A cultivar is a plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those when propagated. This inaugural lecture by Mukulika Banerjee draws on long-term fieldwork among paddy farmers in Bengal to explore the ways in which cultivation - of crops, neighbourly relations, and selves - can help democracy and truthful politics to flourish.
It also considers how the university, through its own cultivation of knowledge and debate, is another vital site for nurturing active citizens and a better future.
Meet our speakers and chair
Mukulika Banerjee () is Professor in Social Anthropology at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ and was inaugural director of the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ South Asia Centre. Her books include Cultivating Democracy: Politics and Citizenship in Agrarian India, Why India Votes?, The Pathan Unarmed and The Sari (with Daniel Miller); and the series Exploring the Political in South Asia. She created the BBC R4 documentary Sacred Election: Lessons from the biggest democracy in the world on the 2009 Indian National Elections.
David Wengrow () is a British archaeologist and Professor of Comparative Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Catherine Allerton is a specialist in the anthropology of island Southeast Asia, with research interests in children and childhoods, migration, kinship, place and landscape.
More about this event
This event will be available to watch on ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Live. ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Live is the new home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on .
This event is part of our inaugural lecture series of our professors from across the School. These events are a special moment in an academic’s career as it marks that they have now been promoted to a professor or have recently joined the School. Join us as we celebrate the successes of our community.
ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Anthropology () is world famous and world leading. We combine innovative research in the unfolding contemporary world with maintenance of core anthropological traditions
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Podcast & video
A podcast of this event is available to download from Citizens as cultivars: democratic values in paddy fields and universities.
A video of this event is available to watch at .
Podcasts and videos of many ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ events can be found at the .