Rich and powerfull make the ''Centre'' rest in the margins KT NEWS SERVICE JAMMU, Aug 22: Those who occupy a dominant position and enjoy the privileges of society are part of the 'Centre' and those who are deprived and are subordinated form the margins.
This was stated by Prof.
Gopal Guru while delivering a special lecture on "Margin, Marginality and Marginalization in India" at university of Jammu today.
Gopal Guru is a highly respected intellectual from Centre for Political Studies (CPS) Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) New Delhi.
Professor Guru gave a theoretical and conceptual orientation to the lecture by giving very interesting and apt examples from Indian society and politics.
As a prominent Political scientist, he focused on the ongoing changes in Indian politics in the recent decades specifically the politicization of the marginal groups including women and Dalits.
In the lecture he tried to conceptualize the emerging political realities of India.
Such realities are defined by increasing assertion of marginal groups or people who have been occupying the peripheral space of the political system till now and who have remained oppressed for centuries together.
He mentioned of people like Dalits, women etc.
who were not traditionally seen as central to society and politics in India.
He explained as to how they are located and understood in the modern politics.
Instead of being seen as exploited, they are trying to negotiate their marginality and assert their existence.
How does one define margin? To this question Prof Guru's answer was that it is to define in the context of the power structure and hierarchy in society.
Every society has space for centre and margins.
Guru conceptualized referred to globalization, democracy and market capitalism and explained the context of marginality with reference to these concepts.
He elaborated that Democracy and its fundamentals like constitution treat everybody equal but in practice people are not equal as is evident from the positions of Dalits and women.
He similarly referred to the modern phenomenon of capitalism and explained how market is generating marginality.
However, all such situations also generate a consciousness about the context of marginality of certain groups.
Once, the people at periphery become conscious that they are marginal; they rise up and start asserting for themselves.
It is this process of assertion of marginal groups that brings about the changes in the society.
According to Prof.
Guru the centre is not fixed and it keeps on changing.
Similarly the margins also keep on shifting.
Professor Guru further explained how in every predominant group there is a marginal group and how in every marginal group there are those who dominate and thus in the Centre.
He also talked of difference between margins and invisible.
People at margins are being addressed and noticed by the state.
There are many people who are beyond margins.
They are invisible are not even catered to.
Gopal Guru, in the whole lecture, referred to important concepts and described the new directions in which Social Sciences are moving.
The lecture was found useful by the students and the faculty as it gave them new academic orientation and helped them capture new theoretical concepts.
Professor Rekha Chowdhary, Coordinator of the SAP organized the programme.
The proceedings were ably conducted by Ellora Puri, Lecturer Department of Political Science.
The UGC, Department of Political Science, University of Jammu had organized the lecture which was attended by eminent members from civil society, faculty members of various teaching departments, Research Scholars and Students of Jammu University.