Society and Political Consciousness” to be held at Government Post Graduate College, Jayal on 14 th and 15 th November, 2025 Udaipur. The XXII Annual International Conference of Rajasthan Association for Studies in English on “Literature, Society and Political Consciousness” will be held at Government Post Graduate College, Jayal on 14 th and 15 th November, 2025. Dr. Payod Joshi, patron of the conference and the Principal of the college said that committees have been formed to ensure a grand success of the conference. Dr. Manju Baghmar, local MLA and Minister of State in the government of Rajasthan has been invited to be the chief guest.She is also a Professor at Mohan Lal Sukhadia University, Udaipur. Dr. Seema Soni , organizing Secretary of the conference said that the theme of the conference is multi disciplinary and would attract scholars from different disciplines. Dr. Hemendra Singh Chandalia, Vice President and Prof. Anant Dadhich, Joint Secretary visited Government Jayal on 14 th of October to meet the organizing team and seek their support. Prof. Chandalia explained the relevance of the topic in the present scenario. He said that Freedom in a democracy is the glory of the state, and, therefore, in a democracy only will the freeman of nature deign to dwell, said Plato. The world today is majorly, at least structurally, a democratic world. The post colonial world has seen the rise of democracies everywhere. New countries emerged with their constitutions and electoral forms. In the post modern world the smaller voices got prominence and a tendency to de - center the center and bring to the centre the marginalized was observed in many parts of the world. But the democratic structures can survive the forces of suppression and autocracy only when people at large leave aside their indifference and participate in the processes and institutions of democracy. A glowing political consciousness among the populace is a pre-requisite of a throbbing democracy. Plato had said that one of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. The measure of a man is what he does with power. This opinion expressed around some three thousand years ago stands the test of time and deserves a lot of reflection in the contemporary times. Literature of the world has always been a mirror to the transformations taking place in the surrounding world. It has portrayed not only what appears outside but also what transpires within the human mind. Much before the appearance of the written word literature existed in the oral form and did convey the emotions, sentiments, experiences and observances of the people. This literature remains in public memory even today and is reverberated in day to day conversations. In literature political consciousness relates to a very broad understanding of the world. Sometimes it goes beyond the temporal to encompass the ethereal and the supernatural. It relates to a world order which includes the real, the tangible and even the intangible dream world of human imagination. The epic poets like Homer, Dante and Milton can be cited as examples of the creators of a different cosmos with their unique power politics. Already writers have started advocating intercultural communication and cross border interaction to enable better understanding between different races and nationalities. The last century witnessed two bloody wars and the most unfair lust for power. The greed for capturing natural resources is continuing even after that and has resulted in creation of power blocks, lobbies and pressure groups. When we talk of political consciousness we aim at creation of an understanding of the relationship between human and the natural world. What kind of world do we want to build for ourselves?
It is a consciousness of the concepts of justice, power and equality. In today’s world where Artificial Intelligence seems to have opened up a new world of opportunities and challenges we need to understand Man-machine interface and guard against mechanization of human intellect and emotions. Machine has entered political sphere in manifold ways influencing human behavior and power relationships. It has transformed our bed rooms, dining tables and community halls. In what subtle ways machine has started governing us is also a question to ponder over. Has all this happened because of man’s over emphasis on his own centrality in the universe?
The fallacious understanding that ‘man is the crown of all creation’ and that everything in nature is for human consumption has created a world of endless greed. Can maximization of production and consumption and accumulation of wealth through this process in the name of development lead us to a sustainable world?
Prof. Anant Dadhich said that these are some of the ideas which we would like to discuss and debate in the XXII Annual International Conference. Some of the sub themes are as follows. Some of the sub themes are- 1. Political Consciousness in the literature of Colonial Times 2. Understanding Political Consciousness through Classics 3. Literature and Social Classes 4. Machine Literature and Human Intellect 5. Anti-war Literature 6. Creating Cross Cultural Communication Strategies 7. Unfolding Myths to understand Politics of Power 8. Post Humanism and Literature 9. Literature and Politics of the Marginalized 10. Black Literature and the Question of Identity 11. Literature and the Struggle of the Indigenous People 12. Cinema, Theatre and the Visual Art Forms as Tools for Generating Political Consciousness. It is hoped that scholars from across the country and other countries will also participate in the conference. The selected papers from those presented at the conference will be published in the form of a journal which is a UGC CARE listed journal.