[Anthropgrad] Work-in-Progress Seminar - 3 July - Nitasha Kaul

[Sharon Komidar]

The Research School of Humanities presents,
 Work-in-Progress Seminar Series 

1- 2.30 pm, Friday 3 July, Theatrette, Old Canberra House

CHANGES AND CHALLENGES IN THE HIMALAYAS: A CASE OF BHUTAN 

Dr Nitasha Kaul 

Research Fellow, Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of
Westminster, London, UK

 

Introducing Bhutan - an eastern Himalayan country - I will outline the
factors that have influenced the changing identity and geostrategy of
the region. Focus is on the recent political transition to a
constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy in 2008.
Paradoxically, the elections were successfully held at a time when a
referendum on the desirability of a democracy would have failed! Was
democracy inevitable? Differentiating between the characteristics of
'democracy as a responsibility' in Bhutan compared to 'democracy as a
right' elsewhere, I will discuss the role of religion, culture,
institutions, and the impact of all this on the redefinition of the
country as an international actor. Intimately tied up with these larger
projections is people's everyday sense of what it means to 'be
Bhutanese'. I will discuss the developmental challenges facing Bhutan
and the potential role of the tenth five-year plan in mitigating them
while retaining the commitment to the cherished philosophy of Gross
National Happiness (GNH) being put into practice. 

 

Dr Nitasha Kaul is a writer and academic at the Centre for the Study of
Democracy at the University of Westminster in London. Previously an
Associate Professor in Economics at the Bristol Business School, her
latest book is 'Imagining Economics Otherwise: encounters with
identity/difference' (2007). Her current work is titled 'Snapshots of a
Changing Kingdom: Democracy and Identity in Bhutan'. She has visited
Bhutan several times and was there during the entire general election
campaign in 2008. She has published comments and articles on Bhutan,
lectured widely on the theme, and been interviewed about the country in
print and on film. Her other work is in critical political economy,
philosophy, feminism, diaspora, postcolonial theory, and street-art.

 

Convenors: Ken Taylor and Stephen Foster
For general enquiries please contact: 
Phone: 6125 2434
Email: administration.rsh at anu.edu.au 
Web: http://rsh.anu.edu.au/
All Welcome