Ramachandra Guha - Democracy's Victims: The Tragedy of the Tribals of Central India

Ramachandra Guha will be speaking on “Democracy’s victims: The tragedy of the tribals of Central India” on March 23rd as part of the South Asia Colloquium lecture series. In his talk, he will delve into the complex issues plaguing central India, in particular the issue of what should be the role of the state, and how should democratic institutions function in a region with culturally distinct peoples, sensitive ecologies, left- and right-wing extremist violence, and rich mineral resources which would require massive displacement in order to be productive.

He is one of the most distinguished contemporary scholars of India, known not only for his academic writings, but also as a public intellectual. His interests span environmental, social, political and cricket history. He and his colleague Madhav Gadgil are widely credited for initiating scholarly interest in the field of environmental history and sociology in India. He studied Economics at St. Stephens College, Delhi, following which he pursued a MA at the Delhi School of Economics (University of Delhi), and a PhD at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. His doctoral research focused on the Chipko movement and its relationship to the broader social history of forestry in Uttarakhand. Between 1985 and 2000, he taught at various universities in India, Europe and North America, including the University of California Berkeley, Yale University, Stanford University, Oslo University and the Indian Institute of Science. In 1994-95, he was also a fellow of Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin in Germany. Presently, he is based in Bangalore, India. In 2011-2 he will be the Philippe Roman Professor in History and International Relations at the London School of Economics.

His books include: The Unquiet Woods (Oxford University Press, 1989); The Fissured Land: An ecological history of India (with Madhav Gadgil, University of California Press, 1995); Savaging the Civilized: Verrier Elwin, his tribals, and India (University of Chicago Press, 1999); Environmentalism: A Global History (Addison Wesley Longman, 2000); A Corner of a Foreign Field (Picador, 2002); and India after Gandhi (Macmillan, 2007). He has also extensively published in top journals like the Economic and Political Weekly, and writes regular columns for The Telegraph and The Hindustan Times, these also appearing in several Indian languages.

His engagement with history and politics is not restricted to writing alone. He has conducted fact-finding inquiries in Chhattisgarh in light of the forced displacement of villagers by the state sponsored militia, Salwa Judum, and filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court of India (along with Nandini Sundar and E. A. S. Sarma) demanding rehabilitation and justice for the victims of state violence. He has also been a vocal critic of the violence of both right-wing and left-wing extremists. On a different note, he has taken a keen interest in fostering top quality research in India and the New India Foundation, of which he is a trustee, has helped several scholars publish their research with prominent publishing houses.

The talk will be held on March 23rd in Room 203, Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Avenue and it will start at 4:30 pm. The room is wheelchair accessible.