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- 31 - nature of the South Asian path of development and its implications for the contemporary world. Our hypothesis is that the South Asian path is intrinsically global in nature, arguably more so than any other comparable regional path; The Indian subcontinent lies in the center of Eurasian world and Indian Ocean world; It has been the meeting place of different peoples, cultures and social groups; And the ecological diversity in the subcontinent allowed for development of diverse social groups with different modes of living, and their interaction led not to homogenization but to heterogeneous coexistence. Thus India has always been a global arena for encounters and interactions of multiplicities. In what ways would this depth of diversity contribute to ongoing globalization in the long run? This symposium will discuss issues related to this question by organizing the following three sessions. Session 1 “India as Global History” seeks to understand the significance of the “open” nature of India’s path of development from a long historical perspective, taking into account its ecological and geographical conditions. In particular, it will ask how the ecological diversity has been coped with and translated into the coexistence of diverse cultures and norms, and how India has succeeded in maintaining the largest population out of all tropical regions for so long a period. Session 2 “Water-centered Perspectives of Indian Society” considers water resource and its management, as the key to understanding the South Asian path of development. Most colonial institutions that had been introduced to India were “land-based”, and the relationship between human and environment has since been mediated through the system of landholding and modern tax systems and legal institutions based on it. This leaves a number of important human-nature interactions, fundamental to shaping the development path, unaccounted for; And one such phenomenon is the availability of water. The session will discuss the effects of seasonal changes in water availability and how technology and social systems developed to deal with scarcities, floods and water-born diseases. It will also reflect on the limits of the current institutions in dealing with them, with the aim of identifying the direction of intellectual reorganization. Session 3 “Connecting Diversities: Socio-Political Foundations of Globalization” aims to understand the present dynamism of India and its global influence by paying attention to the increasing participation of diverse social groups in public activities such as democratic politics, economic enterprises and social movements. It will be argued that India’s vast human resources had until recently been under-utilized as a result of the failure to exploit her ecological and cultural diversities to the full. The increasing public capacity that has emerged in recent years, which enables interaction and negotiation between diverse knowledge, viewpoints and values, can be seen as a significant source of strength for Global India, as well as an inspiration for the world at large.

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