History and Organisation of Labour in Tibetan Societies (mid-17th to mid-20th centuries)

9-11 December 2015
Bonn
Hotel Bristol Günnewig, Prinz-Albert-Str. 2, 53113 Bonn

Tuesday, 8 December

Arrival of Participants at Hotel Bristol Günnewig, Prinz-Albert-Str. 2, 53113 Bonn

Wednesday, 9 December

9:30 Welcome and Introduction

Session 1

Chair: Elliot Sperling

10:00 Charles Ramble: The Meaning of Labour in Tibetan Societies

10:40 Peter Schwieger: Rule and Labour in Tibet

11:20 Coffee Break

Session 2

Chair: Saul Mullard

11:50 Fernanda Pirie: The Value of Labour: Concepts of Work in Traditional Tibet

12:30 Jeannine Bischoff: Tracing the Re-location of the Labour Force in Pre-1959 Tibet

13:10 Lunch

Session 3

Chair: John Bray

14:30 Alice Travers: The Remuneration of the Ganden Phodrang Government’s Service: Forms, Evolution and Questions During the First Half of the 20th Century

15:10 Hanna Schneider: The Organisation of Labour in Fulfilment of Tax Obligation in Ding-ri and Shel-dkar in the First Half of the 20th Century

15:50 Coffee Break

16:30 Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy: Performance as Tax: A-lce lha-mo Actors in the Estate Economy of Tibet in the First Half of 20th Century

19:00 Dinner for Conference Participants

Thursday, 10 December

Session 4

Chair: Peter Schwieger

9:30 Elliot Sperling: Military Service in 17th and 18th-Century Tibet

10:10 Saul Mullard: The Dodgy Dealings of Zhal ngo Amar and Karma Wangyal: A Case of Slavery and Human Trafficking in the Sikkimese Himalayas

10:50 Coffee Break

Session 5

Chair: Fernanda Pirie

11:30 Petra Maurer: Running horses: The Function of Horses in Labour Practices

12:10 Heidi Fjeld: Performing the Dirty Work: The Organisation of Labour among the “Lower Ranked” (smad rigs) in Rural Tsang and Lhasa

12:50 Lunch

Session 6

Chair: Charles Ramble

14:30 Patrick Booz: Tibetan Labour and the Tea Trade

15:10 Saadet Arslan: Lam yig – An Official Document Granting Travel Privileges in Tibet

15:50 Coffee Break

Session 7

Chair: John Ardussi

16:30 Diana Lange: Visualising Labour in Late 19th Century Tibet: The Use of Images as Historical Evidence

17:10 John Bray: ‘Work and Pray’: Moravian Missionaries, Labour and Social Order in the Western Himalaya

19:00 Dinner for Conference Participants

Friday, 11 December

Session 8

Chair: Heidi Fjeld

9:30 Berthe Jansen: The Monk’s Work Ethic: Attitudes toward Labour According to the Monastic Guidelines (bca’ yig)

10:10 Kalsang Norbu Gurung: The Impact of Religious Perspectives on Construction Labour in Tibet

10:50 Pause

Session 9

Chair: Diana Lange

11:30 Christian Jahoda: Organisation and Social Division of Labour in Spiti Valley in Historical Perspective

12:10 John Ardussi: Peasants, Monks, Farmers, Kings and Citizens. Some Observations on the Evolution of Social Organisation and Labour in Bhutan

12:50 Lunch

14:30 Business Meeting

16:00 Coffee

19:00 Dinner for Conference Participants