A nation is composed primarily of the people that identify with it, a community, which shares something in common, usually, a history, a culture and/or a language. This further then can coincide with a geographical territorial boundary. An understanding of the history and culture of the geographical region then becomes essential.The process of Indian nation building has been informed to a very large extent by the contributions of Anthropologists. One such figure was Prof. N.K. Bose who worked extensively in the field of Anthropology in India and introduced the understanding of ‘Indian Anthropology’ to the academia. Working very closely with M.K Gandhi, he also played a very vital role in the freedom struggle for the country.
With respect to the understanding of the nation, the formation and reformation of the States happened on the basis of language as well as the natural territory. The governance of a particular nation and bureaucracy are intertwined with knowing the population very closely.
The present roundtable will look at the challenges that the nation faced in the understanding of its population and the role of anthropology in the nation building process. Additionally, it will touch upon vital issues such as the concept of good governance, and the understating of the State and explore the interlinkages of the role of bureaucracy and policy making and the understanding of the population at the ground level, which anthropology greatly aids in. For any good government it is vital that they are able to grasp the pulse of the nation and to know what the issues and challenges are so that they may be presented and handled adequately and intelligently in the form of reforms and policy formations.
