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India's Changing Political Economy and Mining Conflicts: A Helsinki University Social Forum Dialogue

A panel discussion involving two Siemenpuu Foundation guests from India, a tribal-activist and a land-use researcher, together with University of Helsinki researchers.

When: Monday 18 May 2015, at 4pm-7pm
Where: Unioninkatu 37, Faculty Meeting Room

Organized as part of Helsinki University Social Forum Dialogues by the Department of Political and Economic Studies. University of Helsinki Social Forum Dialogues is a platform in which academic scholars and people from various walks of life discuss and debate democratic possibilities.

In this dialogue we will reflect on the current political economy of global mining, by a focus on Indian mining conflicts, but with comparisons to other mining cases around the world. Also India’s current political situation, itsrelation to the rise of BRICs and the alternatives of peoples movements for the mining expansion are discussed.

The panelists include:

Indu Netam, an adivasi (indigenous) woman from the gond-tribe who has participated in mining struggles already for two decades in her home state of Chhattisgarh. She is also a member of Adivasi Samta Manch (ASM), a pro-indigenous rights organization, and Mines, Minerals & People, a national network of mining activists. Netam’s interventions will be translated.

Jagdish Purohit, a researcher at the Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development (SPWD), which is a key organization studying land use in India.His doctoral dissertation was called “Environmental Impact of Mining Operations on Water Regime – A Case Study of Udaipur Mineral Basin.” He is a specialist on the environmental impact of mining activity on land use.

Other comments will be made by Markus Kröger, on mining conflicts in India, and Barry Gills, on India’s role in the BRICS and international order.

See details from the Facebook event page.