South-Asian Diasporic Circulations and Cultures: transdisciplinary approaches
Summary: This international conference will take 
place in Bordeaux on 21 and 22 March, 2011 and 
will gather scholars studying the Indian world 
and the South-Asian diasporas from 
various  scientific perspectives (history, 
geography, sociology, anthropology, or 
musicology). This cross- and trans-disciplinary 
event is organised by E.A. CLIMAS (Cultures et 
Littératures  des Mondes Anglophones) and U.M.R. 
ADES (Aménagement, Développement, Environnement, Santé et Sociétés).
Presentation : The conference will gather 
scholars from all the fields of the social 
sciences and the humanities around the theme 
?South-Asian Diasporic Circulations and 
Cultures: transdisciplinary approaches?. The 
globalisation of exchanges and techniques and 
the increased mobility of individuals have given 
a huge acceleration to movements of population. 
The latter can no longer be conceived of 
exclusively in terms of the passage from one 
territory to another, for migration pushes 
individuals forward to the global scene while 
partially removing them from national 
territorial frames of reference ? hence, we must 
think anew the notions of territory and network. 
Ever since the founding work of the French team 
of Migrinter of Poitiers University, we know 
that migration is no longer experienced as a 
break or a parenthesis but forms an integral 
part of a social organisation which is bricolée 
or at the very least reinvented. Thus 
circulations, rather than migrations, will be at 
the centre of our reflection. The notion of 
circulation is preferable since it does not 
restrict movement to the simple act of migration 
and takes into consideration all the spaces (of 
departure, of transit, of arrival, of 
settlement) which are connected by the movement 
of people, objects (media productions, 
literature, music, film, etc.) and ideas. It is 
inscribed in a field of inquiry which concerns 
several sciences which study migration in the 
context of a dynamics of transfers, as opposed 
to approaches that define it in terms of insertion or integration.
The conference wishes to contribute to the 
renewal of the foundations of the anthropology 
of movement through the questioning of the 
nature of this circulation and of what it is 
that is being circulated, both in India and in 
the South-Asian diasporic space. We will also 
ask ourselves the following question: in what 
way is the Indian/South-Asian case particularly 
relevant to a better understanding of such an 
anthropology of movement? We will organise the 
conference around three themes which are 
representative of contemporary research:
Theme 1 ? Arts, music, literature and film of 
the South-Asian Diasporas: we will be interested 
in understanding the way cultural goods produced 
by the diasporas are circulated and what 
representations these mediations create of / on 
India and in assessing their performative power 
in the construction of hybrid, circulatory territories.
Theme 2 ? Circulations in the Indian world 
(India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim)  : 
here, we will focus on the different forms of 
mobility in the Indian world and on how they 
renew the notions of territory and network. The 
papers can deal with mobility linked with work, 
tourism or ?recreation? practices (as defined by 
the MIT team of Paris 7 University) or with the 
symbolic and religious logics that underpin such mobility.
Theme 3 ? Transnational migratory circulations 
and Indian Diasporas: papers will directly refer 
to various kinds of movements, people or goods 
linked with transnational emigration. They will 
focus on the complex nature of the mobility of 
Indians ? their trajectories, their means of 
transport and their practical and emotional 
investment of the space of their journey.
Deadline: Asbtracts (2000 signs, in English or 
in French) and a brief personal notice 
(institutional affiliation, status, recent 
relevant publications and a current email 
address), should be sent by 15 January, 2011 ; 
papers (30 000 signes) should be sent by 28 February, 2011 to:
<mailto:(anthonygoreau /at/ yahoo.fr)>(anthonygoreau /at/ yahoo.fr) 
(themes 2 and 3) and <mailto:(jfbaillon /at/ sfr.fr)>(jfbaillon /at/ sfr.fr) (theme 1)
Scientific board:
-       Baillon Jean François, Professor in 
English Studies, CLIMAS, Bordeaux 3
-       Bruslé Tristan, Junior Lecturer, CNRS, 
Centre d?études himalayennes, Villejuif
-       Carsignol-Singh Anouck, CSH New Delhi
-       Marius Gnanou Kamala, Senior Lecturer, ADES, Bordeaux 3
-       Goreau-Ponceaud Anthony, Senior Lecturer, ADES, Bordeaux IV
-       Landy Frédéric, Professor, directeur du 
laboratoire GECKO, université de Paris Ouest-Nanterre-La Défense
-       Leclerc Eric, Senior Lecturer, Université de Rouen, AILLEURS
-       Retaillé Denis, Professor, ADES, Bordeaux 3
-       Servan-Schreiber Catherine, Junior 
Lecturer, CNRS, CEIAS / EHESS, Paris
-       Veyret Paul-Daniel, Senior Lecturer in 
English and Indian Studies, CLIMAS, Bordeaux 3
Organisers:
-       Baillon Jean-François
-       Goreau-Ponceaud Anthony