Bangladesh in the 1990s: Selected Studies

The social science and humanities have largely neglected Bangladesh. Researchers in Bangladesh are handicapped by poor government funding and a lack of incentives for doing sustained serious research. External finding has come from development circles which need appraisal and evaluation studies of many kinds. Many social scientists have become involved but such research is rarely long-term, it comes with its own restricted and extremely generated research agenda, and it is less concerned with academic rigor than with results which can be led quickly into the administration of development projects. Outside the country the situation is not much better. There are simply no strong centers of Bangladesh studies abroad which pack the critical mass to contribute significantly to a worldwide effort to improve the quality and quantity of research on Bangladesh. There are, however, definite signs of improvement. In Bangladesh, independent researchers and research group are more active than ever. Internationally, several networks are trying to bring together scholars studying Bangladesh and contribute to more richly textured thinking about Bangladesh, its problems and potentialities. This volume presents the results of one such meeting through select papers from particularly neglected disciplines, including the humanities. They are all based on basic research, and the author explore important themes in contemporary Bangladesh studies, including social control based on domination and subordination, issues of cultural and gender identities, gender and law, social mobilization of landless for government Khas land, infrastructure development and the environment, as well as language.