Andreeva, Anna

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HASP Journals (Univ. Heidelberg)

114 ASIEN 123 (April 2012)durchgreifend zu verbessem bzw. zu modemisieren. Erst in jiingster Zeit scheint die indische Regierung das landliche Indien „wiederzuentdecken“. Wichtiger Bestand- teil ist das staatliche Arbeitsgarantieprogramm (National Rural Employment Gua­rantee Act), das jedem Haushalt an 100 Tagen im Jahr Arbeit garantiert. Trotz aller schlechten Voraussetzungen hat Indien es geschafft, seine landwirtschaftliche Pro- duktion vor allem in den letzten 15 bis 20 Jahren zu modemisieren. Mitra weist vor dem Hintergrund dieses Szenarios auch darauf hin, dass Indien es immerhin ge­schafft habe, mehr oder weniger unabhangig von Nahrungsmittelimporten zu wer- den und sogar zum Exporteur von Agrarprodukten aufzusteigen. Diese Entwicklung hat letztendlich auch zu einer Reduktion der Armut gefuhrt, dennoch gibt es noch eine erhebliche Zahl von Bauem, die keine Zukunft in ihrem Gewerbe sehen und sich das Leben nehmen. Das hangt u. a. mit einem mangelnden Sicherheitssystem fur die Bauem und ihre Produktion zusammen. Langsam erst setzen sich Mikrover- sicherungen und eine sinnvolle Kleinkreditvergabe auf dem Land durch.Lbsungsansatze sieht Mitra in der Konserviemng und Verbesserung der Bodenqua- litat, in der effizienteren Nutzung der an sich ausreichend verfugbaren Wassermen- gen (Regenwasserruckgewinnung etwa), in der Einrichtung eines Kleinbauem- freundlichen Kredit- und Versicherungssystems sowie in dem Einsatz umwelt- freundlicher Technologien und eines umweltschonenden Ressourceneinsatzes. Dies miisste nattirlich einhergehen mit einer lohnenden und fur breite Schichten verfugba­ren Vermarktung. Sinnvoll ware zudem eine „Hybridisierung“ importierter Tech­nologic und deren Adaptierung fur die indischen Zusammenhange. In anderen Sek- toren (Computer, Waffen, Automobil, Software etc.) sei dies schon gelungen. Mitra schloss mit der Forderung, dass die Rolle des Bauem im landlichen Indien noch viel mehr erforscht werden musse, damit die Bauem immer mehr zu Akteuren in der politischen Arena werden kbnnen, denn „India’s agriculture is still a big unknown", wie es die Europaische Union in ihrem Bericht zur Rolle Indiens in der globalen Landwirtschaft einschatzt.Wer den gesamten Vortrag als Audiodatei hbren mdchte, mbge sich an info@diz-ev.de wenden.Jona Aravind DohrmannFrontiers of Knowledge:Health, Environment and the History of Science2011 Annual Conference of the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context”, University of Heidelberg, 05.-07. Oktober 2011“Frontiers of Knowledge” was the topic of the 2011 Annual Conference of the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” held from October 5th to 7th at Heidelberg University. The purpose of the conference was to explore theKonferenzberichte 115fields of Health, Environment and the History of Science, while challenging the conventional intellectual divisions between Europe and Asia.Keynote speaker Kaushik Sunder Rajan (Chicago) opened the conference with a lecture on “Property, Rights and the Constitution of Contemporary Indian Biomedi­cine”. He focused on the contested relationship between intellectual property and the re-institutionalisation of pharmaceutical development in contemporary India.The first podium discussion, chaired by Joachim Friedrich Quack (Heidelberg), focused on Ancient Medicine. Friedhelm Hofmann (Munich) explored ancient Egyptian medical receipts and their relationship to Near-Eastern and Greek medical traditions. Examining medical stories, medicinal recipes, and amulets from the Hip­pocratic and Galenic traditions, Ann Ellis Hanson (Yale) showed how earlier medi­cal concepts from Hippocratic texts were appropriated to fit into later writings in the Roman and Byzantine Egypt traditions. Vivian Nutton (University College London) drew attention to issues of translating medical texts with a focus on the re-contextu- alisation of Galenic writings into the Syriac and Arabic.Another discussion was dedicated to the circulation and changing concepts of knowledge, the diverse ways in which knowledge is produced, shared and appropri­ated. Marta Hanson’s (Johns Hopkins University) analysis of the geography of dis­eases in China from the 1870s to the 1920s showed that concepts of knowledge can be visualised and circulated. Dissecting the processes of the rapid institutionalisation of science in colonial India, Dhruv Raina (Jawaharlal Nehru University) investigated the varied uses of traditional and modem resources of knowledge in learned com­munities. Challenging standard dichotomies between tradition and modernity, Joachim Kurtz (Heidelberg) explored the processes of searching for a new episte­mological framework in Late Qing China.The afternoon was divided into separate panels, with “Politics, Civil Society and the Environment” focusing on the earthquake and subsequent nuclear disaster in Japan. The panel “Between Beauty and Health” concentrated on the visual itineraries of changing bodies in China’s transcultural mediascapes, while the panel “Large Dams” examined cases of contested environmental knowledge of riverscapes in India and China. Another panel traced the concepts of space and time in the emerg­ing transcultural cosmologies of pre-modem Japan. “What Can(not) Be Said in Revolutionary Times” was devoted to the transcultural flows of concepts, such as despotism, democracy and, citizenship.The day concluded with a keynote lecture by Janet Hunter (London School of Eco­nomics) on the confusion that occurred in the aftermath of the Great Kantb Earth­quake of 1923. The lecture paid close attention to the responses of producers, trad­ers, and consumers to the sudden and drastic changes to the economic infrastructure. The podium discussion on “Seascapes and Shipping” was chaired by Harald Fuess (Heidelberg). Martin Dusinberre (Newcastle/Heidelberg) traced the maritime routes of a Japanese merchant navy ship from Newcastle to Hawaii. Roland Wenzlhuemer116 ASIEN 123 (April 2012)(Heidelberg) offered insight into the redaction of ship newspapers and life aboard the passenger steamers in the 1890s. Rolf Wippich (Tokio/Luceme) scrutinised 19th century piracy in Chinese territorial waters and the anti-piracy measures taken.Another discussion critically engaged with Kaushik Sunder Rajan’s work on the attribution of epistemic shifts to different “techno-scientific regimes” and bio­capital. Aditya Bharadwaj (Edinburgh) examined the notion of “subject mobility” in India. This was complemented by Sandra Bamreuther’s (Heidelberg) introduction of her on-going study on in-vitro-fertilisation in India. Tsjailing Swierstra (Maastricht) examined the Dutch debate on organ transplants, outlining how new technologies shape old moralities and produce new moral frameworks.In the afternoon, the panel “The Many Shapes of the World” discussed concurrent regimes of spatial representation in early modern Asia, while the panel “Stress” focused on the anthropological, historical and epidemiological approaches to this supposedly modem phenomenon. Succinctly, the panel “Asymmetrical Transla­tions” discussed the mind and body in Indian and Western Medicine.Bringing together scholars from all over the world, the conference “Frontiers of Knowledge” furthered international exchange on health-related, environmental is­sues, as well as on the history of science. It highlighted both Asian and European perspectives on, for instance, large environmental projects and their political or social implications. Moreover, talks and discussions on the transcultural aspects of medical technologies raised controversial contemporary issues. The 2011 Annual Conference was chaired by Harald Fuess and organised by Research Area C “Health and Environment” of the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Con­text” (www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de). The Cluster’s next Annual Conference will take place in October 2012.Anna Andreeva‘Asianisms’ and Regional Interaction and Integration in Asia (Late 19th Century to Present)Universitat Freiburg, 14.-15. Oktober2011Welche Bedeutung hat „Asien” fur Asiaten? Welche Funktionen hat das Konzept „Asien“ im wissenschaftlichen, politischen und popularen Diskurs in Asien und im „Westen“? Wie kann man asiatisches und „westliches“ Asienbewusstsein erfor- schen? Diese Fragen standen im Mittelpunkt der zweitagigen intemationalen Konfe- renz Asianisms’ and Regional Interaction and Integration in Asia (Late 19th Cen­tury to Present)“, die am 14. und 15. Oktober 2011 an der Universitat Freiburg statt- fand. Veranstalter war das von der DFG gefbrderte Forschungsprojekt „Asianismen im 20. Jahrhundert - Asien als Bezugspunkt der (Neu-)Definition von Raumen, Identitaten und Machtordnungen“, das an der Sinologie der Universitat Freiburg

Frontiers of Knowledge. Health, Environment and the History of Science: 2011 Annual Conference of the Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in Global Context", University of Heidelberg, 05.-07. Oktober 2011

https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/asien/article/download/18157/17600

Frontiers of Knowledge. Health, Environment and the History of Science: 2011 Annual Conference of the Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in Global Context", University of Heidelberg, 05.-07. Oktober 2011

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