Events

CHAIRPERSON 

Prof Prasenjit Duara, Asia Research Institute and Office of Deputy President (Research and Technology), National University of Singapore


ABSTRACT

We won’t take for granted the usual discontinuity between Asian modernities and their past. Whereas western modernity’s continuity does not have to be demonstrated, other continents, in order to be modern, have had to disconnect from their past according to the hegemonic episteme. But this can be deconstructed. We shall be interested in the fact that early Buddhism is completely “non-sovereign”, which is consistent with its non-recognition of the ātman (self), and we will reflect on the traces thereof possibly in contemporary forms of governance. But it is important to note that not all sovereignties were thought as territorial (that of the brahmins, for example), though even then they may produce spatial imaginaries. The concept of a “subject” is a corollary of sovereignty and of modernity only in the European example. Elsewhere, as in the great Asian philosophical systems, neither sovereignties nor governance require a concept of the subject.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Rada Iveković is a philosopher, a university professor involved in Indian and Asian studies, in political philosophy, in feminist and translation studies with books and articles in several languages. She is member of the Academic network for research and publication, TERRA. She is currently living in France.

REGISTRATION

Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you RSVP to Mr Jonathan Lee at Email: jonathan.lee@nus.edu.sg