Announcement

Social Science Baha
invites you to the
Nanda R. and Pamela L. Shrestha Lecture Series: Honouring Nepal Scholars – 1

In the inaugural of this series
Seira Tamang
will honour
Meena Acharya
with the lecture

Beyond Respectability to Demanding Respect
The Work of Meena Acharya

3 pm | 3 October 2019 (Thursday) | Hotel Shanker, Lazimpat, Kathmandu

How does one assess a person’s academic contribution? The indicators in most countries are teaching and research, which assumes being situated in specific educational settings, i.e., a university. In a country like Nepal, an understanding of the political economy of research and academic output necessitates a broader view. It also requires an understanding of the specific history of the gendered sphere of public and private and the numerous national and international vectors at play in the engendering and legitimising of specific forms of knowledge in Nepal.

Situated thus, the contribution of Dr Meena Acharya is truly remarkable. From her multi-disciplinary approach, to her insistence on empirically based analyses, to her constant challenge to dominant forms of knowledge, norms and values, her work has formed an invaluable base for future generations of researchers and academics.

This lecture will sketch out Acharya’s various academic contributions, with special attention to her work as it relates to women in Nepal, given her close intertwining of analytical and political agenda. An attempt is also made to understand why her work remains less recognised in academia than that of others less prolific and/or academically less rigorous, and an argument is made as to why recognising such dynamics is important.

The presentation will also attempt a critical assessment of Acharya’s feminist interventions, highlighting the manner in which certain facets of her work reflect political limits and silences. The lecture will end by sharing how these contributions, including the silences, have played a critical role in the academic evolution of studies on women in Nepal.

Well-known economist and feminist scholar, Meena Acharya, is currently a member of the Policy Research Institute of the Government of Nepal. Having worked in various government and non-government positions, she has a number of publications to her credit, including four volumes of the seminal The Status of Women in Nepal (1979-82).

Seira Tamang is an international relations scholar by training with research interests focused on gender, state, human rights and democracy.  She is the author of numerous articles in English and Nepali, and has published in journals such as the FeministReview, Citizenship Studies, Studies in Nepali History and Society (SINHAS), and the International Journal on Minority and Group Rights as well as in edited volumes.  She has extensive experience working with various foreign aid donors and civil society organisations and has been affiliated to the research institute Martin Chautari in Kathmandu for over 18 years.

This is a public lecture and admission is free and open to all. Seating is first-come-first-served.
Please direct queries to 4472807.