In rural India, some people regard school education as intrinsically beneficial. Many others, however, consider it to be an expensive and risky means to an end that is not attainable by people like themselves: marginalized adivasis who lack the requisite forms of capital to translate their educational investment into a viable economic return. What gives rise to these contrasting perspectives? And what does this tell us about the powerful discourse surrounding the transformative potential of education, and the processes of ‘modernity’ and development that correspond with it? This lecture addresses these issues by focusing on the differentiated educational experiences of Hindu and Christian adivasi children and youth in rural India.

Organized by Department of Educational Anthropology, DPU, Aarhus University.

All are Welcome.