THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The city is all set to host the 45th All India Sociological Conference--the largest gathering of its kind in Asia--at the Kerala University’s Kariyavattom campus from December 27 to 29.Over 2,500 social scientists, academics and researchers will gather for the event organised by the Department of Sociology, University of Kerala, in association with Indian Sociological Society.
In the wake of the recent floods and environmental disasters that hit the state, the theme of the conference is ‘Culture and Development: Discourses and Intersections’.Three conclaves will be organised as part of the event which will delve on the respective dimensions of the question of rebuilding Kerala in the aftermath of floods. The compiled report of the deliberations of the plenary will be submitted to the state government.
From the perspective of industries and development, the conference will take stock of the challenges in industrial and technological enterprises, especially in the wake of the rise of transnational and neo-liberal forces that affect the cultural fabric of the nation and debate on ways to address the challenges.
The issues will be specifically addressed in two plenaries on ‘Cultural and Developmental Contours in India - A View From the Margins’ and ‘Making of the Nation in the Post-liberal Era - Shifting Agenda and Identities’.
Besides paper presentations by 28 research committees of the Indian Sociological Society, there will be plenaries, memorial lectures and conclaves.
Special lectures will be delivered by Prof Jeffrey C Alexander, a distinguished sociologist from Yale University, USA. He will be speaking on the topics ‘Cultural Trauma’ and Civic Sphere In the Present Day World’.
Some of the other key speakers at the conference are Prof Indira R, Prof T K Ommen, Prof Partha Nath Mukherji, Prof Chandrasekhar Bhatt and Prof Kamala Ganesh Pavilions of national and international book publishers and the state’s traditional art and craft industries will be a major highlight of the three-day event.
Inaugural event
Governor Arif Mohammad Khan will inaugurate the conference on December 27 at 10am. The inaugural event will be presided over by R Indira, the president of the Indian Sociological Society. V P Mahadevan Pillai, vice-chancellor of the University of Kerala will deliver the special address