Land and Language The dynamics of identity formation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh
In this lecture, Dr. Farid Uddin Ahamed will raise some specific questions related to the ongoing process of ethnic mobilisation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) have been the site of much contestation between its inhabitants and the state since the colonial period, continuing after the creation of Pakistan and the independence of Bangladesh. The notion `Pahari' identity is central to the construction of collective identity among diverse ethnic groups of the CHT with some other parallel categories, such as Jhumma and Adivashi. In this lecture, Dr. Farid Uddin Ahamed will examine the way in which these categories are constructed by themselves and also by dominant `Others'. He will raise some specific questions related to the ongoing process of ethnic mobilisation in the CHT: Why do people choose these new constructions and reject the stereotyped categorisation? Where is collective and shared identity expressed? He will also address how different languages are being negotiated in complex multi-ethnic relationships,particularly in the context of new identity formation.
Dr. Farid Uddin Ahamed is currently a faculty member of the Sociology department at the South Asian University, New Delhi. He has previously taught at Chittagong University, Bangladesh. His areas of specialization rest primarily in narrativebased applied anthropological in-depth research on livelihood, globalization-driven adaptation, emerging crises and coping strategies of diverse people and communities as well as ethnic dynamism and social change in the Chittagong Hill Tracts,Bangladesh.
Free Entrance
Reception Afterwards