INDNOR-India-programmet

This pilot project spearheads a large research collaboration into social inclusion, exclusion and development in India. By studying cosmopolitan practices, values and attitudes as they unfold in a variety of contexts, we aim to generate a fresh perspectiv e from which India's enormous diversity and its developmental potential (but also challenges) can be understood. India's future prosperity, social progress and global influence hinge on its success in furthering its ability to manage its remarkable religi ous, cultural and social diversity. Fortunately India has a deep cultural tradition for this which extends far beyond the modern vocabulary of rights and equality. This pilot project will generate case studies aimed at analyzing the values, attitudes and practices that generate this cultural tradition, while being attentive to the potential paradoxes that may follow in their trail. To stimulate broad analytical reflections, our case studies will be drawn from a variety of contexts. They will address soci al inequality, religious plurality as well as gender; come from regions which differ widely in terms of political history, social composition and human development score (including Kerala, Uttaranchal and Delhi); comprise studies of religious movements as well as secular initiatives; and range from anthropological fieldwork to archival methods. Our wide range of cases is not only designed to give a broad understanding of how India 'hangs together' despite of its striking social, religious and economic div ersity. It will also give a vital insight into a 'lived value' which, though certainly not uncontested, serves as a prerequisite and motivating force for leveling and stabilizing measures within as well as beyond the aegis of the state. As such our case s tudies are also intended as contributions to the theorization of cosmopolitanism, and as generating an axis of comparison that may help us rethink our own management of diversity in Norway.