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LAUSANNE SUMMER SCHOOL CACS EPFL PROGRAMME Monday 15 July Social change across Asia 09:00 > 09:15 Welcome, introduction to programme of module II Chua Beng Huat 09:15 >10:45 Rising Asia: Southeast Asia, China and India Chua Beng Huat Since the mid 1960s, different regions of Asia have successively and successfully adopted the development strategy of “export-oriented” industrialization, with strong administrative and financial guidance from the state. Chronologically, the rise of Asia began with the four “Tiger/Dragon” economies of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, followed by the marketization of the Chinese economy in the and the second wave of industrialization in Southeast Asia, including communist Vietnam. India also began to open up to the global market in the late 1990s. By the 2000s, the rise of Asia was indubitable and Asia has become a critical element in global economic stability. 11:00 >13:00 Society and social change in India Alaka Basu While the focus of this class will be on India, we will also turn often to the South Asian region as a whole, both to demonstrate commonalities as well as to specify some unique features of the Indian experience. The background reading contains recent social “facts” about the situation in India. These facts will provide the peg around which we will talk about the theoretical and empirical perspectives that seek to understand the question of society and social change in India. While we will focus in particular on social inequality by various measures – gender, caste, class, religion – the aim of the class is not just to demonstrate and explain the disadvantages faced by these different kinds of groups in Indian society. We will spend more time looking at the changes that have occurred over time (and while many of these changes have been positive, there have been some important negative ones as well), the possible reasons for these changes and, in particular, the role of policy in creating greater equality. I am particularly interested in recent efforts to empower disadvantaged groups through education, legal changes and economic productivity and to evaluate the impacts of such efforts. 13:00 >14:00 Lunch 14:00 >16:30 Society and social change in India (continued) Alaka Basu 10

LAUSANNE SUMMER SCHOOL CACS EPFL 16:30 >17:00 Summary and discussion 18:00 >19:30 Optional movie: English Vinglish (movie by Gauri Shinde, India, 2012, 73 min.) Compulsory reading World Bank, (2011). “Overview”. In Poverty and Social Exclusion in India, Washington DC: World Bank. Mahbubani, K. (2008). “Why is Asia Rising Now”, in The New Asian Hemisphere. The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. New York: Public Affairs, pp.51-99. Tuesday 16 July Culture and Democracy in Asia 09:00 >12:30 Asian Resistance to Liberalism Chua Beng Huat American economic and military expansions globally have been accompanied by its ideological leadership, championing a version of liberal democracy which emphasizes liberal individualism over any social conception of politics and economy, including social democracy. However, liberalism has no roots in the post-war, post-colonial nations in Asia. With its highly successful capitalist development, the single-party dominant state of Singapore has resisted liberalism and reinterpreted the democratic concepts of representation and trusteeship to emphasize the social over the individual, backed up by social policies that emphasizes collective well being and group rights. This has provoked other Asian nations, particularly China, to “learn” from Singapore. 12:30 >14:00 Lunch 14:00 >16:30 Religion, state and political society Daniel Goh Unlike Western societies, religion does not occupy clearly defined institutional positions in civil society or the public sphere in Asia. Across Asia, religion is found playing both transparent and opaque roles in politics. Some religions are closely identified with the state, even in ostensibly secular states, and play a big part in political discourse and policy making. In some countries, religion plays a central institutional role in legitimating the state, while some states co-opt and control religions they believe pose challenges to their rule. In all these societies, religion plays a crucial role in mobilizing communities and local political action that would render state and society relations unstable and fluid. Political society, as a space distinct from the state and civil society, is theorized to understand this politics. 16:30 >17:00 Summary and discussion 11

LAUSANNE SUMMER SCHOOL<br />

CACS <strong>EPFL</strong><br />

PROGRAMME<br />

Monday 15 July<br />

Social change across Asia<br />

09:00 > 09:15 Welcome, introduction to programme of module II<br />

Chua Beng Huat<br />

09:15 >10:45 Rising Asia: Southeast Asia, China and India<br />

Chua Beng Huat<br />

Since the mid 1960s, different regions of Asia have successively and successfully<br />

adopted the development strategy of “export-oriented” industrialization, with<br />

strong administrative and financial guidance from the state. Chronologically, the<br />

rise of Asia began with the four “Tiger/Dragon” economies of South Korea, Taiwan,<br />

Hong Kong and Singapore, followed by the marketization of the Chinese economy in<br />

the and the second wave of industrialization in Southeast Asia, including communist<br />

Vietnam. India also began to open up to the global market in the late 1990s. By the<br />

2000s, the rise of Asia was indubitable and Asia has become a critical element in<br />

global economic stability.<br />

11:00 >13:00 Society and social change in India<br />

Alaka Basu<br />

While the focus of this class will be on India, we will also turn often to the South<br />

Asian region as a whole, both to demonstrate commonalities as well as to specify<br />

some unique features of the Indian experience. The background reading contains<br />

recent social “facts” about the situation in India. These facts will provide the peg<br />

around which we will talk about the theoretical and empirical perspectives that<br />

seek to understand the question of society and social change in India. While we will<br />

focus in particular on social inequality by various measures – gender, caste, class,<br />

religion – the aim of the class is not just to demonstrate and explain the disadvantages<br />

faced by these different kinds of groups in Indian society. We will spend more<br />

time looking at the changes that have occurred over time (and while many of these<br />

changes have been positive, t<strong>here</strong> have been some important negative ones as<br />

well), the possible reasons for these changes and, in particular, the role of policy in<br />

creating greater equality. I am particularly interested in recent efforts to empower<br />

disadvantaged groups through education, legal changes and economic productivity<br />

and to evaluate the impacts of such efforts.<br />

13:00 >14:00 Lunch<br />

14:00 >16:30 Society and social change in India (continued)<br />

Alaka Basu<br />

10

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