This Conference will deal with the sense of Angst being felt by the tribal people of contemporary India. While this Angst is a direct result of exclusion from their traditional rights over resources, it is aggravated by their extreme deprivation and exploitation at various levels. In recent times, the tribal people have been involved in struggles relating to identity, resources and development. These have found expression through multiple voices ranging from the quiet introspection of poetry to the fiery sloganeering of politics. To examine the Angst of the tribal people and to delve deeper into their collective experience of loss and transition, this Conference will bring scholars of various disciplines together with social workers and tribal writers in an enriching polyphonic discourse. Besides panel discussions by scholars, translators and social workers, there will also be a Writers’ Meet. It is hoped that the Conference will provide a much-needed balance between the “tribal in transition”, the social workers and the larger world of academia.
