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Fireflies
Semester Courses Photos: (click on image for larger version)
Students will enroll in a fifteen week long Fireflies Semester on Culture, Peace and Development (equivalent to 16 credits) with the guidance of Siddhartha and professors from several Universities in South India. Fireflies is an inter-religious and secular Ashram
concerned with earth spirituality, the resolution of communal violence
and the deepening of democracy and civil society processes in India.
The Ashram, located thirty kilometers from Bangalore, is a center
that hosts international events and seminars on the cultural dimensions
of social transformation. Pipal Tree, the Siddhartha: Fireflies Founder and Director of
the Pipal Tree Siddhartha is the founder of Fireflies Ashram and
Director of Pipal Tree. He writes regularly for Indian and International
newspapers and journals, and lectures widely all over the world
on issues related to culture, ecology, and sustainable development.
His essays, Lettres du Gange (Publisher: L'Aube) The Seminars at Fireflies (16 credits) Indian Life and Culture Peace, Justice and Social Movements Development in India Field Study Seminar & Independent Study
project Location Accommodations Excursions and Field Trips Program Cost Price Includes Application Procedure Expanded Course Descriptions: (courses taken one at a time with related field trips ) Culture, Peace and Development This course aims at introducing undergraduate
students to Indian society and culture by focusing on the three
areas of culture, peace and development. We will begin this course
with a brief survey of the history and culture of Indian society.
The powerful social institutions of religion, caste and gender and
important historical episodes such as colonialism and the Readings: Part 1- Indian Life and Culture
( 8 Days) This course is an introduction to Indian social life and culture. India has been home to many diverse social philosophies and cultural practices; major religions like Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism emerged in India and today the second largest Muslim population is found here. This old and complex society has stepped into the twenty first century retaining cultural institutions from the pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial eras: alongside sophisticated software industries and nuclear power plants one finds caste struggles, dowry deaths and religious figures teaching meditation and yoga. The goals of this course are to introduce students to: - a general survey of Indian philosophy and religion
and logic of the caste system; Indian society has witnessed immense religious,
ethnic, linguistic and regional diversities throughout history.
Important religions like Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism established
This course will survey the transformations initiated by the nationalist leaders Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, and the leader of the Untouchable castes, B.R.Ambedkar. Gandhi was a critic of modernity and advocated policies where development would start at the village level and then move outwards. His ideas represent the anti-thesis of present day consumer ideology. For him there were enough goods being produced "to fulfil every man's need but not every man's greed." On the other hand, Nehru, the first prime minister of India, was the great moderniser. He saw the big public sector factories and the dams as "the temples of modern India." Political debates even today reflect the tensions between the Gandhian and Nehruvian perspectives. Ambedkar, the chairman of the Indian constituent assembly, the body that was authorised to frame the Indian constitution, believed that only western political institutions grounded in conceptions of individual freedom could emancipate the Untouchable castes from the inegalitarian caste system. Eventually he converted to Buddhism and made a call for all Untouchables to do likewise. He believed that if the Untouchables remained within the Hindu fold there would be no emancipation for them. The Untouchable castes today represent about twenty percent of the population and the vast cultural changes taking place among them have had a major impact on the evolution of contemporary India. In this part of the course, we will read select writings that will illustrate the major political and cultural processes in India's history mentioned above. Section 1: Beginning to Comprehend India Evolution of Early Indian Society. (Michael Tharakan) Understanding the Caste System. (V.Gandhimati) Required Reading: Brockington, JL (1990): "Prehistory of Hinduism" in The Sacred Thread. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Ghurye GS (1991): "Features of the Caste System" in Social Stratification (Ed) Dipankar Gupta. New Delhi: Oxford University Press Srinivas MN (1991): "Varna and Caste" in Social Stratification (Ed) Dipankar Gupta. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Thapar, Romila (1992): "Early India: An Overview," in Interpreting Early India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Section 2: Indian Culture and Religion. General Survey of Indian Philosophy (Jean Letschert) Required Reading: Brockington, JL (1990) "Impersonal Trends," "Theistic Trends," "Unorthodox Movements," "The Orthodox Synthesis," 'Sectarian Developments", "Bhakti in the South" and "Bhakti in the North" in The Sacred Thread. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Section 3: Reformers and Religious Re-thinking: Gandhi and Narayana Guru ( L.C.Jain and Jean Letschert) Indian Islam/ The Sufi Tradition (Asghar Ali Engineer) Ambedkar and Neo-Buddhism ( Dr.Siddalingiah) Required Reading: Brockington, JL (1990): "Revival and Reform" in The Sacred Thread. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Fischer, Louis (1982) Gandhi: His Life and Message. London: Grafton Books. Gandhi, MK (1997) Hind Swaraj (Self-Rule) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Gandhi, Rajmohan (1986): "Hindus and Muslims," in Understanding the Muslim Mind. New Delhi: Penguin India Books. Guru, Narayana (1990): "A Critique of Caste," in Life and Teachings of Narayana Guru by Nataraja Guru. Varkala: Narayana Gurukula Foundation. Omvedt, Gail (1994): Chapter 7, "Ambedkarism: The Theory of Dalit Liberation," in Dalits and the Democratic Revolution. New Delhi: Sage Publications. Section 4: Literature, Art and Society Literature and Social Movements( U.R.Anantamurthy
and Siddalingiah) Required Reading: Ananthamurthy UR (1989): Samskara (tr) AK Ramanajan. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Ananthamurthy UR. (2002) "Indian Culture: An End of the Century View,"in Literature and Culture. Calcutta: Papyrus Press. Devy GN (1995): "Tradition and Amnesia," in After Amnesia: Tradition and Change in Indian Literary Criticism. New Delhi: Orient Longman. Roy, Arundhati (1997): The God of Small Things. New York: Random House. Thakurta, Tapati-Guha (1998): "Instituting the Nation in Art," in Wages of Freedom: Fifty Years of the Nation State (ed) Partha Chatterjee. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Part 2 - 'Development' in India
(15 Days) The idea of development has had a major influence on the formation of economic and political institutions in modern India. This course will trace the social career of this important idea in India. Nineteenth century conceptions of development in Europe sorted societies on a temporal scale and considered agrarian societies to be backward and industrial-capitalist societies to be the final point on an historical evolutionary line. These ideas exercised a powerful influence on the imagination of the Indian intellectuals in nineteenth century colonial India. In visualising a future for India, many of these intellectuals understood industrialization as a necessary transformatory process and saw the state as the agent for ushering in social progress. These ideas were to prove important even in the aftermath of British colonial rule. In independent India, the idea of development was institutionalized through centralized planning apparatuses. State planning came to be seen as the main instrument through which India could develop. The Indian state initiated large scale programs to increase agrarian and industrial production. In addition, it also attempted to regulate population growth, increase literacy levels, achieve self-sufficiency in energy requirements, uplift the socially weaker groups, to name a few. In what was termed as the "mixed economy" approach, the Indian state carved for itself an important place in the economy alongside the private sector. In the first couple of decades, these ideas of development acquired widespread social legitimacy. In the seventies and the eighties, we witness the emergence and growth of social activism that is increasingly sceptical and critical of the dominant paradigms of state-led development. This is the period which witnessed the rise of the non-governmental sector in India. Activism related to environmental issues, sustainable technologies, women's rights, empowerment of the socially exploited castes became visible in different parts of the country. Large state initiated development projects (dams, for example) were severely criticised for violating human rights and causing ecological destruction. In the 1990s, the Indian state introduced major
structural reforms to "liberalize" its economy. These
reforms were initiated to reduce the state's presence in the market
and allow for Accordingly the goals of this course are: - to survey the conceptual career of the idea
of 'development'; In doing a social history of "development" in India, we will examine some of the key arguments of nationalist economists of the colonial and the post-colonial eras. We will also briefly examine some of the important development programs and their social consequences in independent India. Lastly, we will try to understand the emerging models of development and the challenges posed to them by the various grassroots social movements in India. Section 1 - The Idea of Development The conceptual career of development (Trent Schroyer) Required Reading: Escobar, Arturo (1995): Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Esteva, Gustavo (1992):"Development," in The Development Dictionary (ed) Wolfgang Sachs. London: Zed Books. Section 2 - Colonial India and Development Required Reading: Chandra, Bipan (1991): "Colonial India: British and Indian Views of Development." Review 14, no.1: 81-167. Ludden, David (1992): "India's Development Regime." In Colonialism and Culture, edited by Nicholas Dirks, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Stein, Burton (1989): Thomas Munro: The Origins of the Colonial State and His Vision of Empire. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Stein, Burton. (1992): "Introduction." The Making of Agrarian Policy in British India 1770-1900 (ed) Burton Stein. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Stokes, Eric (1992): The English Utilitarians and India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Section 3 - Independent India - Nehru's Model of State Planning (L.C.Jain) Required Reading: Bandopadhyaya, DB (1998) "Reflections on Land Reforms in India since Independence," in Industry and Agriculture in India since Independence (ed) TV Satyamurthy. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Byres, Terence (1972). "The Dialectic of India's Green Revolution," South Asian Review Volume 5, Number 2 (January). Chaudhuri, Pramit (1998). "Economic Planning in India," in Industry and Agriculture in India since Independence (ed) TV Satyamurthy. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Corbridge, Stuart and Harriss, John. Reinventing India: Liberalisation, Hindu Nationalism and Popular Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press. Empty Promises (2003) published by The Fifty Years is Enough Network, Washington DC. Shiva, Vandana (1997). "Western Science and the Destruction of Local Knowledge," in The Post-Development Studies Reader (ed) Majid Rahnema. New York: Zed Books. Part 3 - Peace, Justice and Social Movements (12 Days) Instructors: Michael Tharakan and Siddartha This course will consider the impact of the different social movements on Indian political decision making. Independent India has seen the emergence of many powerful and creative social movements which have sought to extend and deepen democratic processes in the country. Indian democracy, with all its shortcomings, has been agile in allowing space for the social movements, each with its own demands and ideological perspective (although, it must be added that increasingly ideology is giving way to the requirements of practical political achievement, except in the case of some cultural-nationalist or religious movements.) Without democracy, it would be impossible for the pulls and pressures of a complex society with numerous castes, tribes, linguistic regions, and religious affiliations to find at least partial expression. The constitution of India and the judicial system have also helped to defend the rights of aggrieved communities. Even in these days of neo-liberal economic reforms and the associated structural readjustments, social movements aid India's experiments with democracy and continue to energize the processes of democratisation in the country. Therefore the course will focus on specific social movements and political transformations that correspond to these struggles. The goals of the course are to: They have thrown up a number of charismatic leaders like Medha Patkar (the anti-dam Narmada movement), Vandana Shiva (bio-diversity protection, the struggle against the patent laws etc), Thomas Kocherry (the fishworkers' movement), P.V.Rajagopal (the Ekta-Parishad movement of adivasis and small farmers/ landless labourers) and Aruna Roy (the right to information movement.) Social movements in India act as a check on the state and try to ensure that the empowerment of the marginal and weaker sections is not sacrificed at the altar of neo-liberal globalisation. The Adivasi (tribal) population has suffered much displacement due to mining, the building of large dams, the development of national parks by the forest departments and the occupation of traditional tribal lands by settlers. The best known case is that of the tribals who have been displaced as a result of the construction of a series of large dams on the Narmada river (Medha Patkar, the leader of the anti-dam movement, has won considerable support both within and outside the country for her campaign against large dams.) Tribals are also being evicted from the Nagarhole forest, near Mysore, because it has been declared a national park. In several of these cases the World Bank had initially stepped in to back these state programs. But as a result of mass movements opposing these undemocratic initiatives, the Bank has become more cautious. In the case of the Dalit movements (the former untouchable castes) their rise to political prominence has been nothing short of dramatic. Up to a few decades ago they could be beaten, humiliated, even killed. Today, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India, and part of the traditional Hindu heartland, is a Dalit woman. The Dalit movement is firmly against upper caste Brahminical ideology, which is believed to have systematically oppressed and humiliated Dalits through the centuries. The Dalits are among the poorest and most exploited sections of Indian society and the Dalit movement is sure to acquire in importance in the decades ahead. Recent times have seen the rise of a conservative movement upholding Hindu cultural nationalism in India, sparking fears about whether the country can retain its secular social fabric for long. While scholars like K.N.Pannikar feel that the country is likely to experience a spell of religious fascism, others like Ashis Nandy feel that India is too complex a society for this to happen and that cultural nationalism cannot become a unified phenomenon due to the many conflicting tendencies within. India is the second largest Muslim country in the world with a population of about 150 million Muslims. Liberal Islamic thinkers like Asghar Ali Engineer believe that Indian Islam should also undergo radical reform in order to be part of a pluralistic society. At the moment Indian Islam, like Islam elsewhere, is going through a crisis. If a liberal Islam emerges as a strong force in the world, India is the most likely place for this to begin from. Section 1 - Varieties of Social Movements - Social Movements among the Fisherfolk (John
Kurien) Required Reading: Kothari, Rajni (1997) "Rise of Dalits and the Renewed on Caste," in State and Politics in India (ed) Partha Chatterjee. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Kumar, Radha. (1999): "From Chipko to Sati: The Contemporary Indian Women's Movement," in Gender and Politics in India (Ed) Nivedita Menon. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Kurien, John and Achari, Thankappan. (1998) "Overfishing the Coastal Commons: Causes and Consequences," in Social Ecology (ed) Ramachandra Guha. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Burman, Roy BK (2002): "Challenges and Responses in Tribal India," in Social Movements in India (ed) MSA Rao. New Delhi: Manohar Publications. Zelliott, Eleanor (1996): From Untouchable to Dalit. New Delhi: Manohar Publications.
- The Campaign against Child Labour (Siddartha) Required Reading: Bhaviskar, Amita (1995): In the Belly of the River: Tribal Conflicts over Development in the Narmada Valley. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Dietrich, Gabriel and Nayak, Nalini (2002): Transformation or Transition: Development and Social Movements in India, Department of Socia Analysis, Tamil Theological Society, Madurai. Guha, Ramachandra and Martinez-Alier, Juan (1998): Varieties of Environmentalism. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Jain LC (2003): Local Self-Governments: Still Far Away. Talk Delivered at the Asian Social Forum, Hyderabad, January 2003. Kothari, Smitu (1983): "There's Blood on those Matchsticks: Child Labour in Sivakasi," in Economic and Political Weekly, Volume 18, No.27 Varshney, Ashutosh (2002): "Introduction",
"Why Civil Society? Ethnic Conflicts and Existing Traditions
of Enquiry," and "Conclusions," in Ethnic Conflict
and Civic Life. New Delhi: Oxford Part 4 - Field Seminar (6 Days)
- Reflections on fieldwork (V.Gandhimati)
Srinivas, MN (2002): "The Fieldworker and
the Field," in The Collected Writings of MN Srinivas. New Delhi:
Oxford University Press.
This period will be used by the students to develop their field study project. They will stay at Fireflies and visit development projects and social organisations around Bangalore. About 10 days will be spent in general immersion-visits, interviews and collection of written material on the programme. Another three days will be spent in acquiring additional reading material. The remaining time of eleven days will be spent in writing out their paper. Field study projects in and around Bangalore … Urban poverty and Development: Two NGO's: GSS and Fedina. … Child labour: Two NGO's: CWC and Don Bosco. … Water issues: Central Water Commission ( Government body), Pipal Tree(NGO), Dr.Shiv Shankar, G.Vishwanath, Bhavani Shankar (Independent researchers and consultants.) … Pluralism/ inter-religious conflict resoution: Pipal Tree(NGO), Prof.Hasan Mansoor ( Human rights worker), Bangalore City Police and religious and community leaders. … Womens issues: Women's Voice, Vimochana and Shakti ( Womens organisations and movements) … Environment issues: Greenpeace (International organisation); Environment Support Group (NGO) … Literature and social change: U.R.Anantamurthy; Dr.Siddalingiah … Art and society- Inscape (art ashram); Chitrakala Parishad ( Government museum and arts college) … Contemporary Indian theatre- Mr. Prasanna; C.G.Krishnaswamy; S.Malathi and others. Part 6 - Evaluation
There will be one final 7 day evaluation at the
end of the semester that will be based on the following criteria: |
