http://punjabharyana.wordpress.com/

The idea of creating this blog emerged during the deliberations on the region at a 'Seminar on Modernity and Changing Social Fabric of Punjab and Haryana' held at Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla. The idea is to create a community of scholarship which can help us developing a better understanding of varied dynamics of the region, exploring deeper questions of life.

It is underlined that the existing frameworks of understanding Punjab and Haryana in particular and India in general do not reflect upon the transformatory process of the region and there is an imminent need for a new theoretical ‘framework of significance’ thereby building the basis for a ‘new epistemology for the South’. Through this blog we intend to map such social, economic and political trends of the region which are posing major challenges as the region confronts modernity.

Social sciences in India have until recently been understood from such conceptual frameworks which are borrowed and hegemonised by a discourse which is derived from western epistemologies. These frameworks do not reflect upon the transformatory processes of the region and are inadequate for a nuanced understanding of the pathologies and drivers which are leading to such confrontations which are reflected in day to day realities.

We invite scholars from the region and the world to subscribe to this initiative by joining this blog and become a part of debates on the region.