• The 19th European Conference of Modern South Asian Studies (ECMSAS) was held at Leiden University, the Netherlands, 27–30 June 2006. More information on the 19th ECMSAS conference.

18th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, at Lund, Sweden, 6–9 July 2004

The 18th European Conference for Modern South Asian Studies has been successfully accomplished. With 360 participants from all over the World actually turning up and with 44 panels it was the largest ECMSAS conference so far, and certainly the largest gathering ever on Swedish soil of South Asia oriented researchers, covering all fields from the humanities and social sciences to technology, natural sciences and medicine.

Information on the conference panels, including abstracts, full papers, and conveners panel reports

Key note address: Prof. Dipankar Gupta: “Democratic Potentials in Cultural Politics: Caste Based Reservations and the Issues of Citizenship” + discussion (as a pdf-file)

Joint session on ”Poverty and Human Development in South Asia” on Thursday 8 July 2004 + discussion

Final list of participants (as a pdf-file)

Notes from the Conference Business meeting on Friday 8 July 2004 (as a pdf-file)

The conference assigned Dr. William Radice from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK, to write an extensive Conference Diary.

Read his report called ”Swedish Rhapsody”! (as a pdf-file)

Read also day-by-day reports from the conference, written by Behnoosh Payvar, Masters student of South Asian Studies, Lund University:

‡ Monday 5 July – The Day Before

‡ Tuesday 6 July – True Communication Established in Lund

‡ Wednesday 7 July – 12 Panels, Unique Ideas

‡ Thursday 8 July – Joint Session On Poverty and Human Development Held in Lund

‡ Friday 9 July – The Final Day

‡ Article on the conference in Sydsvenska Dagbladet 5 July 2004

‡ Article on the conference in Skånska Dagbladet 7 July 2004

‡ Article on the conference in Hindustanaik.com, Varanasi, India, 17 August 2004 (as a pdf-file)

‡ Photos from the Conference

General information

SASNET – Swedish South Asian Studies Network – arranged the 18th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies at Lund University, Sweden, Tuesday 6 – Friday 9 July, 2004. Scholars engaged in research and teaching concerning South Asia with regard to all periods and fields of study were welcome to take part in the conference.
SASNET was given the task to organize the conference by the European Association for South Asian Studies, EASAS, at the previous conference, the 17th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, held at Heidelberg, Germany in September 2002.

Venues

The conference had two main venues:
• The Academic Society Building (Akademiska Föreningen, AF), Sandgatan 2. This was the place for registration, the inaugural session on Tuesday 6 July, the joint session on Thursday 8 July, and the conference dinner on Friday 9 July, as well as being the place for five simultaneous panel sessions every day
• The Dept. of Sociology, Paradisgatan 5 (house G), 200 metres north of the Academic Society Building. This was the place for four simultaneous panel sessions every day. It also housed the conference’s computer facilities.
Map of central Lund with the conference venues marked (as a pdf-file).

Conference Secretariat

The Conference Secretariat was located in Övre Aten (Upper Athens Room) in the Academic Society Building, Sandgatan 2. It was open throughout the conference.

Conference Programme

Monday 5 July
16–19 Registration, Övre Aten (Upper Athens Room) in the Academic Society Building

Tuesday 6 July
08–10 Registration, Övre Aten (Upper Athens Room) in the Academic Society Building.

10–12 Inaugural session
Venue: Stora Salen (Auditorium) in the Academic Society Building.
Conference Convenor Staffan Lindberg, and Pro-Rector Björn
Wittenmark
Key note address by Prof. Dipankar Gupta, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi: “Democratic Potentials in Cultural Politics: Caste Based Reservations and the Issues of Citizenship”. Read Dipankar Gupta’s full paper (as a pdf-file)

13–18 Panel sessions.

18.00 Reception by Lund University in the Main University Building, Universitetsplatsen (close to both the conference venues)

Wednesday 7 July
08–12 Panel sessions.

13–17 Panel sessions.

17.00 Guided tour to old Lund, with guides from the Lund Tourist Office. As an alternative a guided tour inside Lund Cathedral is also offered. Those wishing to participate should gather at the main entrance in front of Lund Cathedral (Western side).

20–22 General meeting of EASAS, European Association for South Asian Studies. Venue: Konsertsalen (Concert Hall) in the Academic Society Building, Sandgatan 2.

Thursday 8 July

08–12 Panel sessions.

13–18 Panel sessions.

14.30–15.30 Coffee Break. Coffee is served in the Upper Foyer, 1st floor,
Academic Society Building

19.30 Joint session on ”Poverty and Human Development in South Asia”. Key note speakers are Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan; Dr. Ghanshyam Shah, Jawarharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and Dr. Meera Nanda, Hartford, Massachussets, USA. Venue: Stora Salen (Auditorium) in the Academic Society Building, Sandgatan 2. Go for a presentation of the session

Friday 9 July

08–12 Panel sessions.

13–18 Panel sessions.

15–17 Business meeting of the conference. Venue: Nya Festsalen in the Academic Society Building, Sandgatan 2. Read the notes from the Business meeting (as a pdf-file).

19.00 Conference dinner. Venue: Stora Salen (Auditorium) in the Academic Society Building, Sandgatan 2.

Panel sessions for the conference:

A total number of 44 panels covering a wide scope of research fields were available for individual researchers to present their papers. Go for the presentation of the panels!
Each panel had a convenor who organised the panel autonomously. The normal duration of a panel session was one morning or one afternoon, but some panel sessions continued for a full day.

Paper submission

± Full papers should be submitted to the conference organizers if they should be put on the Internet. They should be sent by e-mail as an attached Word document to SASNET’s webmaster, with the following address: sasnet@sasnet.lu.se.

Computer facilities, printing and copying

A computer room with Internet facilities was available in Hall 2, Department of Sociology, Paradisgatan 5, House G. Printing and copying was also available at the same place.

Registration & Conference fees

± Last date for preregistration to the conference was 1 May 2004.

The conference fee was EUR 150. Members of the European Association for South Asian Studies (EASAS) paid a reduced fee of EUR 90. The same applied for PhD students, and researchers from South Asia and Eastern Europe. Recipients of travel and accommodation grants (see below) were exempted from paying fee. Undergraduate students paid a reduced fee of EUR 25 to take part in the conference sessions but excluding reception, guided tour and conference dinner.

Travel and accommodation grants

Nearly 50 participants received travel and accommodation grants from the conference, including accommodation at the Old Fire Station (Gamla Brandstationen), Kävlingevägen 11.

Practical information

The conference took place in Lund, a city in south Sweden, well connected to Europe and the rest of the World by trains and flights (Copenhagen Airport/Kastrup in nearby Denmark, or Malmö Airport/Sturup).
The town centre dates from the Middle Ages, and one of its main tourist attractions is the cathedral from 1145. Although Lund is a fairly small town with approximately 100 000 residents, it is part of the most creative and expanding region in Scandinavia. Lund University, founded in 1666, is the largest university in Sweden with all faculties and about 35 000 students.

Transportation to airport

Lund is easily accessible from Copenhagen Airport (Kastrup) and Copenhagen Central Station by train, thanks to the Öresund bridge in the sound between Denmark and Sweden. The journey from Lund to Copenhagen Airport takes less than an hour (including the change in Malmö, see information to the right).
It is possible to go by car to Copenhagen (via the Öresund bridge), and by ferry service from Trelleborg to Germany (Sassnitz, Rostock and Travemünde), and from Ystad to Poland (Swinoujscie).

Weather

Normally the weather in Sweden is very pleasant in the beginning of July, sunny and +20-25° C. But this year summer not really started, and all through the conference a lot of rain and cool temperatures were experienced.

Thanks to our sponsors

The conference organizers are thankful for the generous financial support from the following donors:

• Swedish International Development
   Cooperation Agency (Sida)
• Lund University
• Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation
• Crafoord Foundation
• Norwegian Research Council
• European Association for South Asian Studies

Executive Conference Committee

• Professor Staffan Lindberg (conference convenor)
• Dr. Jan Magnusson (conference coordinator)
• Mr. Lars Eklund (conference webmaster), and
• Ms. Elna Andersson (conference secretary)

The Organising Committee also consisted of:
• Dr. Alia Ahmed, Dept. of Economics
• Ms. Boel Billgren, Deputy Head of the International Office
• Dr. Pernille Gooch, Dept. of Human Ecology;
• Dr. Sidsel Hansson, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies
• Dr. Catarina Kinnvall, Dept. of Political Science
• Dr. Neelambar Hatti, Dept. of Economic History