ИСТИНА |
Войти в систему Регистрация |
|
ИСТИНА ИНХС РАН |
||
The seminar takes place in the context of the three-year IIAS programme “Rethinking Asian Studies in a Global Context”, which is sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New York. The seminar follows up on a previous seminar, with the title “Knowledge Production and Knowledge Transfer in and on Central and Inner Asia”, which was held in Ulaanbaatar, on 5-6 August 2014. The Regensburg seminar will discuss how socio-political processes in Central and Inner Asia are intersecting with global ideological trends and what their impact might be on current nation-building policies, social identities and people’s loyalties. In the region, various external and internal social actors compete for material and non-essential resources, while forming and framing ideological, religious and spiritual fields. On the one hand, despite the last 25 years of post-socialist transformations, the meanings and symbols of socialism (in particular the idea of social justice) retain their resonance in opposition to the social erosionthat accompanied the neo-liberal reforms. On the other hand, the reformist trends in Islam, various Christian churches (next to those historically present in the region, such as the Russian Orthodox church) and New Age religions have found many followers since the end of the 1980s,sometimes institutionalized, but more often challenged or prohibited by the states. Thegovernments, officialdom, and the national ideologues’ quests for the “purity of traditions” found in “national religions” (be it Buddhism or Islam) should be considered. The seminar will also address the development of the broadly-diversified and commercialized sector of mystics, shamans, and traditional healers (as existing in most Central and Inner Asian states), uncontrolled by the government. In addition, the seminar aims to consider how transnational communication and global socio-economic processes (for example, new media technologies, migration and informal trade networks) add to the development of religious and ideological fields. Finally, the seminar aims to address the more general issue of the future of Central and Inner Asian Studies by reflecting on collaboration with other institutions and academic networks, the setting up and/or promoting of special curricula, and the organisation of international meetings.