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In the wake of new global dynamics, the question of alternative development paths and engagement with non-Western epistemes is becoming increasingly important. The Tibetologist Dr Dagmar Schwerk, who returned to Leipzig University in October 2022, is addressing precisely these issues. In this interview, she discusses her current research project, which is funded by the EU with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship, and traces the complex processes that led to the emergence of Bhutan as a nation in the 18th century. Her work provides deep insights into Bhutan's entangled history and offers an exciting perspective on the role of the small Himalayan state in coping with the climate crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. In this regard, Dr Schwerk emphasizes the need to integrate non-Western and Indigenous perspectives into the discourse on global crises.

1. Dr Schwerk, in your current research project funded by the European Union, you address diverse forms of identity building and alternative nation state building in Bhutan in the 18th century. In brief, how did Bhutan—located in the Himalayas and, at that time, surrounded by the British Raj, the Qing Empire in China, and the Tibetan government of the Dalai Lamas— become a nation? What is of particular interest for you in your research?

To understand how Bhutan became a nation, first, one needs to look at the complex interplay between religious and socio-cultural identity building, identity policies, and nation building. After the foundation of Bhutan in the 17th century, very soon, substantial domestic and foreign challenges arose that I consider a critical juncture. Therefore, I analyze Bhutan’s religious and political history precisely in this period, which enables us to understand today’s Buddhism-induced sustainable development model of Gross National Happiness (GNH) more comprehensively.

I am particularly interested in premodern differentiation processes between societal spheres; Bhutan’s entangled histories with its neighbors; and the agency of Bhutanese Buddhist masters as diplomats. It is also essential to identify diverse, even partially contradicting Bhutanese emic perspectives in these processes, which is why I work with thus far untranslated Bhutanese and Tibetan textual sources of that period. In brief, my research allows important insights into alternative processes of nation building in Asia.

 

2. You are a member of ReCentGlobe's Research Area 3 which addresses “epistemes in a global competition.” In general, can international crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic or the climate crisis, support mutual learning and better coordinated global action? What about Bhutan that, as one of the few carbon-negative countries, is an important role model in the climate crisis? From your perspective as a Tibetologist, why is the analysis of epistemes of nations, regions, or groups with non-Western development paths critical?

These are crucial questions to ask. Of course, epistemes— understood, for example, as comprehensive worldviews and formal/informal knowledge and value systems, in brief, conceptual distinctions beyond social structures—consciously or not, strongly influence the global political and public discourse regarding crises.  

However, what epistemes dominate and why is too seldomly discussed, and non-Western and Indigenous epistemes are not considered enough. For example, the voices of Himalayan communities, for whom the consequences of climate change already hit hard and resilience to natural disasters has been addressed for centuries, are seldomly part of a bigger global conversation about solutions for the climate crisis. Bhutan’s astonishing management of the Covid-19 pandemic, its sustainable development model, and protection of the environment are other examples. In other words, I am talking about decolonizing the global discourse on crises.  

Here, an important role of historians in regional studies can be, to identify epistemes on which non-Western development paths are based and to make the global relevance of alternative modernities and secularities visible, thereby create the necessary scientific basis for mutual learning and coordinated global action.

 

3. After you held a research and teaching position at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver) for four years, you successfully applied for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. Could you tell us a little bit more about the application process and your experiences with the fellowship so far?

During the application process and the actual fellowship, besides an innovative research project, the intense collaboration with the host institution and supervisor plays a decisive role. In my opinion, besides the generous financial support, this focus on career planning, very individually tailored to the researcher’s needs is one of the strong suits of this fellowship. For example, I currently participate in the t.e.a.m mentoring program, which exclusively addresses female scholars and their challenges at the later post-doctoral qualification stage.