SASNET Activity Report 2019

SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK 2 SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 3

Table of Contents

SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 5

SEMINARS AND PUBLIC EVENTS 6

WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES 8 Symposium on the Indo-Pacific in Singapore 8 South Asia across the Nordic Region (SANR) 2019 8 Workshop on Challenges to Media in South Asia 9 Workshop on Afghanistan: Migration and security issues 9

RESEARCH, TEACHING AND MEDIA 10 Publications 11 SASNET in Media 11 Affiliated research program & SASNET Grants 12 Summer school on gender and risk 13 SASNET-FF conference, The ninth International Conference on Fermented foods health Status and Social wellbeing 14 Brahmaner, imamer och heliga mödrar: religiös mångfald i dagens Indien 14 Teaching and supervision 14

NETWORKING 14 Rethinkingpopulism 16 Sydasien 16 Social media 16 South Asia initiative (SAI) 16 4 SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 5

SASNET Activity Report 2019

During 2019, SASNET conducted a wide range of activities to bolster South Asia research and research-related accomplishments at Lund University. SASNET has collaborated with several organizations within Lund University and with organizations from all over the country through seminars, publications, networking, and conferences. During 2019, SASNET had four employees: office director/research coordinator Andreas Johansson (100%); postdoc Isha Dubey (100%), two student assistants, Hanna Geschewski (20%) and Ulrika Andersson (10%). SASNET also hired researcher Tullia Jack for a one-month contract (100%). SASNET also had two interns, Chirayu Thakkar (Central European University) and Anni-Elina Vänskä (Lund University).

Lund University Library 6 SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019

Seminars and public events

SASNET hosted several events throughout the year, most March 24: of which were open lectures and many were also con­ SASNET together with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute nected to ongoing courses at Lund University. SASNET of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law co-hosted the covered a wide array of topics and invited some of the screening of ”Breathless”, a documentary covering the most prominent South Asia scholars from around the gripping story of the fight of individuals against a boo- world. SASNET also held two internal seminars with ming and deadly asbestos industry. scholars presenting papers at our venue.

March 6: May 9: Together with Center for Religious Studies and Theo- SASNET hosted a discussion on the past and present of logy, SASNET hosted a talk on Religious Comforts and Indian politics in view of the Indian elections, at the Cen- Practices for Indian Soldiers in the First World War. The ter for Middle Eastern Studies. The panel consisted of Dr. talk was held by Kristina Myrvold, Associate Professor of Henrik Chetan Aspengren, Professor Catarina Kinnvall Religious Studies at Linnaeus University. and As­sociate Professor Ted Svensson.

SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK INVITES YOU TO A PANEL DISCUSSION ON The Indian General Elections 2019

HENRIK CHETAN March 12: ASPENGREN RESERACH FELLOW AT THE SWEDISH INSTITUTE OF SASNET, together with Svalorna Indien, Bangladesh, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS hosted a talk on the Institutionalization of Folklore in CATARINA KINNVALL PROFESSOR AT THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL Contemporary Bangladesh. The talk was held by Profes­ SCIENCE, LUND UNIVERSITY

sor Frank J. Korom, Boston University. TED SVENSSON ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, LUND UNIVERSITY

TH Hosted by MAY 9 • 15:15 - 16:45 CENTRE FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES FINNGATAN 16

May 18: SASNET hosted a screening of the award-winning film- maker Sarah Singh’s latest movie ”I Thought I Was Dreaming”. The event was organized in collaboration March 13: with Skissernas Museum Lund on the occasion of Inter- SASNET together with Center for Religious Studies and national Museum Day 2019. Theology hosted a talk on Guru Bawa and the making of a Transnational Sufi Family. The talk was held by professor Frank J. Korom, Boston University. SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 7

May 20: December 4: SASNET hosted a seminar together with the film studies SASNET and LUCSUS hosted a joint seminar on struggles department with filmmaker Sarah Singh. along the Narmada river in the context of water conflicts in India with water expert and former activist Shripad Dharmadhikary. July 4: SASNET, together with the Swedish Institute of Foreign LUCSUS & SASNET INVITE YOU TO A JOINT SEMINAR Affairs, hosted a panel at Almedalen about the Indian elec­tions. The panel consisted of Dr. Isha Dubey, Dr. Henrik Chetan Aspengren, and Henriett Tjäder.

September 16: SASNET hosted a panel discussion on the recent de­ Conflicts along velopments in Kashmir and the Indian government’s de- the Narmada river cision to withdraw Articles 370 and 35A, in an attempt to change Jammu & Kashmir’s legal and constitutional with status. The panel consisted of Dr. Isha Dubey, Dr. Ama- SHRIPAD Water expert & former rita Gosh, and Pro­fessor Catarina Kinvall. activist in the Narmada DHARMADHIKARY Bachao Andolan

SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK INVITES YOU TO DEC 4TH
10:00 – 12:00 A PANEL DISCUSSION ON OSTROM, 3RD FLOOR, LUCSUS Recent Developments in Kashmir & The Revocation of Article 370 December 5: The Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) and SAS­ NET hosted a joint lecture with Indian water expert and former full-time activist Shripad Dharmadhikary at the LTH Division for Water Resources Engineering.

CMES & SASNET INVITE YOU TO A JOINT LECTURE

SPEAKERS POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHER ISHA DUBEY AT SASNET, LUND UNIVERSITY

RESEARCHER AT THE DEPARTMENT AMRITA GHOSH OF LANGUAGES, LINNAEUS UNIVERSITY VÄXJÖ

PROFESSOR AT THE CATARINA KINNVALL DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, LUND UNIVERSITY Re-imagining Water Resource Moderated by RISHI JHA Engineering in India Challenges for Sustainable and Equitable Development SEPT 16TH • 15:30 - 17:00 CENTRE FOR MIDDLE EASTERN with STUDIES (CMES), FINNGATAN 16 SHRIPAD Water expert & former activist in the Save the DHARMADHIKARY Narmada Movement

October 3: SASNET, together with the department of Gender Stu­ DEC 5TH 2019
14:30 – 15:00 LTH, V-HUSET, 3RD FLOOR, dies, hosted a seminar at the Gender Studies Seminar JOHN ERICSSONS VÄG 1 Series. The speakers were Anindita Datta, Associate Pro­fessor at the Department of Geography, Delhi Uni- December 5: versity, who spoke on ”Conversations, Collaborations The Swedish Development Forum (FUF) and SASNET and Care – Feminist solidarities in a neoliberal world” hosted a joint lecture with Shripad Dharmadhikary, who and Ravinder Kaur, Professor at the Department of Hu- was a full-time activist for 12 years in Narmada Bachao manities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi, who held a talk Andolan (NBA) with his main interest being water and on ”Surrogacy and gender imbalance”. the policies around it. 8 SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019

Workshops and Conferences

In 2019, SASNET hosted three workshops and helped with the organiza- tion of one conference. These events discussed contemporary issues in South Asia and Sweden.

SYMPOSIUM ON THE INDO-PACIFIC IN After initial meetings in Copenhagen in 2017 and Oslo SINGAPORE in 2018, Uppsala hosted the 2019 conference on June On Monday 3 June, SASNET co-hosted the joint sympo­ 11-12 at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. sium Europe in the Indo-Pacific: Moving from Periphery Event funding was shared between­ SASNET/Lund Uni- to the Center? in Singapore. The symposium was a versity, the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) collaboration between the National University of Singa­ in Stockholm, and the Swedish University of Agricultural pore – Institute of South Asian Studies, the EU Centre in Sciences (SLU) in Uppsala. Se­veral scholars from Lund Singapore, the Embassy of Sweden Singapore, SASNET, University presented papers at the conference. the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Singapore. This symposium was a follow up meeting to the workshop on the Indo-Pacific that SASNET arranged in Lund in November 2018.

The director of SASNET, Andreas Johansson, moderated a session that discussed an emerging European Perspec- tive on the Indo-Pacific. The symposium was followed by dinner at the Swedish embassy.

Session 1, moderated by Andreas Johansson

SOUTH ASIA ACROSS THE NORDIC REGION (SANR) 2019 SANR offers a platform for Nordic scholars of South Asia to present their research and meet other researchers. It is particularly intended to be a supportive meeting point for emerging scholars. Professor Göran Djurfeldt held the keynote lecture at SANR SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 9

WORKSHOP ON CHALLENGES TO MEDIA IN WORKSHOP ON AFGHANISTAN: MIGRATION SOUTH ASIA AND SECURITY ISSUES The School of Journalism and the Department of Strate­ The two-day workshop on Afghanistan addressed se­ gic Communication, in collaboration with SASNET and veral topics. On October 10 the first panel discussed Reporters Without Borders Sweden, hosted a full-day ”How do Afghanistan’s neighbors affect the country’s workshop about press freedom, journalism, and demo­ security, now and in the future? What roles do the Tali- cracy at Mindpark, Helsingborg ban, NATO, and IS play?” The panel also examined the development of democratic institutions in the country. South Asia is the world’s most densely populated region The second panel examined the encounters of Afghan and one of the poorest and most illiterate regions of asylum seekers with Swedish and Afghan authorities. the world. At the same time, India is seen as being on Formal, informal, public, and private institutions were the rise, with around 500 million registered Internet consi­dered with regard to the roles they play in this users creating new opportunities for the media industry. process, with particular attention given to networks or Several nations have been experiencing the profound groups without official recognition but which nonethe- political evolution of democratization over the last few less operate in an institution-like manner. decades, but remain the focal point of growing interna- tional concern regarding nuclear proliferation, the rise On 11 October, Dr. Daria Davitti, Lund University, Faculty of Islamic militancy, and the anti-terror war. of Law, led a discussion on a future research proposal. This session opened up a discussion on a proposed­ re- In this geographical context, the workshop addressed search project currently being worked on by a team at and discussed various challenges to journalism and press Lund University. Harnessing the expertise of the parti- freedom together with journalists and researchers who cipants at the workshop, Dr. Davitti tested some of the have different experiences from the region. preliminary assumptions as well as some of the initial findings.

Andreas Mattsson, School of Journalism 10 SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019

Professor Kristian Berg Harpviken talking on the first panel of the workshop. Photocredit, UPF Lund. Research, Teaching and Media

During 2019. SASNET staff have been engaged in both Many of the above mention seminars and lectures have research and teaching at Lund University. SASNET hired been included in ordinary courses at Lund University and Isha Dubey on a two-year postdoc project. During her for the first time ever SASNET has offered a course a time at Lund University, Isha will primarily be working on Lund University. The course was developed in collabora­ her project Memory, Memorialization and the Politics of tion with the Center for Theology and Religious Stu- Forgetting: Difficult Heritage and the construction and dies. SASNET staff have frequently appeared in media, contestation of national memory in India and Bangla- both with their own publications in, for example, The desh. This project is also sponsored by the Center of Indepen­dent, The Conversation and DN Debatt and as Theology and Religious Studies and the Political Science ex­perts in, for example, Sveriges Radio, TV 4 and AP. department. SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 11

PUBLICATIONS “Maldives: new president must ward off threats from Andreas Johansson Islamic extremism, foreign powers and autocratic rivals” in The Conversation. January 2019.

Book Isha Dubey Pragmatic Muslim Politics – The case of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Peer review article “Between ‘Everyday’ and ‘Extraordinary’: Partition, Violence and the Communal Riots of 1946 in Bihar.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, n.d., 1–30.

Popular science “Ayodhya land ruling has thrust history into the centre of Indian Politics-what this means for the future.” The Conversation December 10, 2019.

“Where Kashmir fits within India’s national memory – and what impact removing its special status could have.” The Conversation October 7, 2019.

SASNET IN THE MEDIA SASNET has an affiliated research program to (1) stimu- late interdisci­plinary research at the University that focus on South Asia, (2) to attract international scholars to engage in research projects at Lund University. Most of these researchers are based at Lund University. During 2019 the following affiliated researcher engaged in SASNET activities:

Peer review article “Miniature Qurans in the First World War: Religious Comforts for Indian Muslims Soldiers” (with Kristina Myrvold). In Miniature Books, Kristina Myrvold och Dorina M. Parmenter (eds.), Equinox.

Popular science Andreas Johansson “Sri Lanka: Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election victory sparks fear among minorities” in The Conversation November • 10 Years after the war, ”the Darkest Hour” for the 2019. Pearl of the Indian Ocean’ in The Paper (Chinese). • Risk för nytt våld i drabbat Sri Lanka’ in Kyrkanstid- “Who are Sri Lanka’s Muslims?” in The Conversation. ning. April 2019. • Radicalization among Sri Lanka’s Muslims was slow and steady’ in AP republished by New York Times, “Sri Lanka’s violent past has created a polarised so- Washington Post, US news, srnnews, ABCnews, ciety ripe for radicalisation” in the Independent. April Tucson, Tulsaworld, Startribune, News Yahoo, The 2019. publics radio, WSB TV, New Jersy Herald, an Fran- cisco Chronicle, South China Morning Post, Japan ”Alltför dåliga kunskaper om asiatiska samhället i Sve- Times, Israel Hayom, Stuff New Zealand etc. rige” in DN Debatt. March 22, 2019. • Minst 207 döda i flera bombdåd i Sri Lanka - ”Mycket pekar mot islamister”’ in TV 4 Nyheterna. 12 SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019

• Sri Lanka-expert på Lunds Universitet: Det liknar for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences -EHESS- Paris), Europa in Sverigsradio P4, Malmöhus. and focused on the role of the media when India and • Sri Lanka attacks: Interview with Dr. Andreas Jo- Sweden go to the polls. During this panel talk, several hansson in TRT World. discussions around the role of false news, dis- and misin- • Sri Lanka under attack in Dubai I (Live). formation, and the role of media organizations took • Sri Lanka Attacks In Toyokeizai.net. place. • Kommentar om dåden i Sri Lanka P3 Nyheter. • Attacker som en blixt från en klar himmel in TT Anna Lindberg, independent scholar republished by, Aftonbladet, Corren, Nsd, Folk- The former director of SASNET Dr. Anna Lindberg, hel- bladet, Pressen, allanyheter, Uppsala Nya Tidning, ped to plan and get funds for the above mention the Sydsvenskan, Hallands Nyheter, Kristianstadsbladet, two-day workshop on Afghanistan. Anna also had a Blekinge Läns Tidning, Norrbottensäffarer, Ystads presentation on the same workshop. allehanda, hbl.fi, Hela gotland, Barometern, Små- landsposten. Helsingborgs dagblad, vt.se, Östra småland, Borås Tidning, Sydöstran, Nya Linköpings Tidning). • Buddhist extremism: Meet the violent followers of a religion widely known for its pacifism’ in ABC news Australia.

AFFILIATED RESEARCH PROGRAM & SASNET GRANTS SASNET has an affiliated research program to (1) stimu- late interdisci­plinary research at the University that focus on South Asia, (2) to attract international scholars to engage in research projects at Lund University. Most of these researchers are based at Lund University. During 2019 the following affiliated researcher engaged in SASNET activities:

Admir Skodo, independent scholar During 2019 Dr. Skodo published one report ”Afgha­ nistan och talibanerna : Fred till vilket pris?” (Utrikespo­ Dr. Anna Lindberg talk at the workshop on Afghanistan. litiska Institutet, Stockholm) and a peer-reviewed article Photocredit UPF, Lund. “The Long and Short Arms of the State: Swedish Mul­ Henrik Chetan Aspengren, researcher UI tidirectional Controls of Afghan Asylum Seekers During Dr. Henrik Chetan Aspengren is the coordinator for the the Cold War” (Journal of Refugee Studies) as a result South Asia Initiative (See below). of his earlier researcher project at SASNET. Admir also helped SASNET receive funds for the above mention Kristina Myrvold, Associated professor Linnaeus Uni- Afghan workshop. versity Professor Myrvold gave a presentation at the center for Andreas Mattsson & Vibodh Parthasarathi, School Theology and Religious Studies. She was also granted of Journalism Hedda Andersson Professorship for a least one year, Andreas and Vibodh from the School of Journalism and starting in 2020. Myrvold will work at the Center for De­partment of Strategic Communication, in collabora- Theology and Religious Studies (CTR). The professorship tion with SASNET and Reporters Without Borders Swe- is named after Hedda Andersson, one of the two first den, hosted a full-day workshop about press freedom, female students at Lund University in 1880 and has the journa­lism, and democracy at Mindpark, Helsingborg. objective to encourage female academics at the CTR. Vibodh and Andreas also participated in a panel talk at SASNET supported the talks between CTR and Professor the Press Club in central Brussels on May 13. The discus- Myrvold. sion was led by Jean-Luc Racine, Emeritus CNRS Senior Fellow at the Centre for South Asian Studies (School SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 13

Manpreet K. Janeja, Associate Professor at Copenha- Therese Boje Mortensen, Phd Candidate Lund Uni- gen University, affiliated Research Fellow at IIAS Leiden versity University, and Visiting Senior Fellow at the Department Therese published several articles in the SASNET sponso- of Anthropology, London School of Economics, London red magazine Sydasien during the year. She also repre- University sented SASNET and Lund University at two conferences. During 2019 Professor Janeja applied for a research project on Migration at the Swedish Research Council to be placed at Lund University. The application received a good evaluation but was not successful.

Maria Tonini, Senior lecture Gender Department In the fall, Dr. Maria Tonini and Professor Helle Ryd- ström brought two prominent Indian scholars to Lund Univer­sity: Ravinder Kaur, Professor of Sociology, The Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Indian Institute of Tech­nology (IIT), Delhi and Anindita Datta, Associate Professor­ of Geography, Delhi School of Eco- nomics, University of Delhi. The aim of the visit was to facilitate knowledge exchange through talks and a workshop held at the Department of Gender Studies, in collaboration with other relevant units such as the Department of Socio­logy, the Department of Cultural Geography, the Department of Political Science, the Faculty of Law, and LTH.

Parama Sinha Palit, affiliated with the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Nanyang Tech- nological University (NTU). As an affiliate researcher of SASNET, Parama plans to Therese Boje Mortensen presenting a paper at SANR write extensively for SASNET outlets and participate in projects that connect to the international relations of In- In order to further stimulate research on South Asia at dia and South Asia. She looks to highlight lesser-known Lund University. SASNET funded the following grants: nuances in India’s contemporary external engagement to the Nordic scholarly and policy communities. She is SUMMER SCHOOL ON GENDER AND RISK interested in engaging with students at Lund University After the success­ of the first summer school, the Division on South Asia, and the SASNET research network for of Risk Mana­gement and Societal Safety is proud to visualizing long-term academic projects. announce the organizing of the second Gender, Disaster and Climate Change School in May 2020. We endea- Rishi Jah, Phd Candidate Lund University vour to sustain the momentum to contribute towards During 2019 Rishi joined the conference ”At the fronti- a gender-inclusive approach in Disaster Risk Reduction ers of the urban: thinking concepts and practices global- and Climate Change Adaptation research and practice. ly” organized by the UCL Urban Laboratory, University By offering pedagogical­ training to actors such as resear- Col­lege London, between 10-12th Nov 2019. Rishi also chers and practi­tioners, we strive to facilitate dialogue, presented his paper on narratives of displacement and and co-create knowledge and solutions, in developing evictions of the urban poor in Mumbai at the Frontiers gender-inclusive designs in response, recovery, and of Accumulation at the University of Copenhagen. preparedness. At the same time, we also contribute towards enhancing capacities so that participants be- come agents of creating gender secure environment at their respective workplaces. The last summer school comprised of 15 participants, including 11 PhD resear- chers and 4 practitioners from the field of gender from their respective organizations. These included partici- pants from Nepal, India, Bangla­desh, and New Zealand. Rishi Jah present a paper at UCL 14 SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019

SASNET-FF CONFERENCE, THE NINTH HMANER, IMAMER OCH HELIGA MÖDRAR: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RELIGIÖS MÅNGFALD I DAGENS INDIEN FERMENTED FOODS HEALTH STATUS AND SASNET sponsor a new course at the Center for Theo­ SOCIAL WELLBEING logy and Religious studies that focuses on the religious SASNET-Fermented Foods; in association with Anand landscape of India. Project manager: Dr. Paul Linjamaa, Agricultural University, India; Lund University, Sweden; CTR. Copenhagen University, Denmark; Probiotic Association of India; Gut Microbiota and Probiotic Science Founda­ tion (India); Indian Dairy Association, Gujarat State Chap­ TEACHING AND SUPERVISION ter; Dr. Verghese Kurien Centre of Excellence, IRMA, During the year both Andreas and Isha has been invol- India and other sponsoring organizations, wish to invite ved in teaching at Lund University, primary at the Center scientists, researchers, teachers, students, professionals, for Theology and Religious Studies. Andreas developed food industry personnel, clinicians, nutritionists, social the course Religiösa och litterära klassiker från Sydasien workers and all those who are interested in discussing och Mellanöstern (7,5 credits), both Isha and Andreas research and development of novel value-added functio­ also taught on the same course. Andreas supervised MA nal fermented food products for the global market. We students at CTR. hope to work towards raising the productivity of the Indian agro-food sector and increase the incomes of rural farmers, as well as the improvement of the health status and social well-being of urban consumers. Project manager: Professor Emeritus Baboo M. Nair, Department of Food Technology. SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 15

Networking

SASNET Director Andreas Johansson visited Aga Khan Since SASNET was one of the co-organizers of a work­ University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations shop in Singapore (see above), Andreas Johansson also in London from March 13 to 14. During the visit, An­ visited National University of Singapore and talked with dreas met with the Director of the Aga Khan University representatives of the Insti­tute of South Asian Studies Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, Professor (ISAS) about future collaborations­ between the institu- Leif Stenberg, and discussed the future collaborations tions. between the two institutions. Aga Khan University esta­ blished the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in 2002. AKU-ISMC is a higher education institution with a focus on research, publications, graduate studies and outreach and is part of the Aga Khan Foundation. Both the ISMC and the Aga Khan Foundation have an interest in South Asia and could therefore be natural partners for SASNET in the future. Both organizations are currently working on a MoU to find possible ways for future cooperation.

Director of ISAS, Professor C Raja Mohan, Director of SASNET, Dr. Andreas Johansson, Dr. Rani D. Mullen, ISAS, Dr. Henrik Chetan Aspengren, UI, Dr. Jivanta Schottli, ISAS, Dr. Amitendu Palit, ISAS.

SASNET Director Andreas Johansson visited Boston, US, at the end of September. He met with Professor Frank Korom, Deputy Director of the American Institute of Bangladeshi Studies (AIBS) and Professor John Rogers, US Director of the American Institute of Sri Lankan Studies (AISLS). During the visit, they discussed how SASNET and the American institutions can continue to work together on future projects. Both AIBS and AISLS are well established in the region and receive funding from the Council of American Overseas Research Cen­ ters program. In 2018, SASNET and AISLS signed a MoU.

Andreas also visited Harvard University and the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute. He met with Chel- sea Ferell and discussed how the two centers can begin informal and formal collaboration. The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute conducts­ interdiscipli- nary research to promote and deepen understandings of critical issues in South Asia and its relations with the world. Andreas also met with Professor­ Nichola Minott at Boston College and talked about the possibilities of visiting Sweden next year. Professor Minott is an expert on conflict and climate change and has conducted field Professor Jonas Otterbeck & Professor Leif Stenberg at the Aga Khan Center in London. work in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. 16 SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019

SOCIAL MEDIA SASNET has been very active on social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) posting about jobs and con­ ferences around the world related to South Asia. This is important to maintain the network idea of SASNET. SAS- NET also posts job opportunities at Lund Univer­sity since most of the followers are from South Asia. SASNET’s social media platforms received many new followers during 2019, for example, the SASNET Facebook page gained 600 followers.

SOUTH ASIA INITIATIVE (SAI) The Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) and C the Swedish Asian Studies Network (SASNET) at Lund University are collaborating focusing on India and South Asia. The long-term collaboration includes both research and analysis and aims at building a strong research en- vironment of international quality. During 2019, the initiative released a report on Asia studies in Sweden Chelsea Ferell, Harvard, Andreas Johansson, SASNET. and published an opinion editorial in DN debatt. SAI also held a seminar at the political week in Almedalen RETHINKINGPOPULISM and a seminar at the Swedish­ Institute of International Rethinkingpopulism brings together scholars from vari­ Affairs, Stockholm on the Indian economy. In the panel ous backgrounds to explore populist phenomena around on India’s foreign policy agenda, SASNET postdoc Dr. the globe and foster critical dialogue. It is a joint initia­ Isha Dubey talked about the renewed ‘neighborhood tive by Lund University, the University of Helsinki and first’ thrust in India’s foreign policy, its continuities, im- Istanbul Bilgi University, among others. SASNET is one pact, and implications. SAI also was represented when of the funding partners. The first debate is on gender the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched their human and populism and features an article by previous SAS- rights report on Asia. NET employee Soumi Banerjee on gender in the Indian far-right Hindutva movement. Lund University is also represented by Catarina Kinnvall (Political Science) and Andreas Johansson (SASNET) who are members of the project steering committee.

SYDASIEN Through a new collaboration between Sydasien and SASNET the magazine once again appears in print, this time biannually. Through SASNET ,the online version of Sydasien gains more depth as a platform for reports and articles that present new research on South Asia in a clear and accessible manner. Selected articles ap­ pear in the printed version of Sydasien. The printed version is sent out to researchers, journalists, and old subscribers. It is also handed out at events in the hope of further spreading knowledge of the region to a broa- der audience. SASNET sponsors the printing cost of the magazine. SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 17

Read old and new issues of the Magazine Sydasien on www.sasnet.lu.se 18 SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019

Read the full report at www.sasnet.lu.se SASNET ACTIVITY REPORT 2019 19

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Margot Wallström, presented the human right reports in Stockholm. About SASNET

SASNET is an interdisciplinary network for the production and dissemination of research, education, and information about South Asia (Afghanistan, Bang- ladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka).

SASNET produces and disseminates knowledge and research about South Asia in three principal ways.

• First, SASNET produces knowledge about South Asia through research, seminars, workshops, and conferences. • Second, SASNET supports research, seminars, and international col- laborations at Lund University. • Third. SASNET collaborates with Swedish and Nordic universities that have a strong focus on South Asia.

The network is a subdivision of the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES).

Follow SASNET • www.sasnet.lu.se • [email protected] • https://www.facebook.com/sasnetpage • https://twitter.com/sasnetlund • https://www.instagram.com/sasnetlund/

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