|
 |
 |
 |
|
Sikhism
and Critical Theory
Workshop Conference at Hofstra University
Click
here for abstracts of papers presented
For
two full days - Friday 13th and Saturday 14th of September
2002 - Hofstra University hosted a major workshop-conference
entitled “Sikhism and Critical Theory”. This event
was organized by Dr. Arvind-pal Singh Mandair, holder of the
Sardarni Kuljeet Kaur Bindra Endowed Chair in Sikh studies.
“Sikhism and Critical Theory” was a great success
on many accounts. The conference was attended by scholars,
students and researchers within and outside the field of Sikh
studies, as well as by members of the American Sikh community
who came to attend this event from as far away as California,
Canada and the United Kingdom.
Before the conference relatively few people will have had
any real idea of what “Critical Theory” is, let
alone its relationship to Sikhism and Sikh studies. By the
end of the two days’ proceedings, however, most people
attending the conference had witnessed the beginnings of a
new domain in the study of Sikhism, one that is generated
from the unavoidable encounter between Sikhism and Critical
Theory.
In its broadest sense Critical Theory refers quite simply
to an important and contemporary mode of thinking within the
humanities and social sciences that resists and overtakes
the previous emphasis on social science methodology with its
pretence of a producing a disinterested and objective field
of research and teaching in regard to Sikhs and Sikhism. The
need to shift away from methodology and objectivism is, in
one sense, linked to the changing demographics of the Sikh
community in the West over the last two decades. During this
time the growth of Sikh settlement in North America and Western
Europe has given the Sikh diaspora a voice hitherto occupied
by a few mostly non-Sikh Western academics. Recent years have
thus seen the emergence of new intellectual demands for a
Sikh studies agenda capable of addressing the needs of a Sikh
diaspora in the English-speaking world. One such demand calls
for the recognition by scholars that Sikh Studies in the West
no longer functions like a “guest” within the
humanities and social sciences which, hitherto, has been its
intellectual “host”. Though rarely recognized,
this guest/host relationship presumes a notion of hospitality
that differs little from the hospitality granted to immigrant
and ethnic groups. However, such hospitality -- based the
unspoken assumption that the guest is above all a foreigner,
an outsider, who must not be allowed to roam around unaided
or unobserved -- is never freely given. Likewise, there is
always an aspect of control and discipline attached to the
prevailing intellectual norms of methodology and objectivism
in the humanities and social sciences which alone assumes
the task of the critical function. As many now agree, this
frame of thinking has ensured that much of the discourse about
Sikhs and Sikhism was overshadowed by an Occidentalism which
has consigned Sikh experience – the experience of living
Sikhism -- to the margins of academic discourse. |
|
| |
|
The
level of debate throughout the workshop was of an extremely
high order. Controversial topics such as the future of Sikh
politics and education were highlighted, discussed and debated
in a manner such that it was possible to disagree without becoming
disagreeable, which has been something of a rarity in Sikh conferences.
The workshop was followed by a Public Forum session. During
this session three highly reputable speakers -- T.Sher Singh,
I.J.Singh and Davinder Singh reflecting the views and experience
of Sikh communities in Canada, New York and the United Kingdom
respectively -- gave fascinating presentations focusing on the
need to establish firmer links between the university and the
Sikh community.
In a fascinating concluding keynote speech Professor Christopher
Shackle (pro-Director of the University of London, SOAS) gave
a wonderfully lucid overview of the evolution of modern Sikh
studies from its beginnings in the pioneering work of the Singh
Sabha scholars, to more contemporary developments in North America
and the United Kingdom.
This was the second conference to be held at Hofstra University
under the auspices of the Sardarni Kuljeet Kaur Bindra Endowed
Chair in Sikh Studies, since the program was established in
September 2000. It is anticipated that such conferences and
programs that involve both academic scholars and community activists
in a continuing and ongoing conversation will become a regular
and permanent feature at Hofstra University. |
|
Sikhism
and Critical Theory Workshop
Program of Events
Friday September 13th
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Panel 1. Diaspora (Chair Arvind-Pal S.
Mandair)
Respondents: Sunit Singh (University of Chicago) and
Sabina Sawhney (Hofstra University) |
|
|
Ajit
K. Mann (University of Oregon)
Narrative Nomads and Post-Colonial Perspectives: A Sikh Perspective
Brian Axel (Swarthmore College)
(i) Diasporic Sublime and (ii) Fanatic, or, the Withdrawal of
Critical Theory
Vrinder Kalra (Manchester University)
Locating the Sikh Pagh: Missing Identity or Mis-Identity |
|
Panel
2. Religion (Chair: Warren Frisina)
Respondents: Paulo Goncalves (SOAS) and Sunit Singh
(University of Chicago) |
|
|
Arvind-pal
S. Mandair (Hofstra University)
Transcendence and Singh Sabha Theology: Redefining the Terms
of the “Critical”
Balbinder Bhogal (James Madison University)
Questioning Hermeneutics: The Difference of Non-Dual Interpretation
in Gurbani
Navdeep Singh Mandair (SOAS, University of London)
Between Bodies: The Imminence of Khalsa Identity
Gurnam Singh (Coventry University, UK)
Critical Perspectives on the Emancipatory Discourses of Sikhism
Saturday September 14th |
|
Panel
3. Politics (Chair: Gurcharan Singh)
Respondents: Richard King (University of Derby) and
Margaret Abraham (Hofstra University) |
|
|
Gurharpal
Singh (Birmingham University, UK)
Rethinking the Political: Sikhism and Critical Theory
Giorgio Shani (Ritsumeikan University, Japan)
Beyond Westphalianism: Sikh Diasporic Nationalism and the
International Order
Jasdev S. Rai (S.H.R.G.)
The U.N. and Internal Conflicts: A Case Study of the Sikhs
PUBLIC FORUM Speakers: T.Sher Singh, Davinder Singh, I.J.
Singh
Keynote Speech: Christopher Shackle (F.B.A.)
Closing Remarks: T.J.Bindra
|
|
|
|
|
|
