JUXTAPOSE 2014, JNU. Day 2, Second half

Day 2, Session 3:
Chair: Dr. Ritu Agarwal
Discussants: Prof. B.S. Butola (Centre for the study of Regional Development, JNU); Prof. Shekhar Singh (Co-ordinator, National Campaign for Right to Information)
Presenters: Pin-Hsien Wu (University of Sussex); Prof. Rajeswari Sarala Raina (NISTADS-CSIR); Mahalakshmi Ganapathy and Dr. Sonika Gupta (IIT Madras).

The afternoon saw well-matched contributions from the social sciences on coal economies (Wu Pin-hsien. Sussex University, UK), agricultural transformation (Prof. Rajeswari Raina, JNU) and the mobilisation of the middle classes in both India and China (Prof. Sonika Gupta and Mahalakshmi Ganapathy of IIT Madras) to challenge black market or ‘informal” economies enabled by systemic corruption. This lead to insightful exploration of the relationship between informal and formal economic circulation during a period of development and the development of political movements in response to the changes to class and social systems that have occurred in their wake. A fiery debate ensued as to the role of the middle class in such social change.

Day 2, Session 4:
Chair: Prof. Barbara Harriss-White
Roundtable Discussion, Contributors: Dr. Rajeswari Sarala Raina; Ms. Shailly Kedia (TERI); Prof.Nimmi Kurian; Ms. Chen Yun (West Heavens Cross-Cultural Exchange Programme)

The second session of the afternoon featured a roundtable from practitioners involved in co-production projects, from environmental Delhi think tank TERI, and with rich contributions from the Delhi branch of New York’s New School, one of the few organisations that also focuses on scholars of India and China. Chen Yun of the PRC-based West Heavens cultural exchange project that has led the way in providing a conduit for intellectual and cultural understanding and blending between India and China, in effort to understand both the Other, and the self.

Day 2, Closing Session:
Industry Keynote: Mr. Subimal Bhattacharjee (Independent Consultant in Cyber Governance and Defence).
Closing Remarks: Prof. Srikanth Kondapalli.

This was then followed by a key note speech from defence and cyber consultant Mr. Subimal Bhattacharjee, who shared real world governance and business practice that presented another element to our exploration of praxis alongside academic endeavour.