CHAIRPERSON
Assoc Prof Michael Feener, Asia Research Institute and Department of History, National University of Singapore.
ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades institutions such as the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) have shaped Tajikistan’s Pamir region through a series of large-scale development interventions. These institutions are closely linked to the Imamate of the current Nizari-Ismaili Imam, the Aga Khan IV, and cater to a majority population of Nizari-Ismailis in the Tajik Pamirs. In this context a frequently discussed question among donors, Tajik politicians and people in the region concerns the “secular” or “religious” nature of these development institutions and their projects. Taking examples from concrete ethnographic contexts in the Tajik Pamirs as a starting point, this paper aims to explore how one can grasp, disentangle and analyse such shifting “secular” and “religious” realities from an anthropological point of view.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Till Mostowlansky is a Post-doctoral Researcher at the University of Bern, Switzerland, where he also teaches Central Asian Studies and the Science of Religion. He holds a PhD in Central Asian Studies from the University of Bern (2013) entitled Azan on the Moon: Entangling Modernities along Tajikistan’s Pamir Highway. His current research project focuses on “Shia-based” development organisations in Central and South Asia.
REGISTRATION
Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you RSVP Sharon via email at arios@nus.edu.sg
