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Accepted Paper:
Reciprocity in fieldwork: collaborating with the Koyas of Kamaram, Telangana
Elvin Xing Yifu
(Australian National University)
Paper short abstract:
In this paper, I discuss how a research project by an Indigenous community constitutes a form of activist scholarship,my reflections on the shaping of an reciprocal ethnography, and dealing with the politics of knowledge hierarchies and knowledge production within the context of India.
Paper long abstract:
In India, the indigenous communities, or Adivasis, are constantly being threatened by the loss of land, legal rights, and cultural heritage. In response, many Adivasi communities are getting involved in the process of knowledge production as a form of protecting their cultural heritage. In the Koya village of Kamaram, the Koya youths have embarked on a research project on Koya culture and indigenous knowledge, with the aim of producing an English book for mass dissemination. In this paper, I discuss the following, how a research project situated in a small village constitutes a form of activist scholarship which leads to epistemic decolonisation and empowerment for Adivasi communities, a reflection on the shaping of an reciprocal ethnography, and the politics of knowledge hierarchies and knowledge production within the context of India.