[Reader-list] Call for Papers: Conference on ‘Work, Identity and Livelihood in Nepal', New Delhi, 22-23 July 2017

[Praveen Rai]

*Work, Identity and Livelihood in Nepal*

*Theoretical challenges and contemporary practices for South Asia*

New Delhi, 22-23 July 2017



This conference seeks to engage with all dimensions of work which
constitutes the livelihoods of the Nepalis within and outside Nepal. We
approach the world of work with a view that it encompasses all sorts of
productive arrangements we have with others and with nature, and that our
individual and collective identities are deeply rooted in the work that we
do for living. However, we envisage work not only as constituents of the
class status – as has been highlighted routinely in the ongoing discourses
– but as an identity marker that shapes everyday lives. We also appreciate
that the ideas of work identity and livelihoods are entwined with broader
concerns about the multiple orders and arrangements that govern
individuals, communities, societies, nations and the overall process of
globalization.



We acknowledge that the scholarly discourse on work, in Nepal as elsewhere,
has generally revolved around notions such as labour and wage, unionism,
poverty and justice. To contrast, since the studies on work and livelihoods
in Nepal often tend to gain visibility through concerns for development,
the foreign aid and development narratives have captured some part of this
discursive field. This conference will seek to engage critically the
categories of class, identity and emancipation on the one hand and poverty
and prosperity on the other.



Given the framing of the field, and in the context of the processes of
urbanisation, democratization, liberalisation, and globalization in the
region since the 1980s, this conference will engage with questions such as:
What kinds of reflections can be made on work, identity and livelihoods in
a context of rapid economic and political changes? What are the emerging
forms of relations between livelihood and work on the one hand, and
identity and work on the other? In what ways the work-related activities
contribute to the creation of changing social dynamics? Is the idea of work
changing in Nepal and beyond? How does the social science discourse on work
characterize the claims on either revolution or policy panacea? How do the
interdisciplinary and inter-ideological studies on work, identity and
livelihood complicate the sledgehammers of both “class” and “poverty”? Are
studies on the three coordinates of work, identity and livelihood being
haunted by the earlier focus on class or muffled by the clamouring about
development aid? As Nepal struggles to enter a new era of post-conflict
constitutional dilemmas and pains, in what ways a dialogue may emerge among
a wide range of scholars and activists who approach work differently?



In calling for papers for the proposed conference on Work, Identity and
Livelihood, we call on potential contributors from different disciplines to
think about these questions and participate in the workshop. To this end,
we invite papers to define, interrogate, and analyze theories and analyses
that affect our understanding of work, identity and livelihood in Nepal.

We list a broad area of focus including but not limited to the following:


-     Wage and labour
-     Workers’ movements
-     Labour policies, training and norms
-     Child labour
-     Bonded labour
-     Identity and work
-     Work and production of knowledge
-     Work and technology
-     Caste and occupation
-     Gender and work
-     Migration and Diaspora
-     Cross-border clusters and traffic
-     Work and environment



Please send your abstracts on papers or panels (maximum 500 words) to
*mallika at sau.ac.in
<mallika at sau.ac.in>* and *tristan.brusle at csh-delhi.com
<tristan.brusle at csh-delhi.com>*. The deadline for submission is February
28, 2017. Full papers should be no longer than 5000 words excluding
reference and footnotes, and are due end of June 2017. Each speaker will
get 30 minutes to present one’s paper and 30 minutes for discussion.



Contributors are encouraged to seek independent funding for travel. Some
support may be provided for younger scholars travelling from within India
and Nepal. Local costs of all participants will be borne by the organisers.



This conference will connect Nepal with South Asian scholarships through
having discussants from the wider region.



*Conference date:* 22-23 July 2017



*Location:* New Delhi



*The organising committee *



*Tristan Bruslé*, Researcher, Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities,
New Delhi



*Yogesh Raj*, Research Director, Martin Chautari, Kathmandu



*Blandine Ripert*, Researcher, Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities,
New Delhi



*Mallika Shakya*, Assistant Professor, South Asia University, New Delhi



*Awadhendra Sharan*, Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of
Developing Societies, Delhi

-- 
Praveen Rai
Academic Secretary
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
29, Rajpur Road
Delhi - 110054
Phone: 91-11-23942199
http://www.csds.in/praveen.rai