the jesuit mission in ranchi introduction · lourens van haaften (ku leuven) rinald d’souza (ku...

The Jesuit Mission in Ranchi

Introduction

Idesbald Goddeeris

30 May 2018

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History of the Ranchi mission

Faculty of Arts, History departement, Modernity and Society 1800 - 2000

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History and relevance of the Ranchi mission


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Relevance and vibrance of the Ranchi mission


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Researching the Ranchi mission


• Research questions

• Missionaries in a postcolonial context

• Local agency

• Sources

• Oral history and participant observation

• Published materials

• Archives

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Research team


Prof. Parimala V. Rao (JNU, New Delhi) Benjamin Steegen (KU Leuven)

Lourens Van Haaften (KU Leuven) Rinald D’Souza (KU Leuven)

Jesuit Business Education in East-India: 1970 topresent

Lourens van Haaften

30 May 2018

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• Important role of the Society of Jesus in providing education in colonial and post-colonial India.

• Post-war rise of global business education (US as main driver)

• Belgian missionary activity in East India, since second half 19th century: Ranchi mission

• Fr. Michel van den Bogaert, institution builder in management institutes.

Context


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• XLRI, Jamshedpur (1949) • XISS, Ranchi (1955)

• XIM, Bhubaneshwar (1987)• XIDAS, Jabalpur (1995)

Cases


10 Faculty of Arts, History departement, Modernity and Society 1800 - 2000

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• Management debates from the 1970s to present. Is it the task of the Society of Jesus to provide business management education?

• Business management versus social service/rural management

• ‘Making the rich more rich’ vs ‘helping the unprivileged’

• Missions as post-colonialism?

Controversies


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• Questions on Jesuit identity and future in India from the 1970s to present. Is it the task of the Jesuits to support business education?

• Empirical understanding of the indianisation of the Society of Jesus

• Development discourses in India and post-colonial critique

Relevance


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• Semi-structured interviews/Oral history

• Archival research, oKADOCo Institute’s administrationsoPersonal collections of friends and

family

• Discourse analysis of

institute’s publications

Research methods and using heritage


Indigenising MissionIndigenising MissionThe Jesuit Mission in Ranchi1920-2000

India | Chota Nagpur | Jharkhand |Ranchi

Research period and context

• Native agency

• Transition from a Belgian Jesuit Mission to a Jesuit Adivasi Province

• The case against indigenisation?

• To what extent did native Adivasi Jesuits (1) borrow European ideas and models to their mission, (2) use these as points of departure to evolve their own, or (3) reimagine the mission through their own cultural norms and practices

The case for indigenisation

• Ranchi Jesuit Provinceprovince/institutional archives and community libraries

• ARSI, Romeuntil 1939

• KADOC, Leuven

• Jesuit libraries/archives in India

• State archives?

Archives and sources

Sources

• Nishkalanka• Monthly Christian news and spiritual magazine in Hindi (since

1920)

• Books by Ranchi Jesuit authors (selection)• related to Adivasi culture and identity making

• Jesuit news bulletins, catalogues, etc.

• Jesuit correspondence

• Policy documents

• Newspapers/magazines

Sources

• Discourse Analysis• Nishkalanka: themes, debates• Newsbulletins: practices

• Quantify data: persons, institutions• agency, power relations

• Oral history interviews

Methodology

• Identity makingAdivasi / Jesuit / Christian

• Christian mission historiestheir relevancein the context of (post)colonialism and nationalismChristian public sphere

• Native agency and indigenization in the Jesuit mission

In sum

The Belgian ‘Gandhi’ and village development in postcolonial India

A Jesuit missionary’s legacy (1969 to present)

Benjamin Steegen

30 May 2018


• missionary identity of Jesuits: social apostolate

• historically: global and local (Ranchi mission)

• post WW II: focus on justice and human dignity

• (personal) need to redefine ‘missionary calling’

• disenchantment with Modernization / ‘Development Decade’ (1960s)

• ‘alternative development’ discourse

• indigenous development, conscientization, participation,…

• Indian context

• failure of India’s Community Development Programme (°1952)

• the spirit of Gandhian villagism

• anti-conversion sentiment and restrictions for missionaries

Context (1960s-70s)

Michael Windey sj(1921-2009)

VRO (°1969)

‘missionary development spin-off’

individual (versus institutional)

some distance from mission society

agenda of social change (versus charity)

faith as inspiration and motivation (versus goal)

Principles and activities

• “a secular voluntary organization”

• “a new rural lifestyle” as alternative for urbanization/industrialization

• housing construction, education, health services, skill training, villagecouncils, agroforestry, old age homes, child labour rehabilitation,…

Windey

JesuitsIndia / Europe

Indian ‘volunteers’

VRO leadership

Western volunteers

European donors

villagers

Indian actors

Relevance

Empirical research gaps

• mission history: postcolonial Catholic missionaries

• history of development: a ‘parallel history’ of development work

Social apostolate and international solidarity in a changing context

• in search of a new (Jesuit) missionary identity?

• in search of new forms of international solidarity?

• ideas, discourse, and practice: sources? congruity?


• archival research and discourse analysis (1969-…)

• VRO India

• VRO Belgium (KADOC)

• personal archives of donors and family

• to do: selected European donors

• oral history (open and semi-structured interviews)

• participant observation

Research methods and sources

the jesuit mission in ranchi introduction · lourens van haaften (ku leuven) rinald d’souza (ku...

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