approaches?

Connections between Dalit, Adivasi, and other networks in international fora: How have activists cooperated or competed with each other on the international stage? What lessons have they learned from each other? Does the existence of diaspora groups make a difference for the strategies followed by the activists?

Luisa Steur, Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Anthropology, UCPH is a co-organiser of the conference.