Hyderabad|India|February'2009: The 4th Inter Congress of Indian National Confederation and Academy of Anthropologists (INCAA) witnessed 200 anthropologists to discuss on theme 'Anthropology in India: Current Epistemology and Future Challenges'.

The 3-day Conference from 21-23 February 2009 was inaugurated at the DST auditorium, University of Hyderabad campus by Chief Guest, Prof.Seyed E.Hasnain ,Vice-Chancellor, University of Hyderabad and Prof.R.K.Jain, Chairman, INCAA presided and declared the Conference while Prof.E.Haribabu, Dean, School of Social Sciences welcomed the delegates. INCAA Chairman inaugurated the book published by INCAA and the Vice-Chancellor also inaugurated the memories to take home away for delegates 'INCAA 09 T-Shirt'. The Vice-Chancellor's message was a thought provoking who focused on scope of anthropology and said it is wide open in the light of contemporary development in human science. Prof.Sudhakar Rao, Convener, 4th Inter Congress of INCAA & Head of the Department of Anthropology introduced the theme of the conference, followed was the vote of thanks proposed by Dr.B.V.Sharma, Organising Secretary. In all there are 24 paper presentations and 2 plenary sessions focusing on anthropology and its scope.

THEME OF THE CONFERENCE:
Journey of anthropology in India goes back to the days of British colonial administration in the latter half of the nineteenth century. It is evident that anthropological research in India, which is originated and developed under the British influence, has been recognized by academic and nonacademic bodies and institutions for many decades. It began with writing ethnography of tribals living in different parts of the country and still tribal studies continue to occupy larger space in anthropological research in the country. Most common practice is to write an ethnographic account of a tribe, covering most of the important facets of its life.

After independence, there has been a significant shift in putting greater emphasis on village, caste, rural and urban community study. Holistic understanding of Indian culture and traditional institutions such as caste, joint family, folk lore, religion, kinship, power structure and leadership etc and various causes that are responsible for change caught the attention of scholars. These studies brought certain amount of theoretical and methodological sophistication to the anthropological research in India.

The influence of public health movements and interventions the process of globalization, the concern for environmental issues, natural resources management, gender equality, etc., too prompted studies in India with important contributions to emerging specializations like Medical Anthropology, Ecological Anthropology, Socio-biology, Anthropology of Communication, Business Anthropology and many other.

The changes in the research focus are not only apparent in socio-cultural anthropology but also in other branches of anthropology. In physical anthropology the research interests have shifted from anthropometric and dermatoglyphics to human genetics, human ecology, nutritional anthropology etc. In case of archaeological anthropology the research focus has shifted from prehistoric archaeology to ethno-archeology and material culture studies.

The rise of different specialization within the broad sub-disciplines of anthropology and the changes in the research orientation in the different sub-disciplines in Anthropology resulted in a divorce from the emphasis of earlier anthropologists on greater interaction and working together of the four sub-disciplines. The earlier view of Anthropology as an integrating and interdisciplinary science in a true sense perhaps requires a re-look at our current as well as the past epistemologies and methodologies across sub-disciplines. There is a greater need today to evolve coherent conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches and tools to comprehend the changing anthropological engagement. The ensuring INCAA Inter-Congress conference will largely address the issues relating to the emerging paradigms in anthropology and to negotiate with the future challenges of the discipline and social realities.

Reachout's News Bureau
 February' 2009