Reports published by CRG




Reports on Social Justice

Report of A Research & Dialogue Programme on Social Justice in India To appreciate the perspective against which the Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group (CRG) took up a three-year research and dialogue program on social justice we have to recall in 2003 CRG had embarked on a research agenda on some of the critical questions facing post-colonial democracies, such as India. One of these questions was the issue of autonomy – a theme neglected in conventional studies and policy knowledge on democracy. The research and the dialogues on the theme of autonomy, conducted with the support of the Ford Foundation, investigated the constitutional, legal, financial, resource-centered, administrative, gender-just, and other possible forms of autonomies. Autonomy was viewed both as something that belongs to human beings and human nature and as something that is the source or basis of morality , that is, duty, and is bound up inextricably with the philosophy of our time. In the background of the anti-colonial movements the term gained new perspectives and meanings, which implied not only new rights but also new responsibilities. It became the emblem of group rights. In time the idea of autonomy became not only the standard of rights or responsibilities, but also a mark of how governments co opt popular demands and turn them into characteristically official forms of administration and relating to others on the basis of set rules. Therefore the research and dialogues on autonomy repeatedly came up with the issue of governmentalised forms of autonomy, routine, officially sanctioned, bureaucratic, as against the demands and ideas of autonomies that sought to address the incipient demands for justice. The research and dialogue reports and the published volumes of this program (The Politics of Autonomy, Indian Autonomy – Keywords and Key Texts, and Autonomy – Beyond Kant and Hermeneutics) have brought out the fundamental point that autonomy cannot be seen as an exceptional principle (mostly for ethnic minorities), but as an essential democratic principle moderating all aspects of our public political life. It implies thus not one overarching model of autonomy, or autonomy of one people constituting the nation, but re-imagining the democratic space as the intersecting field of autonomies (hence, dialogic relation between autonomies), as a fundamental conflict resolution mechanism of the political society, as the field of accommodation. The program on autonomy also initiated the method of combining collective research and dialogues. The programme has been supported by Ford Foundation. [Available in Print Form ]			Books Research Papers

Second Critical Studies Conference on "Spheres of Justice", Kolakata, 20-22 September 2007 & One Day Workshop with Etienne Balibar, Kolkata, 24 September 2007 The Second Critical Studies Conference held in September 2007 in Kolkata had “Spheres of Justice” as its larger platform under which, panelists from all over the world, presented papers on the finer and the more intricate nuances of justice. With sub-sections as Philosophies of Justice, Feminist Perspective of Justice, Transnational Justice, Transitional Justice, Rights and Justice, Marginalities and Justice, Aesthetics and Representation of Justice, the conference was an intellectually stimulating and enlightening discussion ground. The two-day conference was followed by a public lecture by Etienne Balibar, that saw him talk on the current trends in social and political thinking and addressed themes as citizenship, race and neo-racism, democracy, borders and so on. The programme has been supported by Ford Foundation. Compiled and Edited by Giorgio Grappi, Samir Kr. Das & Sanam Roohi. [Available in Print Form ]

Dialogues on Justice A series of three dialogues on justice was carried out by the Calcutta Research Group (CRG), in 2006 where about seventy people took part from diverse backgrounds. These dialogues were combined with public lectures in Kolkata and Darjeeling. These dialogues are also part of the CRG’s research programme on social justice in India. They have immensely contributed to the collective knowledge on the state of social justice in the country, thrown up new ideas and questions, and have shed light on how collective struggles for justice go on in this country with or without the help of law. At a fundamental level, they have been instrumental in clarifying various notions about the relations between justice and law, ethics and justice, respect, revenge, and restitution, or rights and justice. These dialogues have also helped us in gaining knowledge about various repositories of archival material on justice, such as popular tracts, manifestos, legal materials, other popular writings, political declarations, and reportages that tell us lot about various perceptions on justice. Dialogue has been an integral part of the research design of CRG. Our colleagues from various institutions participating in these discussions reinforced our belief and emphasis on this procedure. To say the least, no amount of scholarly paper presentation in seminars or philosophical treatise would have clarified the plural character of justice, the historically predicated nature of it, or its contentious character, as these dialogues have done. Our fear is that we may not have been able to do justice to the richness of the discussions on the three occasions. Several institutions came forward to assist us in holding these three dialogues: the Ford Foundation, the Lok Niti Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, the European Union and the International IDEA. The programme and the publication have been supported by Ford Foundation. Compiled and Edited by Samir Kr. Das, Sanam Roohi and Ranabir Samaddar.

Reports on IDPs

The Responsibility to Protect The Responsibility to Protect is a report on a series of dialogues and workshops on the responsibility of the National and State Human Rights Commissions in India with regard to the protection of the internally displaced persons in the country. These dialogues were held with the support of the Asia pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions. They are in continuation to the earlier discussions organised by the Calcutta Research Group (CRG) on various issues such as those relating to autonomy, displacement, forced migration and peace in India’s Northeast, sustainability of rights under globalisation, and social justice whose reports are available in print and on CRG website (www.mcrg.ac.in). Two public lectures were also held in Kolkata and Darjeeling under the programme. The dialogue programme has been an integral part of the research activities of the CRG, because CRG’s own participatory research experiences show that dialogic knowledge is more intense, detailed, and democratic in nature. It also helps the creation of a network of researchers and other interested persons – thereby making research a matter of sharing and collective gain and responsibility. CRG takes this occasion to thank the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement and the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions for their unstinted support in this initiative. Our special thanks are to the Other Media, New Delhi and Sansristi, Bhubaneswar for their collaboration in organising two workshops in this series in Bangalore and Bhubaneswar respectively. We are thankful to Ranabir Samaddar, who all along remained the guiding force behind these three workshops and gave his valuable suggestions in preparing this report The publication has been supported by Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions. Compiled and Edited by Ishita Dey and Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury.

Eroded Lives The report, a part of CRG’s work on forced migration, is an in-depth study of the conditions of the people devastated by erosion of the banks of River Ganga in the districts of Malda, Murshidabad, Cooch Behar. The purpose of this report is mainly to draw attention of the administrators to the plight of the victims of ‘natural disasters’ like riverbank erosion; something that often looses the limelight to ‘conflict-induced displacements’. But river bank erosion has, over the years, become a ‘natural’ and almost regular phenomenon in the places under study. Interestingly, only the administrative offices and buildings that get damaged by erosion succeed in attracting media coverage. The thousands of people who loose their property, livelihood and shelter in the same incident fail to draw any substantive attention. The report gives extensive data of the loss of property and land in erosions caused by Ganga in these three districts. The report aims to study the consequences of riverbank erosion on women in particular and the people at large. With extensive field study and study of Census reports, the researchers give a vivid account of the district-wise displacement scenario, including the number of displaced people, their present condition, the available alternatives of livelihood that they have been forced into etc. Inputs from women victims themselves make the report not just detailed but humane, as well. Studies show that these displaced women are affected not just economically, but their health, sanitation, medication, education, is also hampered, leading to increased domestic and sexual violence. These women often join self-organisations of the displaced people to voice their condition. Yet they fail to draw any special attention of the administrators to their plight. The report concludes with recommendations that might be helpful in improving the condition of the displaced lot, specially women. Special attention towards sanitation, education and health of the women are some of the numerous recommendations that the report proposes, though finally closing with a not-so optimistic note on the chances of the administration taking any step towards the fulfillment of any of the recommended proposals. The programme and the publication have been supported by National Commission for Women, New Delhi.

Voices of the Internally Displaced in South Asia This is a report published by Calcutta Research Group in 2006 in order to record the voices of the invisible population of the displaced population groups in South Asia. The report aims to draw attention and give a voice to the internally displaced themselves, who have been often ignored despite the increasing attention to the human rights of the IDPs at national and global level. The research was conducted in IDP camps in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India by a dedicated team of CRG-associated researchers. The study is based on random surveys of selected IDP camps, focus group discussions with IDPs living in camps and case studies and presentation of voices from selected areas or population groups. The report makes a number of policy recommendations drawing on its cumulative as well as country- and case-specific findings. The publication is a part of the on-going CRG-Brookings Institution programme on the Rights and Protection of the Internally Displaced Persons in South Asia and it has been possible due to the support of the Brookings Institution. The programme and the publication have been supported by Brookings Institution.

Reports on Indian Autonomy

Fourth Civil Society Dialogue on Conflict, Autonomy and Peace: A Report The fourth dialogue (2004), held with the support of Ford Foundation in November 2004. Edited by Dolly Kikon and Samir Kumar Das

Third Civil Society Dialogue on Human Rights and Peace

The third dialogue (2003) was held in Shillong in collaboration with ICES, Colombo on the theme of the autonomy. The dialogue was motivated by a realisation that autonomy was in itself an exercise in reconciling the limitless expanse of people’s aspirations with the pragmatic concerns of governance, as framed in national constitutions - by no means an easy task. One of the conclusions of the deliberations was that what appeared as guarantees of autonomy compatible with the aspirations of given groups of people within the framework of the constitution, or even within international law, were actually a condensed body of intricate political negotiations. In essence, these negotiations are processes that lead to further democratisation of society and politics.

The dialogue discussed in details provisions such as the Sixth Schedule, Article 371-A and the Panchayati-Raj institutions. / Edited by Sanjoy Barbora.

Second Civil Society Dialogue on Human Rights and Peace

The second dialogue (2002) was on the theme of Women, Human Rights and Peace in the Northeast. In the Northeast of India women are constantly negotiating fixed identities. It is true that they have organised themselves on the basis of role identities such as the Naga Mothers' Association or the Mizo Widows' Association. But membership for the Nagas is open to all adult women. They have privileged the term “mothers” largely because there are very few entry points for women in state versus community conflicts in which their ethnicity is given primacy over their gender. Again, there are groups such as the Meira Paibies who do not overtly invoke their social roles. But the term "torchbearers" also have gender connotations, as it is associated with women putting up a vigil for protection of their communities. These and many other instances of negotiating identities and roles towards peace and justice were the issues in the second dialogue.

The dialogue was held in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and the Foundation for Universal Responsibility. Edited by Paula Banerjee

First Civil Society Dialogue on Human Rights and Peace

The publication is part of a comprehensive report on the first civil society dialogue (2001) on peace in the northeast. The dialogue was on the Naga peace process. It took note of the fact as to how people’s rising expectations triggered off by the cease-fire agreement were about to relapse into helpless pessimism and widespread violence. The purpose of the dialogue was not so much to regret the inability of the civil society to translate such strong popular sentiments into impeccable ‘historical facts’ of peace, but very much to take lessons from history and accordingly refashion our cognitive tools in order to establish peace and make it sustainable.

The first dialogue was held in collaboration with Konrad Adaneur Stiftung and WISCOMP. Edited by Samir Kumar Das and Paula Banerjee

A Report on a Workshop on Globalisation, State Policies, and Human Rights (April 2005) [Unavailable in Print Form ]

UN Guiding Principles on the IDPs - A Report on Workshops, Advocacy Meetings, and Translations of Documents (2004-2005) [Unavailable in Print Form]

Reports on Media and Human Rights

Gender, Media and Human Rights This publication (2004) – an assemblage of three case studies conducted in the states of Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal and Assam respectively - reflects on the media coverage on forced displacement of population in contemporary India. The studies were part of the programme on ‘Media and Displacement’. The three case studies were on Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, and Assam. The publication has been supported by WACC, London. Edited by Samir Kumar Das

Reports on Media and Displacement

Media and Displacement III

This is a collection of creative writings (2004) by a victim community – the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. This publication marks a departure from the first two segments of the programme in one significant respect. While those segments underline the importance of keeping the watcher (media) under watch, this publication is intended to be a sourcebook to help the discerning and socially committed media practitioners in utilizing the writings of the victims in a way that strengthens the communication capacity of the victims, and contributes to the articulation of their rights and claims.

The publication of the anthology has been possible due to the support of WACC, London. Edited by Jagat Mani Acharya

Media and Displacement II

This publication (2004) – an assemblage of three case studies conducted in the states of Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal and Assam respectively - reflects on the media coverage on forced displacement of population in contemporary India. The studies were part of the programme on ‘Media and Displacement’.

The three case studies were on Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, and Assam. The publication has been supported by WACC, London. Edited by Samir Kumar Das

Media and Displacement I This is a report (2004) on the Creative Writers’ Workshop on Forced Displacement of Population (2003) - perhaps the first of its kind in South Asia. It was held as part of a programme on ‘Media and Displacement’. The first part of the programme concerned with attempts at auditing on the basis of selected cases the mainstream media and its coverage on forced displacement of population from the perspective of human rights, justice and democracy. The other part of the programme was concerned with bringing out a source book on the creative writings of a particular community of victims. The creative writers’ workshop deliberated on these two segments of the programme and dealt at length with issues of creativity and objectivity, ways of seeing and covering an event, the right to communication, victims’ right to communicate, impact of technology on media behaviour, ethics and norms of reporting and editing, narrative techniques, and other issues related to writing. The programme and the publication have been supported by WACC, London. Edited by Deepti Mahajan and Samir Kumar Das

Reports on Winter Course on Forced Migration

A Dialogue on Protection Strategies for People in Situations of Forced Migration The Dialogue was held as a special segment of the Sixth Annual Winter Course on Forced Migration, which was held with the support of the UNHCR, Government of Finland and the Brookings Institution. On this occasion CRG particularly thanks the UNHCR in assisting and collaborating in holding the conference. Its thanks are also to the Government of Finland and the Brookings Institution for making the Winter Course an important orientation programme towards protecting the rights of the victims of forced migration. It also thanks the Panos South Asia for reinforcing the media component of the entire winter course exercise. The programme and the publication have been supported by UNHCR [Available in Print Form ]

Sixth Winter Course on Forced Migration The report (2009) of the Sixth Winter Course on Forced Migration (1-15 December 2008) is collectively written. The report contains genesis of the programme, planning, course structure, course content and the syllabus, the texts of the inaugural and the valedictory lectures, participants' writings, list of participants and members of the faculty, the participatory nature of the course, note on the field work, an account of distance education as part of the course, and evaluation of the course by faculty members, participants, and evaluators. An additional feature of the report is the different accounts of the discussions in the various course sessions authored by course participants. For applicants of future courses the report is essential. [Available in Print Form ]

Fifth Winter Course on Forced Migration The report (2008) of the Fifth Winter Course on Forced Migration (1-15 December 2007) is collectively written. The report contains genesis of the programme, planning, course structure, course content and the syllabus, the texts of the inaugural and the valedictory lectures, participants' writings, list of participants and members of the faculty, the participatory nature of the course, note on the field work, an account of distance education as part of the course, and evaluation of the course by faculty members, participants, and evaluators. An additional feature of the report is the different accounts of the discussions in the various course sessions authored by course participants. For applicants of future courses the report is essential.

Fourth Winter Course on Forced Migration The report (2007) of the Fourth Winter Course on Forced Migration (1-15 December 2006) is collectively written. The report contains genesis of the programme, planning, course structure, course content and the syllabus, the texts of the inaugural and the valedictory lectures, participants' writings, list of participants and members of the faculty, the participatory nature of the course, note on the field work, an account of distance education as part of the course, and evaluation of the course by faculty members, participants, and evaluators. An additional feature of the report is the different accounts of the discussions in the various course sessions authored by course participants. For applicants of future courses the report is essential.
Third Winter Course on Forced Migration The report (2006) of the Third Winter Course on Forced Migration (1-15 December 2005) is collectively written. The report contains genesis of the programme, planning, course structure, course content and the syllabus, the texts of the inaugural and the valedictory lectures, participants' writings, list of participants and members of the faculty, the participatory nature of the course, note on the field work, an account of distance education as part of the course, and evaluation of the course by faculty members, participants, and evaluators. An additional feature of the report is the different accounts of the discussions in the various course sessions authored by course participants. For applicants of future courses the report is essential.

Second Winter Course on Forced Migration, Racism, Immigration and Xenophobia The report (2005) of the Second Winter Course on Forced Migration (1-15 December 2004) is collectively written. The report contains genesis of the programme, planning, course structure, course content and the syllabus, the texts of the inaugural and the valedictory lectures, participants' writings, list of participants and members of the faculty, the participatory nature of the course, note on the field work, an account of distance education as part of the course, and evaluation of the course by faculty members, participants, and evaluators. An additional feature of the report is the different accounts of the discussions in the various course sessions authored by course participants. For applicants of future courses the report is essential.

First Winter Course on Forced Migration

The report (2004) of the First Winter Course on Forced Migration (1-15 December 2003) is collectively written. The report contains genesis of the programme, planning, course structure, course content and the syllabus, the texts of the inaugural and the valedictory lectures, participants' writings, list of participants and members of the faculty, the participatory nature of the course, note on the field work, an account of distance education as part of the course, and evaluation of the course by faculty members, participants, and evaluators. An additional feature of the report is the different accounts of the discussions in the various course sessions authored by course participants.

For applicants of future courses the report is essential.