Approach and Goals
Approach and Goals
Purpose
To establish framework(s) to study Indian traditions.
Approach
There are several issues related to Indian society that have been debated and discussed for a long time now. Even after long deliberations, the issues remain unsolved. The Social Science and Humanities appear to have failed to provide an appropriate explanatory framework to understand and reflect on the Indian society and culture. The ideological nature of the claims of the academic community have led to further deepening of the crisis in society. Thus, there is a sense of urgency that is intensely felt by a large number of people to provide an alternative framework for the study of Indian society and traditions. This situation poses a certain challenge as well as an opportunity, especially for the young Indians. If one wants to address the crisis academically, there is a need for the study of cultures in depth and not treading on the same old path which has not yielded appropriate solutions.
We know that the contemporary Social Sciences and Humanities do not help us
to understand any society as one culture’s experience cannot be either a
universal or scientific truth of the world. In an ideal situation we must
possess sciences which should offer us theories and hypotheses to account
for human societies - not just India or the West. Therefore, it is a perfect
time for us to engage and explore the possible alternatives. While doing so,
one must be attentive to the fact that there are already bundles of ideas
and theories about languages, religions, the nature of human beings, the
idea of man, which constitute domains from politics to theories of ethics
etc. which are built by generations of labor invested by western culture.
One cannot simply discard this labor of centuries and one must make sense of
these available materials to show what is the specific problem with these
descriptions. These explorations will be the beginning point for the search
for alternatives. Therefore, one is left with this question of how we look
at this abundant material produced by the western and Indian scholars over
three centuries. Following would be a roadmap towards that in this
initiative at FSIC.
A. Discerning Constraints of European Experience on Understanding of
India
With the knowledge available to us at this point, there are a few difficult
yet interesting tasks that can be undertaken to start producing new
alternatives. If we agree with the idea that the contemporary theorization
of Social Sciences and Humanities are part of western cultural experiences
and not scientific theories about this world, there are many possibilities.
One can then ask, what constraints does western cultural experience bring on
theorizing Indian society. That is, by looking at the way the west theorized
Indian society tells us more about western culture and its limitations to
understand India. In this sense, oriental scholarship guided by western
cultural experience lays down constraints on thinking. Consequently, Western
cultural experience effaces the differences between the two cultures and
make Indian traditions a pale variant of the west.B. Studying Indian Intellectual Traditions as Alternatives to European
Thought
Once we recognize the fact that European cultural experiences erase the
differences between cultures, one will begin to ask what an alternative to
European culturalexperiences looks like. Obviously, the alternatives to
Europe will
come from non-European cultures like India. Given the richness of the
reflections done
by what is today called Shastra traditions in India and multiple vernacular
sources and other empirical data on India and her traditions, one would be
able to start an alternative theorization. This would be the first step
towards developing a new theory of cultural difference. Such theorization
not alone makes India and her traditions as an equal partner in this
culturally asymmetrical world but also shows how seriously our ancestors
have thought about human beings. Goals
Goal 1: In-house Capacity Building
To set up an institutional framework where high-quality research could be focused along with training people to become independent researchers.● PhD and post-doc
● Projects: Faculty and Students
● Courses: IKS and other related courses + Programs
Goal 2: Institutionalization of Research Culture
To nurture a research culture which would facilitate learning – teaching experience which should be transmitted across the generation to further the institutionalization of knowledge creation. This would include;● Collaborative Projects
● Meeting the curriculum and pedagogical needs
● Interns and PhD students from Collaborative groups
