14-May-2019 12:00 AM
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Gandhi Matters is a series of monthly talks on Mahatma Gandhi to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary. These talks revolve around the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and its social and political relevance in contemporary times. The series began in October 2018, and will be wrapped up in October 2019. The Raza Foundation invites renowned social scientists, activists, and social workers to discuss on different themes in relation with Gandhian thought.
Amidst various issues ranging from deteriorating political scenario, environmental degradation, decline of social values, to different kinds of covert and overt violence witnessed around us, one can see formation of a vacuum in political thought to produce a profound solution for such issues or at least to pave the way towards their resolution. In such a scenario, Mahatma Gandhi emerges as a philosopher who not only, through his writings, compellingly professes his beliefs such as nonviolence (ahimsa), satyagraha, etc., but also allows us to rethink and re-evaluate his principles, and mould them to create variations in order to make them compatible with the present situation. The series ‘Gandhi Matters’ is one such initiative to revisit Gandhian thought.
Here, we publish the eighth discussion of Gandhi Matters by Prof. Shiv Visvanathan on ‘Re-Inventing Gandhi’, the dialogue was moderated by Mr. Ashok Vajpeyi.
Shiv Visvanathan is currently Professor at Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat and Director, Centre for the Study of Knowledge Systems, O.P Jindal Global University. He is a trained social anthropologist with a PhD from the University of Delhi. He is an Indian public intellectual and social scientist best known for his contributions to Science and Technology Studies, and for the concept of cognitive justice a term he coined. He holds an Adjunct Professorship at Raman Research Institute, Bangalore. He was Professor at Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DA-IICT), Gandhinagar. He was Henry Luce Professor at Smith College Massachusetts. He was also Visiting Professor at Stanford University and Center for Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths College, University of London; Center for Science Policy, Arizona State University; University of Maastricht, Holland; National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and Mudra Institute of Communication (MICA), Ahmedabad. He has also taught at the Delhi School of Economics and was Senior Fellow at Centre for Study of Developing Societies.
An interdisciplinary thinker, prolific writer and delightfully bold and eloquent orator, Professor Visvanathan’s articles and writings reflect his dissection of diverse issues with a sharp and critical wit. His wide interests range from cognitive justice, urban studies, the sociology of corruption and ethics, the sociology and philosophy of science, history of technology and traditional knowledge, social movements, globalization to the culture and politics of ecology which feature in leading newspapers and publications such as the Seminar magazine, Economic and Political Weekly, The Hindu, and Scroll.in
He is author of Organizing for Science (OUP, Delhi, 1985), A Carnival for Science (OUP, Delhi, 1997), Theatres of Democracy (OUP, Delhi 2016) and has co-edited Foulplay: Chronicles of Corruption (Banyan Books, Delhi, 1999).
The event was organised at India International Centre on 17th of May, 2019.