Rahul Goswami - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Rahul Goswami

ICH report series, 2017

Visiting Mongolia in September 2017 after two years, I was able to see when arriving in Ulaanbaat... more Visiting Mongolia in September 2017 after two years, I was able to see when arriving in Ulaanbaatar that the low hill ranges immediately to the north of the city were now almost completely occupied by the 'ger districts'. In 2015 I had learnt that perhaps up to a third of the population of Mongolia lived in and around the capital, whose planned zones stretch along a roughly east-west axis. This was already an extraordinary degree of urbanisation, or a concentration of population approximating urban patterns because
Ulaanbaatar simply cannot accommodate so many households old and new, with the 'ger districts' simply being attached to the expanding perimeter of the capital city.
As in 2015, some of the conversation I had around our workshop in September 2017 was about why such migration had taken place, over a period of about 10-12 years, with such speed. So much of the intangible cultural heritage of Mongolia (whether or not it is listed by the 2003 Convention) has to do with the majority of the Mongolian population being nomadic, or semi-settled, or some seasonal combination of both. Yet from the hill slope opposite the airport and for a distance of about 20 kilometres flanking the capital, the evidence is that the nomadic pattern of society has been changed for a great many households, or that it has been abandoned.
In conversation with workshop participants in Darkhan, and judging from the discussion they had during our workshop sessions, there are several reasons why such a change has taken place. For some households, one reason may be critical; for others it is a combination. Migration to a city (perhaps six out of 10 migrations have been to Ulaanbaatar in the preceding decade) may have become the only way to survive after a harsh winter which wiped out a family's herds, or because successive dry spells made it more and more difficult to find good pasture for their herds. Wanting better education for children is also seen as a good enough reason. Finding work which gives regular income is also an important reason.

Dialogues on Knowledge in Society, 2024

Who decides today what 'knowledge' is? What means do they use, technical or ideological? In an at... more Who decides today what 'knowledge' is? What means do they use, technical or ideological? In an attempt to answer these questions, this commentary draws out the ties that bind formal and informal arenas of knowledge, based on personal experience in the field: documenting local knowledge systems, while engaged with government projects on agriculture and environment, and through association with intergovernmental agencies.What comes to be considered knowledge is found to be represented in as many ways as there are interpretations of it. In the administrative view, knowledge comes to have very much to do with the processes of administration, while in the cultural field, knowledge is described very often as being associated with the cultural codes that surround traditional practices and handicrafts. Elsewhere, , the apparatus that pertains to how knowledge is managed is considered knowledge whereas a particular subject is then reduced to serving as raw material for the activity of management.The threat of silicon 'intelligence' has taken over as the main preoccupation of those who study knowledge systems. Where once electronic lists and databases were treated as electronic representations of real-world knowledge systems and their practitioners, artificial intelligence and machine learning, which have abundant media at their command, may generate entire simulacra of knowledge.

International Journal for Transformative Research

In Nagaland, a state in India’s North-East region, the morung is a tribal institution that serves... more In Nagaland, a state in India’s North-East region, the morung is a tribal institution that serves as an educational portal through which all young men passed as the means of learning their living heritage. Described by anthropological accounts, for a century until the 1950s, as a ‘dormitory’ for boys and young men, it is in fact much more. It is a school, both vocational and law, a premises in which tribal elders dispense wisdom, a crafts centre, a barracks, and embodies other functions too. Moreover, it is one of the most important, if not the most important, social institution that maintains instruction about what may be called a pre-materialist worldview, one that was widespread when indigenous societies were free from a science hegemony that defined what counts as knowledge. From the 1990s, a combination of factors caused the decline of the institution, and as tribal youth have moved into the ‘mainstream’, the morung and all that it stands for is close to being extinguished. Yet...

Water: Interconnectivity between the Intangible Cultural Heritage and Science, 2022

This paper has been published as a chapter in the book titled 'Water: Interconnectivity between t... more This paper has been published as a chapter in the book titled 'Water: Interconnectivity between the Intangible Cultural Heritage and Science', which is a joint publication by two centres, the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (ICHCAP) and the International Centre for Water Security and Sustainable Management (i-WSSM), both being UNESCO centres in the Asia-Pacific region and based in South Korea. The book is also part of the 'Living Heritage Series' published by ICHCAP.

The introduction to the paper reads: "Venerated from a time before antiquity as life-giver, water has been held in the highest esteem in all cultures and eras. Water-related mythologies show as much the divine character associated with it, as its qualities that lie beyond the material. In our time, the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and traditional knowledge that surround water still give us an entryway to a fuller understanding of the great life-giver."

My association with the ICHCAP centre goes back several years. As per the centre's description of the book, it is meant to "promote the convergence of science and intangible cultural heritage (ICH) fields; to spread the value of the intangible cultural heritage of water. Nine stories on water management and water and culture were gathered in one place. It contains stories about water-related ICH elements, such as water management as the transmission of traditional knowledge and agriculture as water-related culture. Through this book, readers will be able to explore the value of water, which is an essential factor for humankind, from a cultural perspective."

The full publication can be found here https://www.unesco-ichcap.org/publications-archive/30168/

Intangible Cultural Heritage and education in Cambodia, 2021

This report is a review of the work done in Cambodia through a five-year cooperation between the ... more This report is a review of the work done in Cambodia through a five-year cooperation between the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, UNESCO Cambodia (the Phnom Penh office) and Cambodian Living Arts. The project, 'A five-year pilot project for the implementation of culture and arts education in Cambodian public schools', had as its purpose the coordination and consolidation of the existing culture and arts education efforts of the signatory parties. It was also to develop a sustainable model for the provision of culture
and arts education in the Cambodian public schooling system.

My report also functions as a policy review on culture/heritage and education at the national level in Cambodia and a curriculum mapping of possible entry points for integration of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in education. It relies on interviews and discussions with representatives of the two ministries and extensive consultation with Cambodian Living Arts and its partner organisations.

This paragraph perhaps indicates the overall tone of the report: "An enormous effort is required on the part of leaders and members of each of these two confronting paradigms to understand the other's value schemes. The difficulty of such an undertaking of mutual understanding is very considerable - the usual method by which a culture conveys its content to newcomers is through years of experiential absorption, so that symbols and realities are repeatedly illustrated and linked until it forms a coherent (and absorbing) picture in each individual's mind. Long immersion and patient application can be considered the keys."

SANDEE research reports are the output of research projects supported by the South Asian Network ... more SANDEE research reports are the output of research projects supported by the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics. The reports have been peer reviewed and edited. A summary of the findings of SANDEE reports are also available as SANDEE Policy Briefs.

Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2007

Journal of Islamic Studies on Human Rights and Democracy, 2018

The tribes of North-East India consider humans to be integral within nature and that there is sca... more The tribes of North-East India consider humans to be integral within nature and that there is scarce or no difference between human and non-human forms in the same landscape. This is also a view several ancient tribal societies in central India (such as the Santhal) share. For the Santhal, the human body is made up of the elements of nature: air, earth and water. In this way the human organism is a minute part of the macrocosm. In some other tribal societies an element is dominant, and so the Bhuiyan are associated with earth, or a form of nature is dominant, and so the Birhor are associated with the forest. The farmer perceives the earth as divinity and mother. Thus agricultural work begins with worship of the earth and it is exceedingly common for farmers to identify themselves as children of the soil.

The Report of the Independent Analysis of the Goa Regional Plan 2011, 2007

Much has changed in Goa since 2007, when this analysis was written and presented. The population ... more Much has changed in Goa since 2007, when this analysis was written and presented. The population of the small state has grown, and the pressures on its land and water surfaces has increased. Most of the data given in this report will by now be partly or fully out-of-date. However the principles underlying the analysis remain current.
The Regional Plan 2011 for the state of Goa, India, was presented to the people of Goa as a blueprint for development to come. Instead, as specific criticism - which this independent analysis compiled - and popular dissatisfaction - as evidenced by the public meetings and discourse that spread throughout the state from 2005 in response to this plan - showed, the 'development' of the planners proved to be very different from the peoples' concept of development.
This analysis outlined the status of Goa (as on 2007) and criticised a planning process which was unrepresentative and provided no vision for the state that coherently brought together human, environmental and economic needs. That was then. Today in 2022 there has been no change to any of the directions mentioned in the independent analysis. On the contrary, motivated and opaque planning and land use decisions are taken more frequently than ever before.
Amongst the most serious planning failures dealt with by the independent analysis of 2007 is the absence of meaningful consultation and participation, a lacuna whose impact was seen in every chapter.
The independent analysis of 2007 was a key document used, during the struggle against top-down land use and land allocation in Goa, to legally and constitutionally push back against an industry-led idea of 'development'.
It remains one of the few thorough and critical reviews of development planning and practice for Goa that have been produced during the last 20 years. Making this public (because the state government still has not) will perhaps inspire a new effort to update and broaden the central question: who is 'development' for and who does and does not participate in it?

This is one of a series of my reports for UNESCO's work in the Asia region on the 2003 Intangible... more This is one of a series of my reports for UNESCO's work in the Asia region on the 2003 Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention. I co-conducted or conducted these training programmes (sometimes with policy advice components, at other times with a focus on development and environment) on behalf of UNESCO, for which I am an expert facilitator on ICH in the Asia region. These reports, singly and as a series, are an important source for understanding the conditions (current at the time) that attend knowledge systems of communities in Asia. ICH, like traditional knowledge or like indigenous and local knowledge, is a semantic container for a collection of customs, practices, codes, values and the modes of their transmission. I am making these reports public so that the references to knowledge systems they contain, together with references to practitioners, locations, research and supporting measures, can be better utilised.

A three-day capacity-building national workshop on community-based inventorying was jointly organised by the Secretaria de Estado da Arte e Cultura (the State Secretariat for Arts and Culture), Government of Timor-Leste, in close collaboration with the UNESCO Office in Jakarta, Indonesia.
This Second Community-based Inventorying of Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshop was held on 16-18 April 2013 and organised within the framework of the project entitled ‘Strengthening capacity building for the promotion and implementation of intangible cultural heritage in Timor-Leste’. This project was part of the regional capacity building efforts in the Asia-Pacific Region and funded by the Japan Funds-in-Trust for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The second workshop was intended to equip community members and key stakeholders from Timor-Leste with the basic knowledge and skills to design, facilitate and implement a community-based inventorying process tailored to their particular circumstances. The community-based approach recognises the vital importance of traditional custodians in the preservation of intangible cultural heritage and seeks to place the community at the centre of the inventorying process.
The workshop was intended for officials of the State Secretariat for Arts and Culture (including district officials from the 13 districts of Timor-Leste), community based organisations (CBOs) and local community members particularly those in the district of Covalima which was the location for the workshop, and for researchers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who play an active role in designing and conducting inventories of intangible cultural heritage.

An eight-day capacity-building national workshop on community-based inventorying was jointly organised by the Ministry of Culture and the Arts in close collaboration with the UNESCO office in New Delhi (India), supported by Japanese Funds-In-Trust, and held during 10-17 March 2013, in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
This was the second National Training Workshop on the Implementation of the UNESCO 2003 Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention in Sri Lanka. The training workshop was attended by professionals from various fields of expertise, including academics, government officials, active NGOs as well as several intangible cultural heritage bearers and practitioners. During the training, participants were further exposed to key concepts as well as focused fieldwork relating to inventorying and documentation under the 2003 Convention.
The intention was that through this training, participants acquired a broad understanding of the process of community-based inventorying and documentation and learned about how implementation has been carried out in other countries.

Objection to and rejection of the draft Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2020, of the Ministry of Environment, Government of India, 2020

On 23 March, Ministry of Environment, Government of India, issued a draft notification, called th... more On 23 March, Ministry of Environment, Government of India, issued a draft notification, called the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, under the Environment Protection Act of 1986. This draft notification brought in proposed changes to the way environmental clearance for projects (industrial, infrastructure, commercial) would be given and changes to violations and transgressions of rules and regulations.

The ministry gave Indian citizens 60 days to read the draft notification (83 pages) and reply with objections and suggestions, and when the national ‘lock down’ was announced the next evening, remained silent about the 60 days, until 11 April when the draft was published in the official gazette.

How were people expected to read, analyse, discuss and respond to the notification when they were locked down and fearful? How were people already affected by the many projects all over India that have degraded their natural habitats to take stock of the new measures?

On 7 May, two weeks before the expiry of the deadline for citizens to write in with their objections and suggestions, the ministry relented, and then only because of the outcry over issuing an important draft notification during a ‘lock down’. The deadline was pushed back to 30 June, with the usual language that bureaucrats use to sidestep accountability: “The Ministry is in receipt of several representations for extending the notice period expressing concern that the draft EIA Notification 2020 was published during the lockdown imposed due to the Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic. Therefore, the Ministry after due consideration, deems it fit to extend the notice period …”

Now the Delhi High Court has given an extension to the date by which objections can be filed, 11 August (although I cannot find mention of it by the Ministry). This is my letter of objection.

Three years of ICH training in Cambodia, 2018

This report is an evaluation of the Three-year Capacity Building Training Programme for Cambodia ... more This report is an evaluation of the Three-year Capacity Building Training Programme for Cambodia (2014-2016) between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts (MCFA), Government of Cambodia, the UNESCO Phnom Penh Office and the International Training Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (CRIHAP).
Our task with the workshops in Cambodia was not unlike uncovering the less known, the far-flung, the elaborate systems of knowledge and meaning which abound in the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of the country and which tends to be overshadowed by the architectural profligacy of the Khmer structures and sites.
This report is therefore not only an account of the conditions prevalent in Cambodia prior to the commencement of the cooperation, but is also a catalogue of insights about the communities in Cambodia that are host to intangible cultural heritage. By delving into the ICH that was explained and discussed - often at length and through field visits during the training workshops conducted as part of the programme - this report illuminates an area that is still being understood in Cambodia, and which is now far better appreciated as an outcome of the cooperation.

Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage through the Strengthening of National Capacities in Asia and the Pacific (2011-2017), 2017

The tradition of lakhaon khaol, or masked theatre, is one of the oldest forms of Cambodian perfor... more The tradition of lakhaon khaol, or masked theatre, is one of the oldest forms of Cambodian performing arts. When it lost support in the 19th century, artistes dispersed, and it continued precariously until the Pol Pot regime, when its old masters were executed. From 2000, when Unesco Phnom Penh built a new theatre, and thereafter through training in intangible cultural heritage safeguarding, from 2012, a revitalised lakhaon khaol has found new footing in Cambodia.

Economic and Political Weekly, Feb 9, 2008

... Thereafter, the Front was quick to extend support to the new Digambar Kamat-led government, w... more ... Thereafter, the Front was quick to extend support to the new Digambar Kamat-led government, which was later withdrawn in favour of a short-lived ... through various means, gmas rallies in Goa have been supported by not only the north Goa bjp mp but also the Shiv Sena, fringe ...

Economic and Political Weekly, Oct 9, 2010

... Rahul Goswami (makanaka@pobox.com) is an agriculture systems researcher based in Goa. ... Kum... more ... Rahul Goswami (makanaka@pobox.com) is an agriculture systems researcher based in Goa. ... Kumar, A Ganesh, Devesh Roy and Ashok Gulati (2010): Liberalising Foodgrains Markets: Experiences, Impact and Lessons from South Asia, International Food Policy Research ...

Reproductive Health Matters, 2011

Economic & Political Weekly, 2010

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