JAIN RESEARCH & EDUCATION CAN BE DECOLONISED

I was invited by the eminent BL Institute of Indology based in Delhi to speak on this unique subject, given the growing global interest in Decolonising Knowledge and Education Pedagogy. Linked above is the video of my lecture, which can be used in class and create a forum for debate and discussion with students and scholars alike.

I took this topic up as a challenge, and given my 35 years of experience of working with various scholars from all over the world, and seeing the depth and breadth of their research, often done at great personal risk and sacrifice, it was opportune to reflect on the accomplishments, challenges and opportunities ahead. I have also done considerable work in the area of Decolonisation of Business Education.

The main observations I made are:

1. Jains have become very passive and inactive in supporting and encouraging Research and Scholarship, in spite of the fact that this is critical to protecting and reinvigorating the culture and values. Huge investment is going into temple building and management, but relatively very little on scholarship.
2. Most contemporary scholars of Jainism come from Europe and America and there is an international Centre for Jaina Studies at SOAS, University of London, which has played a leading role in growing and expanding Jain research and scholarship globally. They publish an Internatioal Journal of Jaina Studies edited by Dr. Peter Flugel.
3. Indology and its methods and analysis have limitations, and the subject itself is a colonial hangover and ripe for reform and challenge, as echoed by people like Rajiv Malhotra of the Infinity Foundation. Jains can play a constructive role in the reforms.
4. The vast canvas of Jain wisdom includes economics, business ethics, art and creativity, leadership, political economy, cultural prescience, philosophy of preservation of all living beings, anekant and pluralism, language and literature, poetry and music. There needs to be an active attempt by Jains to revive and reinvigorate a much wider frame of research, and to support scholars with contacts and networks relevant to these frames.
5. Positivism is a modern obsession among social scientists, but Jains have never separted truth in this dualistic way and always been concerned about the world and our place in it.
6. The field of Jain Business Ethics and Jain Economics has enormous potential given our ecologically challenged times, and given the huge research activity on the theme of sustainability, we are able to make unique transformative impacts to the knowledge base of world business.
7. Decolonising suggests a resistance, but Jain wisdom has always embraced the sustainence of all life, and its deeper integrity shows that this heritage has much wider global relevance and goes far beyond Decolonisation.
8. Jain Scholars need to go into the wider world and debate their findings with different audiences rather than just within the confines of Jain Studies.
9. There is significant innovation in the field of Jain education already going on, with examples such as SRMD led by Pujya Rakeshbhai, Abhay Prabhavna Jain Multimedia Museum led by Dr Abhay Firodia, the International School for Jain Studies, and Dr Modi’s investment in Jain Studies in Higher Education worldwide. This should be recognised widely and promoted globally.

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