This book primarily tries to bring out the analogy between the conceptual and methodological discourses on the theme of the other. The term 'Other' here refers to the oppressed sections of the society. It may be dalits, women, indigenous or ethnic communities. Since we are living in a multicultural and multilingual society, we should share our views with others on a platform where issues of the marginalized people are addressed by different scholars following different methods and techniques. Though there are various policies and plans for the welfare of the downtrodden, hardly any change can be seen at the micro-level structure of the society. There are studies which highlighted the problems and ethos of the downtrodden sections, but a majority of those studies neglected the marginalized groups. Hence, we felt the need to highlight the issues and concerns of these groups in a wider context and started thinking on the theme 'Ethnographic Discourse of the Other: Conceptual and Methodological Issues'. This volume attempts to discuss and theorize the pragmatic concepts and issues related to the marginalized groups in contemporary societies in South Asia. This book is interdisciplinary in nature and will be useful to scholars and students of Anthropology, Sociology, Linguistics, Social Work, Culture Studies, Gender Studies and Philosophy. It is widely applicable to all sections of the oppressed socially, economically, culturally, academically, politically and other wise.
About the Author: Panchanan Mohanty, is a Professor and former Head of the Centre for Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies (CALTS), School of Humanities, University of Hyderabad, India. Besides being a translator, he has extensively published in peer reviewed International and National Journals and has many books to his credit that include Language, Culture and Society (ed. With Ramesh C. Malik, 2008), Readings in Quantitative Linguistics (ed. With R. Kohler, 2008), and Papers on Language Technology (ed. With S. Arul Mozi, 2008). He was Chief Editor of Indian Linguistics, Journal of Linguistic Society of India (1997-2002) and President of Dravidian Linguistics Association (2006-2007). Ramesh C. Malik is a UGC Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies (CALTS), School of Humanities, University of Hyderabad, India. He is a Life Member of many professional bodies. His research interests are in ethnography of translation and literary studies. He has published many papers in national journals and co-editor of Language, Culture and Society (with Panchanan Mohanty, 2008), and of the forthcoming volume: Theory and Practice of Ethnography: Readings from the Periphery with Eswarappa Kasi. Eswarappa Kasi was an ICSSR Doctoral Fellow (2003-2005) in the Department of Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad, India. He is a Life Member of a number of professional bodies. His interests include Anthropology of Livelihoods and Natural Resource Management, Tribal and Marginal Communities and their Development. He has published extensively in peer reviewed journals. He is a guest- editor of a Special Issue of Man in India on 'Issues and Perspectives in Anthropology Today' with R. Siva Prasad and of Rural Employment Generation: Issues and Strategies (forthcoming). He is also co-editor of Theory and Practice of Ethnography: Readings from the Periphery with Ramesh C. Malik. He is the editor of Rethinking Development Discourse in the 21st Century India (forthcoming).