Events

CHAIRPERSON

Assoc Prof Johan Lindquist, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. 

ABSTRACT

The concept of centre and periphery remains highly influential in the Social Sciences. In its various iterations, ranging from world systems theory to development studies, it has shaped a mental map of how the world is spatially structured. The traditional, rural, pristine, and poor periphery is juxtaposed with the modern, urban, polluted, comparatively rich, and cosmopolitan core. The concept lends itself well to a variety of analytic endeavours, including rural-urban migration, asymmetric power relations between countries or regions, or transnational connections between borderlands.

For certain geographical configurations, however, neither periphery, nor centre – nor any point along the axes between them – provides a useful description. Taking the Himalayan valleys of Northern Nepal as a vantage point, I propose the concept of pathways as analytical approach to such non-peripheries at the edge of nation states. I suggest a rotation of gaze by 90 degrees in order to trace connections and highlight spatial relations that centre/periphery thinking tends to overlook.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Martin Saxer is approaching the end of his postdoctoral fellowship at ARI. For the next two years he will be a Marie Curie Fellow at LMU Munich. He has carried out research in the Himalayas and Siberia since 2003 and is the author of Manufacturing Tibetan Medicine (Berghahn 2013). His current project is concerned with the the question how China’s rise affects the people living directly along its borders. He has directed two documentary films and runs the blog www.theotherimage.com, which provides visual glimpses into his academic wanderings.

REGISTRATION

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