Let the dialogue be simultaneously both philosophical as well as political

The confirmations to the Hyderabad meeting give an impression that we are heading for a broad and intense dialogue. So let there be no constraints on this dialogue. The Varanasi statement and the decision to organise a Lokavidya Jan Andolan Conference in about a year's time should be seen as opening issues for dialogue in the Hyderabad Meet and not as anchors for moderation and direction.

In my opinion fundamental questioning of the idea , timing, preparedness, feasibility etc. of Lokavidya Jan Andolan should be seen not just as a valid exercise, but as something which is immensely needed. We are in need of an in-depth discussion which is simultaneously both philosophical as well as political. The conceptual discussion in Hyderabad can serve at a very high end. And surely we ought not to restrict ourselves to only talking about the idea. It would be both practical and valuable to have the conceptual discussion on the first day and organizational and practical issues on the second day.

Our chief concern, almost to the degree of preoccupation, is with people participating with initiative being a necessary condition for any genuine returns to them in any processes whatsoever. Lokavidya Jan Andolan conceptualizes this on a grand scale through a participatory intervention on the epistemic condition of society.

We have a concept of jan-andolan, mass-movement, coming down to us mainly from the movements of the 20th century. This is the baggage and now a new incarnation appropriate for the present age seems inevitable. A lokavidya jan-andolan may contribute to the beginning of such a new development. Jan andolan is the idiom of the day and seems to carry the message better than any other linguistic expression that we may devise for this purpose. Even if people do not take to streets and do not gather in capital cities, but stay back home with a purpose it ought to qualify as a jan-andolan. If people become conscious that their activity, agriculture, artisanry, local exchange, living in forests, managing precarious marginal businesses and managing households including bringing up children etc. are knowledge based activities and are able to stake claims in society in light of such consciousness, fresh ground would have been broken.

In one of our online dialogues, a few days back, C.N.Krishnan wrote:

In this 'era of knowledge', ideas and understanding are probably aplenty in
the air; the really big challenge may lie in making their connection to
the real world - or in ORGANISING around those ideas. This may not be a
'matter of detail' to be attended to after the theory is ready - this may
be THE challenge that needs to be figured out first, or in parallel with
the growth of the idea itself.

It is some where in this space that the present venture needs to be viewed.

Sunil Sahasrabudhey

The Khadi and the Semantic Web

I am extremely anxious about the prospect of Lokavidya debate realizing the dimensions of a Jan Andolan . Why? Because, on the one hand, in the conventional sense of theoretical discourses, such an Andolan has never happened in history. On the other hand, each Jan Andolan has at its base an active Lokavidya, wherein the ordinary people get awakened about all aspects of human life to an extraordinary extent.

Thus, for example, Khadi movement and burning of British cloth during Gandhiji's Satyagraha days, appears to be a complete example of what one may understand by Lokavidya Jan Andolan. Khadi, created by the 'Music of the Spinning Wheel' starting from the cultivation of cotton to the way in which ordinary people in the villages clothed themselves in a dignified manner, needed the 'religious determination of millions to spin their yarn in their own homes as they cook their food in their own homes'. Many years after India gained independence, my personal experience of a remote village surviving severe deprivation ( item #7 in Gandhiji's article in Young India 21-8-1924) in the sixties with the help of Khadi taught me the completeness of this as an example of Lokavidya Jan Andolan. It may be added that much of the difficulty in comprehension of the concept can be mitigated by keeping this example in mind. May be we will realize that Rebirth of Khadi as part of Lokavidya Jan Andolan has the power to bring down the empire of Reliance Industries today. Moreover, a deep reflection of how this may happen will surely enlighten us about the nature of Lokavidya Jan Andolan we are imagining in the future.

But we can not expect to fashion the andolan without the constructive program involving the millions of half-clad, half-fed, half-literate people who understands lokavidya, who practice lokavidya today. But,alas, they are being trained to be mere survivors of famines created by the powers that rule the country. So, it is demanded that the discussion concern with reality beyond mere survival, with the future of human civilization itself. We have to imagine the process of flooding of the streets by people who consider themselves satyagrahis for the task of saving human civilization on the earth; not American civilization, not European civilization, not Chinese civilization, not Indian Civilization, not African civilization, not this ... not that.

And that's why we are concerned about universality, in some measure, that arises when someone questions the completeness of Lokavidya, as an instrument of change in the future, a future which is going to be determined by the Semantic Web, that is being fashioned out there in front of our eyes, by the way the powerful of each 'nationality' or 'civilization' is negotiating to make their evening party last forever. The Semantic Web will enhance the advantage for the early starters, which the ICT already bestowed on them, for it is communication and technology rolled into one. It is going to provide solutions which finally put an end to all human diversity forever. In the words of Tim Berners Lee and others of WWW: " The challenge of developing the semantic web is to provide a language that expresses both data and rules of reasoning about the data and that allows rules from any existing knowledge representation system to be exported to the web. ... The structure will open up knowledge and workings of human kind to meaningful analyses by software agents...".

And, that means we are constrained to talk about in some measure about the meaning of life of our times, talk about in some measure about the extent of open exploitation of our nation, its wealth, the dignity of its people, who give an identity to these greedy serpents, and what is left of life for the ordinary Lokavidya folks, for whom the world will become a cauldron of black magic . And that is why we may need to explore beyond the rather fragile idea of nationality, pay attention to the reality that the dominant existing opposition to all that is wrong today is trans-national but military. So, how do we think about trans-national non-military satyagrahi options?

We are aware of the exponential increase in the power of every aspect of this black magic. They call it by various names - Moor's law, Nash's equilibrium etc to grant legitimacy and natural invincibility. So, we may discuss the importance of halting the speed and acceleration of the technology driving things of the day. It is common knowledge that hardware has gone far ahead of software. And software in turn is trying enlist the collaboration of all by co-opting Open Source Software movement itself. How does one make software people aware of the significance of arresting the speed, make sense of Lokavidya and be harbingers of the new slogan 'Knowledge of the People, by the People, for the People', for the people do not want any government! They want Music of the Spinning Wheel to arrest the Speed of the World.

Surendran K.K.

k.k.surendran@gmail.com

LJA: Engaging the leftists and progressives

Thus far we have paid more attention to "vidya" in lokavidya, as compared to the "lok." Looking at society from the perspective of knowledge (as opposed to property, income, caste, race etc) we arrive at a classification that is intimately connected to colonial history. This is because the colonial encounter represented a massive reorganization of the world of knowledge. The knowledge hierarchy is of course related to other hierarchies in society, but it is not simply derivable from them, it is not reducible to any other hierarchy.

Because knowledge has to do with representation and understanding of the world around us, the hierarchy of knowledge is built upon claims of greater understanding or better representation. Because knowledge also has to do with the fulfillment of human needs, knowledge hierarchies are also built upon claims of greater usefulness. Knowledge that is called "scientific" has been deemed to be on top, both because it gives us the most reliable understanding of reality and because it is most useful (because it is the most productive). One claim is epistemological and the other is social/technical, the two are of course related. It is then "common sense" that the more superior kind of knowledge be the basis for the (re)organization of society. Which means that the holders of this knowledge should be given the initiative in shaping society. The lokavidya perspective challenges this view. The Lokavidya Jan Andolan (LJA) will be the first social movement which publicly and directly questions this view.

Capital sometimes appears to challenge knowledge hierarchies. It appears to support lokavidya because capital cares neither about epistemology, nor about usefulness or productivity. It cares about value (in the sense of surplus value). Thus any knowledge, whatever its source or social location, if it can produce value, will be used by capital. Neither epistemological nor technical objections will be raised. Hence the paradox we see today that progressives and leftist stand opposed to lokavidya, while capital appears for it. But the support of capital is fickle. It lasts only as long as the market trend. The immediate problem before us as we embark on the LJA is, how do we speak to progressives and leftists, who are still in the "Science mode," about lokavidya? To many people the concept of a knowledge hierarchy and knowledge struggle may sound abstract. What is the concrete manifestation of it in society? It may also sound removed from the "bread-and-butter" concerns of jal/jangal/zamin, wages, working conditions, civil liberties etc. How does the knowledge question relate to these pressing concerns? We will have to address all these issues in a clear manner.

A series of short pamphlets will have to be prepared which take one conventional platform of a social movement (say displacement or civil liberties) and show how they relate to the knowledge question and how they are strengthened by connection with the knowledge issue. If we can do this task adequately, we will be able to build the necessary connections.

What is the "lok" in lokavidya? It is not the same as the "working class" or "the poor." It is that majority of society which keeps showing up in Government surveys as "uneducated" or lacking in any formal training. These are the "masses" who need experts to organize their life, because they are deemed incapable of doing it themselves. But this is only a negative definition (such as the definition of a proletarian as one without property). This is the definition one arrives at through conventional leftist thinking. Positively, the "lok" is the subject created through lokvidya, through the knowledge it possesses. This is not tautological. A community of scientists not only creates scientific knowledge, but it also in turn created by that knowledge. Its modes of life and thought are shaped by the knowledge it creates. The same goes for the "lok." The "lok" is the vast majority of society whose life and work are organized on the basis of knowledge that is produced in the course of living itself. The lok is that section of society who has living knowledge, knowledge that is tested on the anvil of experience. It is the possessor of specialized knowledge of work, production, the arts, and general knowledge of morals and values. The first contribution of the lokavidya perspective is that the lok, the majority, is not defined through lack of knowledge, but the presence of it.

The lok has endured centuries of subjugation and has revolted through those centuries as well. It is the claim of the LJA that the basis of its revolt has been lokavidya. Every so often, whether it is via bhakti or via Gandhi, an assertion of lokavidya takes place against the pretensions of elite knowledge, be it Brahaminism or Science. Even today in its defeated and exploited state, the lok retains this power. Even when it organizes life on a daily basis, in the presence of extreme uncertainty and hardship, the lok is believed to be in need of intervention and guidance from outside. Not an infusion of knowledge as it deems necessary on its own initiative, but rather intervention in a pre-determined form, by others who have decided what is good for the lok. Constant schemes, suggestions, projects, programs and interventions are its lot. Because it is not believed to be capable of thinking for itself.

The lok, defined through lokvidya also has many internal divisions and hierarchies that weaken it. Though it constitutes the majority, the minority can keep it subjugated by splitting it along caste/occupation, gender and religious lines. It is deemed incapable of resolving its own problems, although if we look in history, it is the lok and not the elite who has sustained the Hindu-Muslim syncretic culture of North India, it is the lok which has revolted again and again against the hierarchies of caste. It still carries the capacity to do so, but it lack the cohesion and organization needed for the task.

This is the task of the Lokavidya Jan Andloan. We need progressive people of all colors to join. In the beginning they may not agree completely with the points laid out above. It is not necessary that they do. It is only necessary that they see the lok as the possessor of knowledge, and as a class in society which can lay the foundation for a society based on equality. It is only necessary that they reject the urban, university-educated class to be the one which deserves the final word on everything. If they can do this much, they can contribute fruitfully to the LJA.

Amit Basole

abasole@gmail.com

Women, Lokavidya and Displacement

Conference on Resisting Displacement

Varanasi, April 10, 2011

Farmers and artisans of Varanasi and nearby areas have planned a conference on Resisting Displacement in view of the all round displacement in both rural and urban areas. Vidya Ashram and some other organizations have joined the effort.

Some of us, women, met at Gandhian Institute of Studies, Varanasi, on 11 Feb. 2011 to deliberate on how a women’s perspective could be added to this conference. The first discussion was around the ideas given below.

Comments and views from all quarters are welcome.

Displacement and Women

· Displacement turns women into wage labourers

· Displacement creates situations of insecurity, indignity and all kinds of exploitation for women.

1. Types of displacement and the affected people

· Acquisition of agricultural land -Peasants

· Acquisition of forest land - Adivasis

· Disorganisation of artisanal industry - Artisans

· Pushing very small businesses out of the market -Retail shop keepers

· Colonisation in and around the city -urban slums and villages

All these affected people are those who depend on their own knowledge, lokavidya, for organization of their lives. Women are an integral part of these communities. The interests of these women are not different from the interests of these communities.

2. Results of displacement

Women of displaced communities have no option but to work on other’s premises as given below where they suffer from serious indignity and insecurity.

· Labour in small units of production.

· Labour in construction industry and brick kilns.

· Domestic labour.

3. Essence of the matter

The information age has accelerated the processes of capital accumulation. The types of displacement listed above are all consequences of such processes and are taking place under government policies and proactive administrative initiative. In agriculture and house-hold industry women’s work is based on their own knowledge, art and technical and management skills. Displacement robs them of their knowledge based productive and organizational activity. Thus if we see displacement primarily as taking away from the people their knowledge based activity, namely lokavidya based activity and in the process showering indignity on lokavidya , then may be a new content and direction is workable for women’s organization and struggle.

4. New way

Women should, therefore, see them as part of a movement where people assert themselves as beings whose knowledge cannot be alienated from them and put forth a claim that the resources at the disposal of humanity need to be equally available to all. Women can then also make a robust contribution to Lokavidya Jan Andolan.

Grant the right to livelihood based on one’s own knowledge and for this equal share in the natural and national resources.

Chitra Sahasrabudhey

Premlata Singh

In Continuation with Gandhi

There have been TWO significant mass movements during the last 100 years.
Movements that have touched every household, every gram panchayat, every mohalla, that is, every ordinary man. Though different people might have taken different positions vis-a-vis these movements - active participation, active support, active opposition etc; no one could ignore them. That is why I say they were significant. The first was the Independence movement led by Gandhiji- it was an assertion of Lokavidya against the Macualay-based mindset of the rulers and their Indian allies(Nehru, Ambedkar included) and was based on a demand of Swaraj.

The second was (and has been) an assertion of Lokavidya-based identity and has been based on the demand for a greater share in the spoils of modern life and economy to the claimants of this identity. Neither movement has set itself the goal of Purna Swaraj; the first died with Independence and the death of Gandhiji while the second has been limping along with a begging bowl.

With the advent of globalisation(as the Varanasi Statement states) the lines have been clearly drawn. It is increasingly becoming obvious to everyone that there are indeed two worlds.Every movement that one sees- of farmers against land acquisition, against seed monopoly, against terrible terms of trade etc., of tribals against forest acquisition/destruction, of artisans of all types who find their skills and produce of no value, of small traders whose livelihood was centred around the goodwill of the client and not on some shrewd market manouvering, of rural educated youth having to face competition in the terribly loaded unequal battlefield of urban employment- clearly shows the need for a movement for a reassertion of Lokavidya, to lend support to the demand of Lokavidyadhar Samaj for a right to live a life of dignity based on Lokavidya, for a movement for the establishment of a society based on equality of opportunity(not necessarily equality of result) and justice. This is what LJA is all about.

Whenever I speak to people connected with different movements, I am always able to connect them to the central idea of LJA and the response has always been positive. Can we get all these people to think along the lines of LJA ? Can we weave them into a agitational web for achieiving what Gandhiji, among others, set out to do? I think this can be done. For a start, we must construct the LJA basis for every major agitation that is going on today and put these ideas together so that we have a compilation that substantiates the theoretical basis of inequality and exploitation that we have propounded.

Lokavidyadhar Samaj itself seems to be in tatters,completely despondent and on the verge of total collapse. Without doubt it needs to find itself and assert its existence and LJA may just about help it do that.

Krishnarajulu
Ph : +919866139091