Urs Lindner gives a working paper on 'Imitation, Assimilation, Segregation. On B.R. Ambedkar’s Sociology of Caste'

Controversies on assimiliation are far from being an exlusively Western phenomenon. What is of particular interest in this regard is colonial India in the 20^th century, where assimiliation worked as a meta-narrative that could be mobilised accross the entire political gamut. This paper deals with the theoretical role of assimilation in B.R. Ambedkar’s sociology of caste. By a first step I will introduce three views on assimilation which are part of Ambedkar’s intellectual context, but of whom only the third one may be not far to seek: Sarah Simons’, Robert Park’s and Mohendras Gandhi’s. Subsequently I will turn to Ambedkar’s article on ‘Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development’ which elaborates on a paper presented in 1916 in the seminar of anthropologist Alexander Goldenweiser at Columbia. This article is not only the sociologically most concise piece of Ambedkar’s critical analysis of caste; it also introduces assimilation as a counter-concept to imitation and segregation, as a ‘natural tendency’ that is blocked by the ‘unnatural institution’ of the caste system. By a third step I will trace the further development of the topic of assimilation in Ambedkar’s work and show how it was closely connected to the conceptualization and use of the metaphor of ‘social endosmosis’.

Rimi Tadu presents a working paper on 'Understanding the State making process in the Eastern Himalayas'

This study is based on my doctoral research study on the local history of an event called Kure Chambyo, where a large group of Tanii men of Arunachal Pradesh had led an attack on the Indian military outpost called Kure near the Tanii homeland. What is interesting to note about the event is that not only in official government records the narratives of the event is almost non-existent, even the locals have never commemorated the event. While the post-Kure Chambyo occupation and oppression carried out by the Indian administrators in the Tanii valley still remain as painful memories among the elderly members of the community, the younger generations are hardly aware of the event. This event was never commemorated or retold. When I discussed with people, it is not seen as a proud memory but as a moment of ‘foolish and barbaric’ act by older and traditional Taniis. Some spoke about the event as if it questioned their sense of patriotism towards India.
This project aims to critically engage with the state formation processes in Arunachal Pradesh during the early period (1950s-1980s) For various reasons such as its geo-political location of this state, it is placed as a critical region for India. As a result it carried out a highly controlled national integration policy which has completely transformed the diverse ethnic communities from autonomous and state-less communities to a state citizen. And this happened in a very short span of time. Through a complex political and social processes, the region was integrated with India, and its people socialized to state system despite their autonomous past. However, what follows along with such state socialization is the sense and consciousness towards power and authority in one hand and the realization of powerlessness and subordination by people who are dominated and controlled.
In this working paper I am trying to problematize this national integration policy carried out in Arunachal Pradesh. While national integration on itself might not be a problem but the way it was carried out by a powerful state over a community whose consent was never taken to begin with. Raising these questions are important for the critical history of each of these communities and for the reality of nation-state of India, and for understanding the nature of the state. In this paper I have not answered any of the questions but just earmarked them and pointed out how they might look like.