[Soasiastudents] Calendar of Events: 10.9.2006

[Juned Shaikh]

There are 4 events on this week’s calendar.

1) Oct 13 – Anirudh Krishna: The Making and Unmaking of Poverty
2) Oct 13-14 – Public forum on Labor, Knowledge and the Economy 
3) Oct 28- IAWW Diwali celebrations
4) Nov. 3 – Anjan Ghosh – Intimations of Violence: Rumor and Violence During the Ayodhya Agitation in West Bengal and Bangladesh 
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1) October 13

The Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology presents

Anirudh Krishna: "The Making and Unmaking of Poverty: Results from Five Countries and 25,000 Households"
Friday, Oct. 13, 12:30 – 2:00 PM, Parrington Commons, UW Seattle Campus
Abstract of the paper

Even as some households are coming out of poverty, other households are concurrently falling into poverty.  New poverty is being made even as some old poverty is unmade.

A bottom-up methodology for studying poverty was developed to help examine movements out of and into poverty at the grassroots level.  Poverty dynamics were tracked within 212 rural communities of India, Kenya, Uganda, Peru, and North Carolina, USA for a total of more than 25,000 households, and detailed interviews were conducted with a subset of over 7,000 households.  These investigations revealed that (a) escape from poverty and descent into poverty have occurred simultaneously in every community; (b) large numbers of households have fallen into poverty even as large numbers have escaped from poverty; (c) even quite well-to-do households have fallen into abiding poverty; and (d) the set of factors associated with escapes out of poverty differs from the set of factors associated with descents into poverty.

Two separate sets of poverty policies are required: one set of policies to facilitate households’ escapes out of poverty, and another set of policies to head off descents into poverty.  Preventing descents into poverty more effectively should become a key component of the strategy for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Yet, preventing poverty is mostly neglected: governments’ strategies and those of donors are primarily concerned with raising people out of poverty.

About Anirudh Krishna:

Anirudh Krishna is an assistant professor of public policy studies at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University. His research interests are in rural development, democracy and poverty. He has also published work on social capital in poor countries, including India, Kenya and Peru.
He has a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University, and masters degrees in International Development and Economics from Cornell University and the Delhi School of Economics, respectively.

His most recent book, "Active Social Capital: Tracing the Roots of Development and Democracy" was published in 2002 by Columbia University Press, New York, and by Oxford University Press, New Delhi. He is co-author of "Reasons For Success: Learning from Instructive Experiences in Rural Development" (Kumarian, 1998), co-editor of "Reasons For Hope: Instructive Experiences in Rural Development" (Kumarian, 1997), and editor of "Changing Policy and Practice From Below: Community Experiences in Poverty Reduction" (United Nations 2000).
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2) The Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies Presents

“Organizing Our Futures: Labor, Knowledge and the Economy “

Two South Asia Scholars, Anjan Susarla (College of Business (Outsourcing and Knowledge Work) and Anthony P. D’Costa (UW Tacoma Comparative International Development, UW Seattle International and the South Asian Studies Programs, Jackson School of International Studies) will be on a panel on October 14. The panel is entitled:
"The New Global Divisions of Labor" 
Mary Gates Hall, Room 389, 10:40 AM-12:10 PM

The panelists are: 
1)Charles Bofferding, Executive Director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA)
2)Anjana Susarla, UW College of Business (Outsourcing and Knowledge Work)
3) Anthony P. D'Costa, UW Tacoma Comparative International Development, UW Seattle International and the South Asian Studies Programs, Jackson School of International Studies
4) Owen Herrnstadt, International Association of Machinists
5) Mark A. Smith, UW Political Science Department (Moderator)

Some of the questions the panelists will be addressing are: Can we understand the geographies of knowledge work? What are the opportunities and threats inherent in globalization of knowledge? Is international labor solidarity possible? What would this mean? What roles will and can education and social policy play in shaping the global knowledge economy?

The theme of the forum:

With rapidity never before seen, new knowledge and innovation are reshaping work and the economy in the 21st Century. The integration of biotechnology, robotics and telecommunications will sharply reduce the demand for repetitive, dangerous, or otherwise programmable labor. So far, less-skilled workers have borne the brunt of these changes as their opportunities and income have declined. But so-called “knowledge workers”—those who diagnose, solve or broker solutions to complex problems—now realize that they too can be made technologically obsolescent or replaced more readily by low-wage workers in the global labor market. New employment opportunities in service areas may replace current work, but the attractiveness of such jobs depends upon a distribution of income that enables workers to share in the wealth made possible by new knowledge and technology. Some, like Thomas Friedman, argue that 
education is the critical ingredient that will empower and prepare knowledge workers for these changes. Others argue that education and human resource policies are window dressing that side step the need for more fundamental labor-driven reorganization of our economy. 
You can find the entire program at: http://depts.washington.edu/pcls/lke-program.html
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3) 
October 28, 2006

India Association of Western Washington Proudly presents

  ***Diwali***
When: October 28th, Saturday
Time: 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Where: Eckstein Middle School, 3003 NE 75th St. Seattle

  Come and join us with your families and friends to celebrate Diwali and watch colorful programs, savor delicious food and visit various booths.


Directions to Eckstein Middle School, Seattle Northbound on I-5: 1) Take the Lake City Way exit. 2) Stay right and curve onto the NE 73rd st. exit 3) At the stop sign, take a left onto 12th Ave NE. 4) Proceed to the stop light and turn right onto NE 75th. 5) Proceed east on 75th to 30th NE. 6) Eckstein is at the top of the hill on your right. 7) Parking is available on 30th Ave NE or in back of the school (entrance off NE 75th St. just east of the school).
Southbound on I-5: 1) Take the NE 85th St. exit, staying on the left lane of the exit. 2) Take the Mountlake exit, which will turn right onto Mountlake Blvd. 3) Continue past Husky Stadium; you will be on 25th Ave NE. 4) Stay in the left lane, pass University Village, continuing north to NE 75th St. 5) Proceed east on 75th to 30th NE. 6) Eckstein is at the top of the hill on your right. 7) Parking is available on 30th Ave NE or in back of the school (entrance off NE 75th St. just east of the school).

Please note that due to the Huskies football game, traffic is likely to be very heavy in areas around the University district, so please plan accordingly.
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4) 
November 3, 2006

South Asia Center presents

Anjan Ghosh – “Intimations of Violence: Rumor and Violence during the Ayodhya agitation in West Bengal and Bangladesh” 
November 3, Friday, 3:30 PM, Thomson 317

Professor Anjan Ghosh is a Fellow in Political Science, Centre for Studies in the Social Sciences, Calcutta, India. He has co-edited, “History and the Present” Delhi, Permanent Black, 2002, with Partha Chatterjee. 
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Juned Shaikh,
Ph.D. Student,
Department of History,
RA South Asia Center,
University of Washington.
juneds at u.washington.edu