Silver Jubilee Seminar on Ideology and Social Sciences
Dates: November 27-28, 2014Venue: Guwahati, Assam (INDIA)
Organiser: O.K.D. INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT: GUWAHATI (An Institute of ICSSR, New Delhi and Government of Assam) VIP Road, Upper Hengerabari, Guwahati - 781036 (Assam).
Call for Abstracts: The concept of ideology has remained as one of the most debatable and intricate themes in social science inquiry. For academicians bounded to various disciplines, the word ‘ideology’ connotes both reflective and critical thought – often insinuated with strong emotions. The question of ideology is torn between a vast array of conceptualisation and praxis. The thinking encapsulated in ideology, therefore, deserves attention with its both normative and practical features along with different trends of intellectual disposition. The link between ideology and social science is, thus, one of the most fundamental issues of academic inquiry. The genesis of ideology can be traced to de Tracy to mean theory of idea, and since then scholarship ranging from Marx to the postmodernists has harped on the topic. From Marx and Engels’ understanding of ideology as a ‘false consciousness’, to Mannheim statement of the continuous struggle between ‘ideology’ and ‘utopia’, Althusser’s conception of the ‘Ideological State Apparatus’ and Gramsci’s ‘hegemony’ to the ‘end of ideology’ exposition by Bell – there is a rich and variegated conceptualisation of ideology. There is a vast array of literature which evolved over the decades pointing to the intellectual disposition and also categorically asserting the existence of ideology as sine qua non in understanding the existing relationship in society.
Notwithstanding, while reflecting on the horizon of this historical imagination of ideology, we often come across a kind of epistemological scepticism around identifying ideology as some ultimate idea of truth. Within the spectrum of ‘old’ and ‘new’, ‘left and right’ ideological debates to other epistemological issues, the post colonial period witnesses increasing attempts to delink social science inquiry and offer a value free and scientific way for explaining existing social phenomenon. Indeed, establishing value neutrality has been one of the pervasive themes of fierce debate in contemporary social science. Notwithstanding whether it is possible for social science to remain really value neutral? If ever it is, is it at all desirable? Whether only value-neutral social science is capable of deriving an objective understanding of social reality? How one can see and evaluate the linkage between social science theories and their praxis?
OKD Institute of Social Change and Development, Guwahati as a part of its yearlong silver jubilee celebration organises an international seminar during November 27-28, 2014 to discuss these critical questions and invites abstracts within maximum 600 words on following suggestive, but not exhaustive themes:
* Trends in ideology debates
* Production of ideology and social change
* Globalisation and ideological challenges
* Dialectics of ideological shifts and social transformation
* Ideological hegemony and contemporary social science
The abstracts should clearly highlight the central argument of the author along with minimum four key words, name of author, affiliation and contact details. The interested authors can send their abstracts to ideologyseminar.okdiscd@gmail.com. Hard copy of abstract/paper may be sent to undersigned. More details may be obtained at www.okd.in.
Last date of submission of abstract: June 15, 2014
Date of acceptance: July 15, 2014
Date of full paper submission: October 15, 2014.
Contact:
Joydeep Baruah, Assistant Professor & Convener: joydeep.baruah@gmail.com
Arunima Deka, Assistant Professor & Co-Convener: mailarunimadeka@gmail.com
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