In this podcast we talk to Manish Jain, one of the strong planetary voices for de-schooling our lives and also one of the co-founders of the Ecoversities Alliance. Manish has served for the past two decades as coordinator and co-founder of Shikshantar: The Peoples’ Institute for Rethinking Education and Development based in Udaipur, India, and is co-founder of Swaraj University, which we visited as part of the Enlivened Learning journey. Manish is also co-founder of the Learning Societies Unconference, Udaipur as a Learning City, and the Jail University in Udaipur. In this conversation Manish talks about his work with Swaraj University. We learn about the meaning of the concept and practice of Swaraj, or self rule, and its deep roots in Indian thought and history. Embodying Gandhi’s call for decolonization and independence, Manish here discusses the need to deepen this struggle into the realm of higher education and its forms of knowledge, and also to rid ourselves from the diploma disease. This in turn allows for other ways of learning, knowing and being to emerge that are rooted in place and which also better prepare us for the multiple crises we face today. This interview took place in Udaipur in 2013 during a visit to Swaraj University. We sat with Manish on a rooftop overlooking the city as the sun was setting.
If you want to find out more about the work of Manish the following resources are a good place to start:.
The Parrot’s Training (retold)(article)
Thoughts on Resurrecting Nai Talim (article)
Monoculture of the Mind (video)
more links can be found on shikshantar.org under publications.
Manish Jain
