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Dr. Sayan Dey
Alliance University, Department of Language and Literature, Faculty Member
- Sayan Dey grew up in Kolkata, West Bengal, and is currently working as an Assistant Professor in Postcolonial Literat... moreSayan Dey grew up in Kolkata, West Bengal, and is currently working as an Assistant Professor in Postcolonial Literature and Cultural Studies, at Alliance School of Liberal Arts, Alliance University. He is also a Faculty Fellow at The Harriet Tubman Institute, York University, Canada; Critical Cultural Studies Faculty, at NYI Global Cultural, Cognitive and Linguistic Studies, New York and Research Fellow, at Centre for Research in Posthumanities, Bankura University. Some of his published books are Decolonial Existence and Urban Sensibility: A Study of Mahesh Elkunchwar (Manipal Universal Press, 2019), History and Myth: Postcolonial Dimensions (Vernon Press, 2021), Myths, Histories and Decolonial Interventions: A Planetary Resistance (Routledge, 2022), Green Academia: Towards Eco-friendly Education Systems (Routledge, 2022), Black Existentialism and Decolonizing Knowledge: Writings of Lewis R. Gordon (Bloomsbury, 2023). His forthcoming monograph is Performing Memories and Weaving Archives: Creolized Cultures Across the Indian Ocean (Anthem Press, 2025). His areas of research interest are postcolonial studies, decolonial studies, critical race studies, culinary epistemologies, and critical diversity literacy. He can be reached at: www.sayandey.com. His audio-visual research and documentary works can be accessed through the YouTube Channel "Roots and Routes: A Living Archive): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHA172qSGvmbPuqmypG-j3gedit
This proposal is based on an independent research project which is dealing with the possibilities of decolonizing education in contemporary India. The project has several components like indigenizing primary school education, decolonizing... more
This proposal is based on an independent research project which is dealing with the possibilities of decolonizing education in contemporary India. The project has several components like indigenizing primary school education, decolonizing the syllabus, decolonizing the classroom, decolonizing the university, etc. Amongst these I have chosen one component to engage with in this research meet and i.e. decolonizing the syllabus. As a part of decolonizing the syllabus I would like to talk about the various ways in which Western Science is widely based on the hijacked and distorted indigenous knowledges of the Non-west. Let us take the example of globally established Georgian calendar based on Western seasons and the locally established Indian calendar based on seasons in India. Usually, in the west the seasonal festivals are celebrated on a fixed date every year. But, in case of India it is totally different. The seasonal festivals (e.g. the harvesting festivals) are completely based on the annual seasonal cycle which keeps on varying. But, from our childhood days the seasonal divisions that we are taught is completely based on the western seasonal structure. Such a kind of scientific knowledge producing system is not only culturally violating but also logically alienating. So, isn’t it important for us to stop believing western science blindly and question its hypothetical validations? Keeping this question at the backdrop, I will argue the validity of western science by citing examples from various historical sources that shows how pre-colonial scientific beliefs and practices were trafficked from non-West to the West. As a counter-argument I will propose the notion of humanitarian science which may enable us pluriversalize, decolonize and indigenize scientific studies across the globe.
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This is a synopsis of the Online Second Decolonial Circle Meet which I coordinated and chaired on 9th March 2019 for Convivial Thinking Thinking Group, EADI, Bonn, Germany. The session was joined by 6 prolific scholars across the world.... more
This is a synopsis of the Online Second Decolonial Circle Meet which I coordinated and chaired on 9th March 2019 for Convivial Thinking Thinking Group, EADI, Bonn, Germany. The session was joined by 6 prolific scholars across the world. During our discussion we talked about the various possibilities of decolonizing inter-disciplinary engagements in the academia by keeping various texts of Prof. Chandra Kant Raju, a polymath researcher, at the background. To know more do give a read and share with your colleagues.
The link to the article is: https://www.convivialthinking.org/index.php/decolonial-reading-circle-on-c-k-raju/
The link to the article is: https://www.convivialthinking.org/index.php/decolonial-reading-circle-on-c-k-raju/
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It is important to note that this volume of interviews was curated during a time when a lot of books had already been published on Covid-19, pandemics and post-Covid." " It is important to note that this volume of interviews was curated... more
It is important to note that this volume of interviews was curated during a time when a lot of books had already been published on Covid-19, pandemics and post-Covid." " It is important to note that this volume of interviews was curated during a time when a lot of books had already been published on Covid-19, pandemics and post-Covid." Contents Critically Diverse Perspectives on Covid-19: Interviews with a varied range of South Africans Ompha Tshikhudo Malima ........ 1
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The European colonizers treated the natural environment, the wild lives, and the plant lives in the Global South as insurmountable, wild and redundant. Ample of literary, historical and anthropological records from the colonial era reveal... more
The European colonizers treated the natural environment, the wild lives, and the plant lives in the Global South as insurmountable, wild and redundant. Ample of literary, historical and anthropological records from the colonial era reveal how the naturescapes in Africa, Asia, and other parts of the Global South have been perceived as 'wild, dark and uncivilized' because the Europeans encountered a lot of challenges in taming, pruning, shaping, and reconfiguring the natural environment according to their whims and fancies. With the passage of time, such problematic narratives have systemically, epistemically, ontologically, and ideologically trickled down from one generation to another in the forms of folk tales, children's tales, poetries, short stories, novels and various other forms of narratives. This article uses Russian poet Kornei Chukovsky's poem Doctor Powderpill as a reference point. Through attempting a postcolonial critique of the poem, the article unfolds the possible 'ecological postcolonialscapes,' which can be implemented to re-read and reinterpret the existing histories, cultures, literatures, and societies around us in a 'trans-habitual' existential way.
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The term Siddi refers to the African diaspora communities in India, who initially arrived in the 13th century with the Islamic invaders in Gujarat (then Sindh) as slaves, palace guards, traders, and musicians from the eastern parts of... more
The term Siddi refers to the African diaspora communities in India, who initially arrived in the 13th century with the Islamic invaders in Gujarat (then Sindh) as slaves, palace guards, traders, and musicians from the eastern parts of Africa, including Ethiopia, Zanzibar, Sudan, and Tanzania. In the 15th century, another group of Africans from South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique were brought to India by the Portuguese colonizers as slaves. The majority of the histories of the Siddi community are androcentric in nature, focusing on the contributions of African men and male spiritual figures towards the development of the Siddi community in India. However, this paper offers a more diverse and deeper analysis that uncovers the role of women spiritual figures like Mai Misra, Makhaan Devi, and goddess Luxmi, and the role of Siddi women in the cultural and spiritual evolution of Siddi practices. This article analyzes how women spiritual figures and spiritual practices contribute to Siddi culture in Gujarat and offer Siddi women empowerment and agency. The thematic and theoretical arguments in this article are supported by a kin study on the patterns and intentions of Mai Misra worship in Gujarat.
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One of the many visions of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP, 2020), is to make efforts to internationalize the higher education system of the country. The purpose of internationalization is to make sure that like the universities... more
One of the many visions of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP, 2020), is to make efforts to internationalize the higher education system of the country. The purpose of internationalization is to make sure that like the universities from Europe, the US, Australia and other whitecentric geopolitical locations of the world, the universities in India can attain global distinctions in terms of rankings, publications, curriculums and pedagogies. However, the execution process is plagued with flawed, superficial and grossly researched policies. To explain further, the initiatives for internationalizing the higher education systems are being undertaken at a rapid pace and in uncritical ways. For example, the focus of internationalization is centered on private universities, with not much focus on government-run institutions. In the name of student and faculty exchange programs, the universities in India are being flooded with white academicians whose physical visibility matters more than scholarliness. Their visibility on the university campuses is regarded as a potential marketing tool to initiate various forms of degree programs and motivate students to pay enormous amounts of registration fees. This opinion piece discusses how the project of internationalization of universities in India is engulfed with the phenomena of cargo cultism and whiteness syndrome. The arguments have been supported with personal conversations with two research participants from two private universities that are based in Noida and Hyderabad. Besides personal conversations, the arguments have also been supported by informal conversations with friends and colleagues and by analyzing photos, videos, and writings that are posted on social media by the university universities as markers of appreciation and success.
Research Interests: History, Cultural Studies, Economics, Institutional Economics, International Relations, and 11 moreTeacher Education, Postcolonial Studies, Critical Pedagogy, Political Science, Pedagogy, Classroom Management, Curriculum and Instruction, Decolonial Thought, Students, Nationality Education, and University Grants Commission (UGC)
This commentary is a critical response to the dialogic essay "The unruly arts of ethnographic refusal: power, politics, performativity" that unpacks the complex performances of hierarchies and violence as performed during ethnographic... more
This commentary is a critical response to the dialogic essay "The unruly arts of ethnographic refusal: power, politics, performativity" that unpacks the complex performances of hierarchies and violence as performed during ethnographic research works in anthropology. During ethnographic research works, the encounter between the researchers and the research participants are often underlaid with tensions that either compel the participants to speak in definite patterns to satisfy the demands of the researchers or force the researchers to conduct field works according to the advisable guidelines of the academic institutions, funding agencies and contact persons. On the basis of my personal experiences and the ethnographic experiences of the authors of the essay, this commentary argues how the performance and acknowledgment of 'refusal' can be adopted as a research methodology in anthropology and other academic disciplines to counter the colonial/Eurocentric parameters of knowledge production.
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Amongst the various indigenous societies across the planet, alcohol has always played a pivotal role in shaping and preserving different forms of social, cultural, communal, personal, and familial values in an inter-generational and... more
Amongst the various indigenous societies across the planet, alcohol has always played a pivotal role in shaping and preserving different forms of social, cultural, communal, personal, and familial values in an inter-generational and transcultural manner. With the advent of European colonisation, over different segments of time and space across the globe, this community practice was disrupted and dismantled as unmodern, unhygienic, non-civilising, and dehumanising. However, such community practices in Bhutan remained unaffected till the beginning of the 21st century. In 2007, with the establishment of a democratic governing system, as Bhutan started welcoming foreign investors, the West (Europe and USA) invaded the local markets of Bhutan. Gradually, the individuals were attracted towards the western-branded alcoholic drinks and the consumption of the locally brewed alcoholic drinks started declining. Keeping these arguments at the forefront, this article makes an effort to socio-historically analyse the various ways through which the culture of brewing, consuming, and sharing the locally brewed alcoholic drinks functions as a tool to resist the westernisation of the culture of drinking in contemporary Bhutan.
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This is a review essay on two edited volumes titled Fanon Today and Fanon, Phenomenology, and Psychology. The essay reflects on the diverse ways in which Frantz Fanon's ideologies and philosophies have been explored by the authors in... more
This is a review essay on two edited volumes titled Fanon Today and Fanon, Phenomenology, and Psychology. The essay reflects on the diverse ways in which Frantz Fanon's ideologies and philosophies have been explored by the authors in different racial, social, cultural, historical, political, economic, gendered, and geographical contexts. The essay also argues how the contributions collectively voice toward building a transcultural and transcontinental solidarity of "Fanonian Turn."
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On 13 March 2020, in spite of banning any form of socio-religious gatherings in New Delhi due to the outbreak of COVID-19, around 3,400 Muslims across the country came together on the occasion of a religious gathering at Nizamuddin Markaz... more
On 13 March 2020, in spite of banning any form of socio-religious gatherings in New Delhi due to the outbreak of COVID-19, around 3,400 Muslims across the country came together on the occasion of a religious gathering at Nizamuddin Markaz in New Delhi. Immediately after this, groups of Hindu fanatics, who were already manufacturing and propagating Islamophobic narratives since the pre-COVID times, received a further impetus to justify why the Muslims should be driven out of India and why India should be developed into a Hindu rashtra, or a Hindu-dominated nation. In order to logically systematise these narratives, the gathering at the Markaz was identified by several political organisations and media houses as a deliberate exercise to spread coronavirus in India. This chapter reflects on how through the phenomenon of Corona Jihad the already existing Islamophobia is being remanufactured in India during COVID-19. The chapter also explores the possible ways through which these racial and communal reconfigurations can be resisted.
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The Siddis were brought to India from the southern and eastern parts of Africa by the Arab and Portuguese colonisers. At present, the Siddis in India can be found in parts of Gujarat (a state located in western India), Hyderabad (a state... more
The Siddis were brought to India from the southern and eastern parts of Africa by the Arab and Portuguese colonisers. At present, the Siddis in India can be found in parts of Gujarat (a state located in western India), Hyderabad (a state located in southeastern India), and Karnataka (a state located in southwestern India). They are habitually subjected to colonially reconfigured violence of epistemic and cognitive injustices by the mainstream colonial/modern governing institutions in India through dehumanising their cultural practices, racially invalidating their food
habits, preventing them from receiving education, practising racial suppression at workplaces, etc. To counter such violence of the colonial/modern governing institutions, the Siddis interweave narratives of epistemic justice and cognitive freedom through performing their Indigenous traditional socio-cultural practices of hunting, cooking, eating, singing and dancing. The interesting aspect of these socio-cultural practices is that they are socially, culturally, thematically and contextually interlinked to each other. The title of this article is a synecdochic representation of the interwovenness of Siddi histories and cultures. With respect to these arguments, the research article will argue how these socio-cultural practices function as Indigenous performances of epistemic justice and cognitive freedom for the Siddis of Karnataka.
KEYWORDS: Siddis, epistemic justice, cognitive freedom, synecdochic representation, and interwovenness.
habits, preventing them from receiving education, practising racial suppression at workplaces, etc. To counter such violence of the colonial/modern governing institutions, the Siddis interweave narratives of epistemic justice and cognitive freedom through performing their Indigenous traditional socio-cultural practices of hunting, cooking, eating, singing and dancing. The interesting aspect of these socio-cultural practices is that they are socially, culturally, thematically and contextually interlinked to each other. The title of this article is a synecdochic representation of the interwovenness of Siddi histories and cultures. With respect to these arguments, the research article will argue how these socio-cultural practices function as Indigenous performances of epistemic justice and cognitive freedom for the Siddis of Karnataka.
KEYWORDS: Siddis, epistemic justice, cognitive freedom, synecdochic representation, and interwovenness.
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This article serves as the foundation for my forthcoming monograph which is tentatively titled Garbocracy: Towards a Great Human Collapse. The arguments around garbology, garbo-imperialism, and garbocracy in this article widely revolve... more
This article serves as the foundation for my forthcoming monograph which is tentatively titled Garbocracy: Towards a Great Human Collapse. The arguments around garbology, garbo-imperialism, and garbocracy in this article widely revolve around the politics of accumulating, garbaging, and regulating the disposal and distribution of domestic, industrial, and digital wastes in daily life.
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The word myth comes from the ancient Greek word mythos and it refers to a form of speech or narration. Bhutan's unique eco-centric myths and senses of deep ecology serve as the main factors in preserving the natural environment and as a... more
The word myth comes from the ancient Greek word mythos and it refers to a form of speech or narration. Bhutan's unique eco-centric myths and senses of deep ecology serve as the main factors in preserving the natural environment and as a result, two-thirds of the country is under forest cover. Knowledge of deep ecology and animistic beliefs in myths reveal a deeper affinity to understand the natural landscape, reinforce the harmonious human-nonhuman relationship, and treat the natural landscape with deep respect. However, due to the increasing external forces of technology, western perspectives, and globalisation, myths continue to function as old-time stories for societies. Sangay Wangchuk's Seeing with the Third Eye interrogates the external forces by upholding Bhutan's eco-centric myths and ethics of deep ecology through the conservation of natural biodiversity. Based on these perspectives, this article explores the intertwining relationship between local eco-centric myths of Bhutan and deep ecology. The article also proposes an integrative approach of eco-centric myths and deep ecology as a model for human-nature collaborative and co-creative existence. Furthermore, by juxtaposing scientific evidence, the article strives to prove the significant impacts of eco-centric myths and deep ecology in the conservation of the earth's biodiversity.
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Suppose you are interested in engaging with how the curricular and pedagogical patterns of different higher educational institutions in India are plagued with various forms of caste, class, religious, communal, gender, and geographical... more
Suppose you are interested in engaging with how the curricular and pedagogical patterns of different higher educational institutions in India are plagued with various forms of caste, class, religious, communal, gender, and geographical hierarchies, and how they need to be addressed. In that case, this recently published edited volume is strongly recommended. I also had the privilege of reviewing this prolific work for the Social Change Journal (Published by the Council for Social Development and Sage, 2022).
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The Eurocentric, colonial, and capitalistic modes of knowledge production have not only physically enslaved the indigenous communities across the globe, but have also intoxicated the individual minds with various forms of epistemological... more
The Eurocentric, colonial, and capitalistic modes of knowledge production have not only physically enslaved the indigenous communities across the globe, but have also intoxicated the individual minds with various forms of epistemological and ontological hierarchies – good knowledge/bad knowledge, high knowledge/low knowledge, positive knowledge/negative knowledge, knowledge with common sense/knowledge without common sense, etc. This article particularly argues about how the phenomenon of common sense of the indigenous communities has been disrupted, expropriated, distorted, and appropriated with Eurocentric dimensions of common sense, and how it continues to take place in the contemporary era. Though associating one's existence with the phenomenon of common sense seems to be a very basic and common aspect, in reality, we see that it is a 'not so common feature' of our existence. Our mechanical ways of teaching and learning have subtracted us from our habitual engagements with the different commonsense-based approaches that call for collaborations, co-creations, fellow feeling, building economies of care and share, etc. which we have been learning from our forefathers, foremothers, grandparents, and parents. So, what are the possibilities of reviving and restoring the commonsense-based practices of teaching and learning as a planetary project in the contemporary era? With respect to the arguments as briefly mentioned above, the paper looks forward to addressing this question. This article is the third research article for the "three-part pedagogy series" (the first part “Pedagogy of the Stupid” and "Pedagogy of Performative Silence" is already published) that I am currently working on. The article builds on the arguments through various autoethnographic instances and also the wider issues of obligation to forget the past, the paradox of disciplining and mobilizing, the problem of academic pigmentocracy, etc. as found in the Indian academic system.
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Usually, during any form of communication in an institutional classroom and beyond, the phenomenon of "silence" is regarded as a form of epistemological and ontological absence. To elaborate further, the act of remaining silent is usually... more
Usually, during any form of communication in an institutional classroom and beyond, the phenomenon of "silence" is regarded as a form of epistemological and ontological absence. To elaborate further, the act of remaining silent is usually equated with incapability and nothingness. The authenticity and relevance of building and sharing knowledge with one another are mostly judged on the basis of one's capability to verbally express. But silence as a form of communication and knowledge dissemination has been an integral part of several native indigenous communities across the planet. It was with the emergence of European colonization, that such silent systems of knowledge production were disbanded as mysterious and invalid. The exercise of disbanding the phenomenon of silence continues to take place through the colonial/modern vocal-centric pedagogical practices in the contemporary era. With respect to these arguments, this essay attempts to explore the possible ways through which silence, along with vocal pedagogical practices, can be performed in an intersectional manner as a habitual pedagogical practice in educational institutions today. To justify the possibilities contextually, the author shares pedagogical instances mostly from India. This essay is the third part of the three-part pedagogy series. The other two essays are "Pedagogy of the Stupid" and "Pedagogy of Common Sense."
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Since India gained judicial independence, the postcolonial government inherited a country with various forms of internal border chaos that are based on race, culture, religion, anatomy, and many other factors. The chaotic 'internal... more
Since India gained judicial independence, the postcolonial government inherited a country with various forms of internal border chaos that are based on race, culture, religion, anatomy, and many other factors. The chaotic 'internal borderization' of India was initiated by the European colonizers (especially the British colonizers) and has been carried forward by the colonially structured self-profiting governing systems. The postcolonial governments, in order to systematize their self-profiting and consensually dictatorial political systems, made sure that the border disputes remain unresolved through Repressive State Apparatuses (RSAs) and AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Permission Act) is one of them. AFSPA is based on an ordinance promulgated by the British in 1942 to quell the national independence movement during the Second World War. In this article, we aim to look at the systemic oppression propagated by the government in Assam and the northeast with the help of semi-structured telephonic interviews with people from Assam. This article delves into the multiple factors in and around AFSPA that has essentially allowed the State to compromise with the basic human rights of its residents.
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The practice of racism is underpinned by various parameters: religion, geography, class, gender, and so forth. These underlying parameters have been faking their own insignificance and disappearance (Santos 2020) in such a systemic... more
The practice of racism is underpinned by various parameters: religion, geography, class, gender, and so forth. These underlying parameters have been faking their own insignificance and disappearance (Santos 2020) in such a systemic fashion that they successfully continue to operate in a naturalised and multiplicative manner in the contemporary era. For instance, let us look into the recent incidents of communal (stigmatisation of the Nizamuddin Markaz gathering), geographical (physical and verbal attacks on the local natives of Northeast India), class (chemical cleansing of the migrant workers), and gender (exclusion of the transgender community in relief packages) racism that India have been experiencing amidst the COVID-19 crisis. With respect to these aspects, this paper addresses the various ways through which COVID-19 is being used as a weapon to re-justify and re-configure the racial dynamics in contemporary India.
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Today, scholars, especially decolonial thinkers, and activists argue that the hidden legacies of European coloniality provide privilege to society’s elite and unfair advantage to marginalized groups. Decolonial scholars argue that even... more
Today, scholars, especially decolonial thinkers, and activists argue that the hidden legacies of European coloniality provide privilege to society’s elite and unfair advantage to marginalized groups. Decolonial scholars argue that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the education system, pedagogy, and curriculum, are often based on a Eurocentric epistemological foundation. Since the allocation of opportunity in contemporary society is becoming ever more dependent on knowledge and education, this Eurocentric pedagogy, knowledge, and curriculum given to students are very detrimental for their self-development as non-Western students. The outcome of this Eurocentric education is problematic and it becomes a source of great anxiety and concern nowadays. To explore this further, I was invited by Hadje for a conversation. The interview focuses on the case of India’s educational system.
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Since we announced the call for this Special Issue on Decolonial Interventions: in the middle of decoloniality in mid-2019, it feels like a lot has changed and the “middle” is more entangled and complicated than ever The COVID-19 pandemic... more
Since we announced the call for this Special Issue on Decolonial Interventions: in the middle of decoloniality in mid-2019, it feels like a lot has changed and the “middle” is more entangled and complicated than ever The COVID-19 pandemic has locked us down to shelter in our places, yet it has made us busier and more connected, and more worried and questioning The concerns and motivations that stood behind our decision to call for this Special Issue have not been eclipsed, as we might have initially thought Indeed, our concerns have been magnified and thrust forward as the global spread of the pandemic has been accompanied by the eruption of Black Lives Matter protests against police violence in the US, scenes of pandemic refugees dying on their exodus from locked-down cities in India, toppling statues in Britain and horrendously unjust disparities of sickness and death burdening Black people, Indigenous people and people of colour in different countries Deep questions about structu...
Research Interests: Sociology, Cultural Studies, African Studies, Gender Studies, Anthropology, and 14 moreEnglish Literature, Indigenous Studies, Humanities, Social Sciences, Postcolonial Studies, Race and Racism, Political Science, Hermeneutics, Race and Ethnicity, Feminism, Indigenous Peoples, India, Special Issue on Political News, and Modernity/coloniality/decoloniality
The British colonizers invaded India with the vision of capitalizing and politicizing the nation. The process of capitalization branched out of its singular industrial identity and monopolized every aspects of individual existence. India... more
The British colonizers invaded India with the vision of capitalizing and politicizing the nation. The process of capitalization branched out of its singular industrial identity and monopolized every aspects of individual existence. India is layered with diverse forms of art and culture uniquely belonging to the respective regions. With the intrusion of colonialism, the artistic and cultural uniqueness were dishonored through generalization. The Eurocentric metanarrative developed into an over-arching institution violating the indigenous micronarrative discourse. The post-independent era experienced further artistic confusion and fragmentation. Debating exclusively on theatre, the entire nation was bifurcated over the issue of retaining Indian traditionalism or inheriting western modernism. These theatrical dialectics generated original or synthesized versions of thematic and performative principles.
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With the usage of the term ‘politics’, the fundamentals of ‘deputation’, ‘diplomacy’ and ‘conspiracy’ automatically flashes around. Power politics have always been extremely exploitative and hegemonic in its function. Keeping aside all... more
With the usage of the term ‘politics’, the fundamentals of ‘deputation’, ‘diplomacy’ and ‘conspiracy’ automatically flashes around. Power politics have always been extremely exploitative and hegemonic in its function. Keeping aside all forms of critical and philosophical definitions, practically politics appears as a game of public exploitation meeting self ends. The ancient autocratic system of exercising power through outright violence has undergone changes. Presently, a symbiosis between coercion and psychological manipulation is heralded as the ultimate strategy for wielding power. Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is based on a Danish political controversy and conspiracy where the uncle of a Danish prince murders his father and marries his mother to become the heir. Renowned Indian film director Vishal Bharadwaj has made a screen adaptation of this play as Haider which re-contextualizes and contemporanizes the political situation of India through the upheavals in Kashmir. This paper in...
The evolution of theory is a result of different forms of individual and collective experiences of regular human existence. Its function is not limited within the written pages of intellectual monologues. The changing universal situations... more
The evolution of theory is a result of different forms of individual and collective experiences of regular human existence. Its function is not limited within the written pages of intellectual monologues. The changing universal situations and circumstances influence theory to undergo modulations and modifications from time to time. Mikhail Bakhtin in his work Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics invites multiple criticisms of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novels through the concepts of monology and dialogy. Dostoevsky’s creations blossomed when the dangers of Capitalism infiltrated Russia causing severe socio-political effects. The entire society
The Siddi Dhamal is a dance form, which is performed by the Siddi community that resides in Gujarat and it unpacks life stories about their spiritual ancestor Baba Ghor (a Muslim Sufi saint) and how they have been taught by their... more
The Siddi Dhamal is a dance form, which is performed by the Siddi community that resides in Gujarat and it unpacks life
stories about their spiritual ancestor Baba Ghor (a Muslim Sufi saint) and how they have been taught by their foremothers and forefathers to co-exist with nature. Prior to the dances, the Siddis decorate themselves with animal skins and body paints that are prepared with natural colors.
stories about their spiritual ancestor Baba Ghor (a Muslim Sufi saint) and how they have been taught by their foremothers and forefathers to co-exist with nature. Prior to the dances, the Siddis decorate themselves with animal skins and body paints that are prepared with natural colors.
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Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is an indigenous (Missisuaga Nishnaabeg) writer, musician and academician. She is notable as the author of several books and papers on indigenous issues in Canada, and for her work with the 2012 'Idle No... more
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is an indigenous (Missisuaga Nishnaabeg) writer, musician and academician. She is notable as the author of several books and papers on indigenous issues in Canada, and for her work with the 2012 'Idle No More' protests. Leanne released her first album of poetry and music called Islands of Decolonial Love in conjunction with a book of poetry and short stories of the same name in 2013 with ARP Books. She signed with RPM records, the first indigenous contemporary music label in June 2016, and her second album Flight released on September 30, 2016. Simpson is a member of Alderville First Nation. She writes about contemporary indigenous issues and realities, particularly from her own 'Anishinaabe' nation across a variety of genres. Simpson has collaborated with a variety of indigenous and non-indigenous musicians to record and perform stories as song. She regularly performs live with a core group of musicians consisting of Cris Derksen Nick Fer...
This short piece reflects on how fake research works are critically manufactured in the higher education systems of India.
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The evolution of Covid-19 in India has generated biomedical crises and various crises in teaching and learning processes. The lack of consistency in taking classes, the unsystematic methods of assessing the students, the mockery of the... more
The evolution of Covid-19 in India has generated biomedical crises and various crises in teaching and learning processes. The lack of consistency in taking classes, the unsystematic methods of assessing the students, the mockery of the students as 'Covid batch', and the career insecurities of the students have transformed the knowledge scape of the students. During the virtual interaction sessions with the participants, the authors felt that the students' approach towards virtual learning had been infected with insecurities, insincerities, and the fear of bleak futures. These challenges invite us to critically re-investigate and re-address the unethical evaluation practices within a broader framework of the factors that contribute to the unequal systems of knowledge production within the higher educational institutions in India. Based on these arguments, the article discusses the various factors that provoke the students to indulge in such unethical practices during Covid-19; the consequences they encounter; and the possible methods to overcome such challenges. The discussions in this article are based on a case study conducted with six postgraduate students from different higher educational institutions in West Bengal and Assam.
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The biomedical crisis of COVID-19 in India has amplified several other crises, namely; social, cultural, communal, religious, geographical, economic, political, racial and gender. It is important to note that these crises are not new -... more
The biomedical crisis of COVID-19 in India has amplified several other crises, namely; social, cultural, communal, religious, geographical, economic, political, racial and gender. It is important to note that these crises are not new - they were already socio-culturally embedded and functional in the pre-COVID-19 era. With the inception of COVID-19, these crises have been further aggravated through the re-configuration and re-systematisation of various forms of social, cultural, political, economic, racial, geographical, religious and economic violence. With respect to these arguments, this commentary focuses on how the outbreak of COVID-19 has led to an alarming rise in racial hatred against the residents of Northeast India in the contemporary era. Through socio-historically analysing the problematic rise of racial hatred, the commentary also identifies the various ways through which the pandemic of COVID-19 is not only functioning as a disease, but also as a “disease” of body-politics and racism.
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The Siddis are an ethnic community who are believed to be the descendants of Zulu people from South Africa. Historical records reveal that the Siddis arrived in India with the Portuguese from Cape of Good Hope in 15th century. Though the... more
The Siddis are an ethnic community who are believed to be the descendants of Zulu people from South Africa. Historical records reveal that the Siddis arrived in India with the Portuguese from Cape of Good Hope in 15th century. Though the Siddis have been residing in India for the last 500 years, yet they only came to the limelight during the 1990s through Special Areas Games Scheme project and media stories. Most of the media stories in the forms of photographs and captions were a combination of half-hearted research, historical distortions, over-romanticism, stereotypes and generalization of society, culture and lifestyles of the Siddis. In this way, they continued to re-manufacture the problematic visual-colonial narratives, which were once manufactured by the Portuguese in India and channelized across the globe. This process of visual colonization, through different photography projects, government plans and media documentaries continue even today. Keeping these aspects at the backdrop, the chapter will explore how the governing systems and the media houses, through visual colonization, continue to kill the Siddi cultures, traditions, lifestyles, mythologies, histories and the economy with kindness.
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This short article engages with the untold histories of the Scottish women of Kolkata from a hauntological perspective. The entire documentary research has been conducted in the Scottish Cemetery, Kolkata. In order to access the... more
This short article engages with the untold histories of the Scottish women of Kolkata from a hauntological perspective. The entire documentary research has been conducted in the Scottish Cemetery, Kolkata. In order to access the documentary please refer to the following link: https://theconversation.com/how-a-scottish-graveyard-in-kolkata-revealed-the-untold-stories-of-colonial-women-in-india-161752#comment_2540687.
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This article makes an effort to unpack the ways in which the traditional food customs of precolonial Bengal were colonised by the Europeans, especially the British, followed by the Portuguese. In the course of its unpacking, the article... more
This article makes an effort to unpack the ways in which the traditional food customs of precolonial Bengal were colonised by the Europeans, especially the British, followed by the Portuguese. In the course of its unpacking, the article reflects rather elaborately, as the details reveal, on how the colonisation of food customs and culinary practices of precolonial Bengal opened gateways for the Europeans to fragment the traditional society of precolonial Bengal socially, culturally, racially and communally. With scant references to the colonisation of food in Cape Town, South Africa, where the Dutch brought Bengali families in the middle of the 1600s as enslaved peoples to assist them in setting up a halfway station for their continued colonisation of India, this article also explores the various possibilities of decolonising the colonial and capitalistic invasions of European and North American food customs and culinary practices in contemporary West Bengal, in particular.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Anthropology, and 14 moreHumanities, Social Sciences, Cultural Heritage, Literature, Postcolonial Studies, Sociology of Food and Eating, Gender and Sexuality, Critical Race Theory, Race and Ethnicity, Portuguese Colonialism and Decolonizaton, Food and Nutrition, Indian Culture, Decolonial Thought, and Transcultural Studies
This article elaborates, through decolonial phenomenological analysis , the author's concept of pedagogy of the stupid, a metacritical idea that offers a critique of the colonial practice of constructing colonized people as intellectually... more
This article elaborates, through decolonial phenomenological analysis , the author's concept of pedagogy of the stupid, a metacritical idea that offers a critique of the colonial practice of constructing colonized people as intellectually , politically, and ethically incapable of self-governance, cultural growth, and epistemic pursuits. Drawing upon the author's experiences and concepts from the constellation of countries and people that constitute postcolonial India and the country of Bhutan, the author issues a critique of colonial constructions of knowledge through which the aim of producing colonized subjects depended on miseducation. The article concludes with a discussion of Bhutan's "Green School System" of education as an effort to cultivate a form of decolonial practice and phenomenology of the precolonial traditions of pedagogy in India.
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Since we announced the call for this Special Issue on Decolonial Interventions: in the middle of decoloniality in mid-2019, it feels like a lot has changed and the “middle” is more entangled and complicated than ever. The COVID-19... more
Since we announced the call for this Special Issue on Decolonial Interventions: in the middle of decoloniality in mid-2019, it feels like a lot has changed and the “middle” is more entangled and complicated than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has locked us down to shelter in our places, yet it has made us busier and more connected, and more worried and questioning. The concerns and motivations that stood behind our decision to call for this Special Issue have not been eclipsed, as we might have initially thought. Indeed, our concerns have been magnified and thrust forward as the global spread of the pandemic has been accompanied by the eruption of Black Lives
Matter protests against police violence in the US, scenes of pandemic refugees dying on their exodus from locked-down cities in India, toppling statues in Britain and horrendously unjust disparities of sickness and death burdening Black people, Indigenous people and people of colour in different countries. Deep questions about structural injustice and the colonial-modern have (re)surfaced as the entangled roots of oppression and violence have been thrust into the open, making them impossible to ignore. Racism, gender violence, indigenous dispossession and genocide, climate and environmental injustice, forest fires and species extinction render basic human demands for healthcare, shelter, food, clean water and even the universal right to breathe (Mbembe 2020) impossible for so many.
Matter protests against police violence in the US, scenes of pandemic refugees dying on their exodus from locked-down cities in India, toppling statues in Britain and horrendously unjust disparities of sickness and death burdening Black people, Indigenous people and people of colour in different countries. Deep questions about structural injustice and the colonial-modern have (re)surfaced as the entangled roots of oppression and violence have been thrust into the open, making them impossible to ignore. Racism, gender violence, indigenous dispossession and genocide, climate and environmental injustice, forest fires and species extinction render basic human demands for healthcare, shelter, food, clean water and even the universal right to breathe (Mbembe 2020) impossible for so many.
Research Interests: Sociology, Cultural Studies, African Studies, Gender Studies, Anthropology, and 14 moreEnglish Literature, Indigenous Studies, Humanities, Women's Studies, Social Sciences, Postcolonial Studies, Race and Racism, Hermeneutics, Race and Ethnicity, Feminism, Indigenous Peoples, India, Special Issue on Political News, and Modernity/coloniality/decoloniality
The process of writing, understanding and interpreting the histories of the European colonizers have always been infected with different forms of social, cultural, gender, and racial hierarchies. With respect to the gender perspective,... more
The process of writing, understanding and interpreting the histories of the European colonizers have always been infected with different forms of social, cultural, gender, and racial hierarchies. With respect to the gender perspective, usually, it is observed that historical narratives that are associated with European colonization in general and the colonization of India by the Europeans in particular are highly heteronormative and patriarchal in nature. In other words, the various socio-historical narratives that make an effort to eulogize the ‘contributions’ and the ‘sacrifices’ of the European colonizers mostly talk about European men and systemically and epistemically fail to acknowledge the ‘contributions’ and ‘sacrifices’ of the women. As a result, such forms of historical narratives only unfurl a half-baked picture of the actual reality. With respect to these arguments, this documentary research makes an effort to unpack a set of ignored and undervalued historical narratives that are associated with the Scottish women of Calcutta. Most of the existing historical documents that focuses on the functioning of the British East India Company in Calcutta hardly talk about the Scottish in general and/or the Scottish in particular. Thus, this documentary research, which has been funded by a Journal of International Women’s Studies (JIWS) fellowship, has made an effort to selectively bring forth the various social and cultural roles that were played by Scottish women in Calcutta during the time of British colonization. In the process of shedding light on these select Scottish women, this documentary has also made an effort to complicate the histories of colonialism and the challenges of the decolonial gaze.
Research Interests: Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Humanities, Women's Studies, Social Sciences, and 13 moreFilm Studies, British History, Critical Race Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Indian studies, South Asian Studies, Scottish Studies, South Asia, Gender, Documentary Film, India, Indology, and Modernity/coloniality/decoloniality
In this chapter titled, “In Search of the De-colonial Turn in Indian Academia: De-colonising the Philosophies of Knowledge Production—A Multi-Versal Shift,” Sayan Dey explores the contemporary West-centric dimensions of the Indian... more
In this chapter titled, “In Search of the De-colonial Turn in Indian
Academia: De-colonising the Philosophies of Knowledge Production—A
Multi-Versal Shift,” Sayan Dey explores the contemporary West-centric
dimensions of the Indian academia in an attempt to de-colonise some of its aspects and re-shape a multi-versal platform with diverse epistemological and ontological frameworks that will interact and inter-act with each other in a mutually beneficial way.
Academia: De-colonising the Philosophies of Knowledge Production—A
Multi-Versal Shift,” Sayan Dey explores the contemporary West-centric
dimensions of the Indian academia in an attempt to de-colonise some of its aspects and re-shape a multi-versal platform with diverse epistemological and ontological frameworks that will interact and inter-act with each other in a mutually beneficial way.
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This article is a continuation of the arguments about the importance of ecological consciousness as a powerful antidote against future pandemics, which we have put forward in the article “Why Bhutan Is An Outlier In The Fight Against... more
This article is a continuation of the arguments about the importance of ecological consciousness as a powerful antidote against future pandemics, which we have put forward in the article “Why Bhutan Is An Outlier In The Fight Against Coronvirus?” (already uploaded in Academia) In the previous article we have mentioned about the ‘green school’ initiative in Bhutan “which plays an instrumental role in instilling ecological consciousness amongst individuals from their very childhood days” (Dey and Sunar 2020).
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The coronavirus (Covid-19) has changed political behaviour in South Africa and India. It has forced both Republics to reconsider their positions in terms of state-citizen relations, the history of racism and neo-racial reinforcement. This... more
The coronavirus (Covid-19) has changed political behaviour in South Africa and India. It has forced both Republics to reconsider their positions in terms of state-citizen relations, the history of racism and neo-racial reinforcement. This affects development and is closely linked with political will and unequal relations. This lack of political will is often in bad faith, leading to lack of service delivery. Covid-19 has shown that service delivery is a political imperative rather than a choice. Our position is that the developmental state is hindered by capitalism, which maintains the bourgeoisie and class struggle. We argue that this crisis forces the postcolonial state into development proper in light of social issues. We posit that the challenges we face put us into a dilemma - to save human life or spark political outrage. Political will thus serves as an antithesis to this dilemma, while changing the developmental narrative.
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What is pedagogy of the stupid? How it can play a pivotal role towards de-hierarchizing and de-colonizing the systems of knowledge production, within and outside institutions, across the globe?
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The whole world is in a lockdown mode. Some of the most powerful nations in the world are struggling to deal with this global pandemic. However, Bhutan, a tiny landlocked country in South Asia, appears to be in a very stable state.... more
The whole world is in a lockdown mode. Some of the most powerful nations in the world are struggling to deal with this global pandemic. However, Bhutan, a tiny landlocked country in South Asia, appears to be in a very stable state.
Despite so many infrastructural challenges, how has Bhutan been so successful in monitoring the COVID-19 cases inside the country, and keep it so low?
Despite so many infrastructural challenges, how has Bhutan been so successful in monitoring the COVID-19 cases inside the country, and keep it so low?
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Food Racism: Have you ever wondered how our daily food habits are underlined by racial factors? In this brief article I argue that how the consumption of various food items in Kolkata, based on their color are, consciously and... more
Food Racism: Have you ever wondered how our daily food habits are underlined by racial factors? In this brief article I argue that how the consumption of various food items in Kolkata, based on their color are, consciously and unconsciously, underlined by racial factors. I also argue that how food hawkers in Kolkata makes an effort to counter this food racism through their self-created punchlines - a form of aesthetical marketing.
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This analytical study argues how COVID-19 is re-con guring the already existing neo-colonial patterns of knowledge production and management in India. How is COVID-19 re-configuring the already existing violent knowledge management,... more
This analytical study argues how COVID-19 is re-con guring the already existing neo-colonial patterns of knowledge production and management in India. How is COVID-19 re-configuring the already existing violent knowledge management, epistemic inferiorization and neo-colonial divisions in contemporary India?
Here is a brief article that I attempted for Real KM Magazine, Australia which attempts to address these issues.
Here is a brief article that I attempted for Real KM Magazine, Australia which attempts to address these issues.
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This article is a part of my lecture which I delivered at the University of South Africa Decolonial Summer School on 13th January 2020. The arguments which I have put forth in this article are not just barren historical documentations... more
This article is a part of my lecture which I delivered at the University of South Africa Decolonial Summer School on 13th January 2020. The arguments which I have put forth in this article are not just barren historical documentations and/or referential research findings. It is a part of my habitual experience which I have been grappling with since my childhood days and still I am struggling, fighting, unlearning, relearning and consistently interrogating that why individuals in India, especially in West Bengal, are giving up their individually unique traditional food habits and blindly mimicking from the West? Are the western and western-styled foods consumed just for the sake of appeasing the taste buds or it is done for the sake of getting accepted within a specific culturescape that is engineered and maintained by the colonial West? So, if this is what is happening, which I have argued in this article, then behind manufacturing such systemic spaces of hierarchy and violence, what role does scientists, health experts, anthropologists and sociologists play?
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Since our childhood days we see that in the Indian society there is always an over-concern with mathematics. If someone is not good at it the individual is immediately tagged as dumbheaded. So, how did this ritual of false categorizations... more
Since our childhood days we see that in the Indian society there is always an over-concern with mathematics. If someone is not good at it the individual is immediately tagged as dumbheaded. So, how did this ritual of false categorizations develop? Find it out in this article!
Research Interests: Mathematics, Social Sciences, Postcolonial Studies, Decolonial Thought, Indian educational system, and 7 moreDecolonization, Vedic Studies, Highschool, Vedic Maths and Science, Nationalism and Decolonization, Decolonizing Philosophies and Methodologies of Education and Educational Policy Studies, and Vedic Mathematics
The phenomenon of research in India, especially in the fields of humanities and social sciences, has been plagued by the unquestionable doctrines of research methodologies either composed in the form of books that are widely available in... more
The phenomenon of research in India, especially in the fields of humanities and social sciences, has been plagued by the unquestionable doctrines of research methodologies either composed in the form of books that are widely available in the online and offline platforms or packaged as research methodology workshops which are conducted by the universities across the nation. Besides several factors, one major reason behind poor quality researches in India is the enforcement of the methodologies on the students. This is not only preventing the students to venture towards unique, creative and original researches, but also provoking them to borrow and paraphrase others’ research arguments to fit within the established ethics of research methodologies. Keeping this argument at the backdrop, this paper makes an effort to localize, contextualize and pluriversalize research methodologies in proportion with the socio-cultural experiences of the researchers who can incorporate the impact of cultural studies as a methodology within their respective research studies.
Research Interests: Social Research Methods and Methodology, Research Methodology, Empirical Legal Research, Interdisciplinary research (Social Sciences), Decolonial Thought, and 3 moreDecolonization, Research Interest and Area of Specialization Includes Postcolonial Theory and Literature, and Decolonizing Pedagogies & Research
In honour of Pride month this June, it is a blog on the struggles of Honduras’ transgender community, featuring stories of discrimination but also of resistance. Written by Dr. Sayan Dey with some added contributions from educate.... more
In honour of Pride month this June, it is a blog on the struggles of Honduras’ transgender community, featuring stories of discrimination but also of resistance. Written by Dr. Sayan Dey with some added contributions from educate. director Antonia McGrath.
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This article looks forward to analyze how the social, cultural, geographical and financial positions influence the habitual behavioral patterns of an individual towards others in the contemporary era. The article makes a comparative study... more
This article looks forward to analyze how the social, cultural, geographical and financial positions influence the habitual behavioral patterns of an individual towards others in the contemporary era. The article makes a comparative study between India and Honduras and how the contemporary behavioral patters in these two countries are widely influenced by class, caste, communal and religious hierarchies which were once introduced by the colonizers.
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The global evolution of the postcolonial era across diverse spatio-temporal zones generated a highly debatable paradigm: did postcoloniality generate a new epistemological and ontological framework that disentangled from the colonial... more
The global evolution of the postcolonial era across diverse spatio-temporal zones generated a highly debatable paradigm: did postcoloniality generate a new epistemological and ontological framework that disentangled from the colonial patterns or did these patterns continue with the pre-existing colonial ideologies? With the end of colonization in India, the physically visible colonial empires of patriarchy were replaced by what we can refer to as “metaphysical empires”, which are physically invisible, but which operate ideologically in a very systematic and convincing manner, reproducing many of the hierarchies entrenched during the colonial period. The interpretation of postcolonial histories has been fractured with gendered, inter-racial, caste and communal hierarchies that have promoted specific (his)tories[1] and have demolished innumerable narratives by women. Even existing historical narratives by women in India are mostly written from a patriarchal gaze, underpinned with definite caste, communal, geographical, demographical and racial preferences, demonstrating the hegemony of patriarchy and the assurance of persistent patriarchal-colonial ideologies, through the self-centered socio-political designs of indigenous groups. As the theoretical backdrop, this essay explores the documentary focused on the contemporary Anglo-Indian women residents of Bow Barracks in Calcutta. The project sought to record and archive the undocumented socio-historical narratives of those women. The film was funded by the Journal of International Women’s Studies, Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Gender Studies, Women's Studies, Feminist Theory, Indian studies, and 11 moreGender and Sexuality, Culture, Women, Postcolonial Feminism, Black feminism, Decolonial Thought, Women and Gender Studies, Anglo Indian Literature, Decolonial Feminism, History Of Calcutta, and Anglo Indian Culture Studies
In India if we are travelling by a train or walking into a restaurant in India, we are expected to give a 'tip' to the workers before leaving the respective places. The usual reason behind this culture is to 'encourage' (and sometimes... more
In India if we are travelling by a train or walking into a restaurant in India, we are expected to give a 'tip' to the workers before leaving the respective places. The usual reason behind this culture is to 'encourage' (and sometimes bribe) the workers for a good service. As a researcher in colonial and decolonial studies, I have been wondering that how did this culture evolve in India? This question provoked me to compose this brief article which will be published soon.
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This brief article looks forward to address the issues of 'Reggio Emilia' and 'Cargo Cultism' as practiced in the pre-school education system of contemporary India.
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The concept of translation is usually limited within the frontiers of languages, often conceived as words and phrases. It restricts the diverse possibilities of going beyond textual translation to analyze contextual translation, or... more
The concept of translation is usually limited within the frontiers of languages, often conceived as words and phrases. It restricts the diverse possibilities of going beyond textual translation to analyze contextual translation, or “transcontextualization”. This argument attempts to realize a (normally) unrealizable perspective on translation through Sohag Sen’s Bengali adaptation of Mahesh Elkunchwar’s play Vāḍā Cirebandī (The Old-Stone Mansion, 1985), an adaptation which encompasses both the text and its context(s). The criticism of colonial legacies in postcolonial India, as unraveled through the rural-urban divide in this play, does not portray identical obstacles and grievances in Elkunchwar’s Maharashtra and Sohag Sen’s Bengal. Keeping different contexts in mind, this paper will elaborate the manifold ways in which transcreation/transcontextualization exposes the problem of generalized textual representations. It will also reflect upon the diverse ways through which transcontextualization incorporates geographical and ontological variants within specific spatio-temporal zones. Keywords: translation, practicalize, postcolonial, transcontextualization, spatio-temporal.
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This is a review essay on two edited volumes titled Fanon Today and Fanon, Phenomenology, and Psychology. The essay reflects on the diverse ways in which Frantz Fanon's ideologies and philosophies have been explored by the authors in... more
This is a review essay on two edited volumes titled Fanon Today and Fanon, Phenomenology, and Psychology. The essay reflects on the diverse ways in which Frantz Fanon's ideologies and philosophies have been explored by the authors in different racial, social, cultural, historical, political, economic, gendered, and geographical contexts. The essay also argues how the contributions collectively voice toward building a transcultural and transcontinental solidarity of "Fanonian Turn."
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This volume, edited by Joydev Maity and a 'Foreword' written by Dr. Sayan Dey is a detailed and critical study of Indian diaspora writings and their diverse themes. It focuses on dynamics and contemporary perspectives of Indian diaspora... more
This volume, edited by Joydev Maity and a 'Foreword' written by Dr. Sayan Dey is a detailed and critical study of Indian diaspora writings and their diverse themes. It focuses on dynamics and contemporary perspectives of Indian diaspora writings and analyzes emerging themes of this field like the experience of the Bihari diaspora, migration to Gulf countries, the relation between diasporic experience and self-translation, uprootedness and resistance discourse through ecocritical praxis and many more. With the aid of a subtle theoretical framework, the volume closely examines some of the key texts such as 'Goat Days, Baumgartner's Bombay, An Atlas of Impossible Longing, The Circle of Reason', and authors including Shauna Singh Baldwin, M.G. Vassanji, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, V.S. Naipaul, and others. The book also explores diaspora literature written in regional language and later translated into English and how they align with the fundamental Indian diaspora writings.
A significant contribution to Indian diaspora writings; this volume will be of great importance to scholars and researchers of diaspora literature, migration and border studies, cultural, memory, and translation studies.
A significant contribution to Indian diaspora writings; this volume will be of great importance to scholars and researchers of diaspora literature, migration and border studies, cultural, memory, and translation studies.
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This collection of interviews from various decolonial researchers and academicians across the world centrally reflects upon two crucial aspects - the differences between the concepts of postcoloniality and decoloniality, and the... more
This collection of interviews from various decolonial researchers and academicians across the world centrally reflects upon two crucial aspects - the differences between the concepts of postcoloniality and decoloniality, and the multifarious forms of decolonial thinking and doing that are taking place in the contemporary era.
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This book by South African Indian Classical Dancer and Historian Vasugi Dewar Singh traces the history of the evolution of the Bharatnatyam dance form in South Africa and how the dance form socio-historically contributed to the cultural... more
This book by South African Indian Classical Dancer and Historian Vasugi Dewar Singh traces the history of the evolution of the Bharatnatyam dance form in South Africa and how the dance form socio-historically contributed to the cultural existence of the Indian community in South Africa.
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This book studies the importance of adopting Green Academia as a systemic long-term counter-intervention strategy against any form of impending pandemics in the post-COVID era and beyond. It argues that anti-nature and capitalistic... more
This book studies the importance of adopting Green Academia as a systemic long-term counter-intervention strategy against any form of impending pandemics in the post-COVID era and beyond. It argues that anti-nature and capitalistic knowledge systems have contributed to the evolution and growth of COVID-19 across the globe, and emphasizes the merits of reinstating nature-based and environment-friendly pedagogical and curricular infrastructures in mainstream educational institutions. The volume also explores possible ways of weaving ecology and the environment as a habitual practice of teaching and learning in an intersectional manner as long-term sustainable solutions. With detailed case studies of the green schools in Bhutan and similar practices in India, Japan, Vietnam, Australia, Canada, France, Spain, Kenya and New Zealand, the book argues for different forms of eco-friendly education systems and the possibilities of expanding these local practices to a global stage.
Part of the "Academics, Politics and Society in the Post-COVID World" series, this book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of sociology, cultural studies, education, ecology, public policy social anthropology, sustainable development, sociology of education, and political sociology.
Part of the "Academics, Politics and Society in the Post-COVID World" series, this book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of sociology, cultural studies, education, ecology, public policy social anthropology, sustainable development, sociology of education, and political sociology.
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The project “Scars and Scratches” was conceived in 2020 by three people from India, belonging to three different walks of life. The people are Soumali Roy, who is a home tutor and deeply engages with creative aspects like waste-craft,... more
The project “Scars and Scratches” was conceived in 2020 by three people from India, belonging to three different walks of life. The people are Soumali Roy, who is a home tutor and deeply engages with creative aspects like waste-craft, weaving, and painting; Amit Singh, who recently completed his high school and is an aspiring fashion designer; and Sayan Dey, who consistently oscillates between the hardcore academic and the free-flowing creative space.
The purpose of building this project is to bypass the suffocating parameters of academic publishing and generate a warm and welcoming space of caring and sharing, through a set of visual narratives (accompanied by short descriptions) that would unpack existential narratives of painful existential challenges: queerness, motherhood, feminine being, caste hierarchies, gender-biases, toxic masculinities, urban dreams, and many more.
The purpose of building this project is to bypass the suffocating parameters of academic publishing and generate a warm and welcoming space of caring and sharing, through a set of visual narratives (accompanied by short descriptions) that would unpack existential narratives of painful existential challenges: queerness, motherhood, feminine being, caste hierarchies, gender-biases, toxic masculinities, urban dreams, and many more.
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This anthology, 'History and Myth: Postcolonial Dimensions', seeks to interrogate and dismantle the colonially structured symmetrical interpretations of the histories and mythological narratives of the former European colonies through... more
This anthology, 'History and Myth: Postcolonial Dimensions', seeks to interrogate and dismantle the colonially structured symmetrical interpretations of the histories and mythological narratives of the former European colonies through depolarization, pluriversality, and border thinking. Here, the concepts of history and myth have been addressed from different perspectives and spatiotemporal zones by scholars from different parts of the world, which add to the global value of the book.
It has been argued in this volume that the understanding of postcolonial histories and myths in the contemporary era is highly influenced by the colonially fashioned binaries: valid/ invalid, civilized/barbaric, inclusive/exclusive, relevant/irrelevant, good/bad, etc., which continue to preserve the epistemic citadels of coloniality and selectively promote such historical and mythological narratives that celebrate the superiority of the Global North and the inferiority of the Global South. This book will be of particular interest to scholars, researchers, teachers, and those interested in understanding history, postcolonial studies, decolonial studies, cultural studies, literature, and sociology.
It has been argued in this volume that the understanding of postcolonial histories and myths in the contemporary era is highly influenced by the colonially fashioned binaries: valid/ invalid, civilized/barbaric, inclusive/exclusive, relevant/irrelevant, good/bad, etc., which continue to preserve the epistemic citadels of coloniality and selectively promote such historical and mythological narratives that celebrate the superiority of the Global North and the inferiority of the Global South. This book will be of particular interest to scholars, researchers, teachers, and those interested in understanding history, postcolonial studies, decolonial studies, cultural studies, literature, and sociology.
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This collection, edited by Rozena Maart from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, is composed of an introduction, seventeen articles by eighteen authors, two opinion pieces, two roundtables by eight authors, two of whom have... more
This collection, edited by Rozena Maart from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, is composed of an introduction, seventeen articles by
eighteen authors, two opinion pieces, two roundtables by eight authors, two of whom have articles in the collection, three interviews and three book reviews, and as such contain the work of twenty-eight contributors. Critiques of racism, definitions of decolonisation and decoloniality, histories of enslavement, coloniser – colonised relations, the coloniality of language, the colonial teaching practices of empire colonies, Black and racialised bodies as sites of racism and colonisation in the afterlife of apartheid, the recolonised economy, and the European colonial curricula that continue to support such practices, especially in law schools in South Africa, run between and among the work in this collection.
eighteen authors, two opinion pieces, two roundtables by eight authors, two of whom have articles in the collection, three interviews and three book reviews, and as such contain the work of twenty-eight contributors. Critiques of racism, definitions of decolonisation and decoloniality, histories of enslavement, coloniser – colonised relations, the coloniality of language, the colonial teaching practices of empire colonies, Black and racialised bodies as sites of racism and colonisation in the afterlife of apartheid, the recolonised economy, and the European colonial curricula that continue to support such practices, especially in law schools in South Africa, run between and among the work in this collection.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, African Studies, Archaeology, Anthropology, and 11 moreFood Science, Latin American and Caribbean History, Literature, Postcolonial Studies, Critical Race Theory, Race and Ethnicity, Culture, Decolonialization, Africana Studies, South Africa, and Race and identity in post-apartheid South Africa
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This preface titled "Post-intersectional-coloniality" has been written for an edited volume titled "Colonial and Postcolonial Literature: Discourses, Disruptions, and Intersections." The edited volume consists of 29 short essays by... more
This preface titled "Post-intersectional-coloniality" has been written for an edited volume titled "Colonial and Postcolonial Literature: Discourses, Disruptions, and Intersections." The edited volume consists of 29 short essays by different authors from India and abroad. With respect to diverse social, cultural, racial, gendered, communal, geographical, and topographical experiences, the authors address different issues of colonialism and postcolonialism in a disruptive and intersectional manner.
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Decolonizing Academia in the Irish and the Global Contexts
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Despite the official end of physical colonization across the planet, the systemic, epistemic, and ontological impact of colonial ideologies through the Eurocentric parameters of knowledge production continue to regulate the habitual... more
Despite the official end of physical colonization across the planet, the systemic, epistemic, and ontological impact of colonial ideologies through the Eurocentric parameters of knowledge production continue to regulate the habitual existential patterns of individuals and institutions in the contemporary era. The impact can be very well observed through our verbal language, body language, behavioral patterns, curricular structures, pedagogical practices, fashion ethics, economic practices, and many other aspects. With respect to the theme of this seminar, the lecture will focus on how colonially-shaped pedagogical practices continue to dominate and dictate the higher education system in India. I have chosen India to weave my arguments in this lecture because I am from the city of Kolkata in India. Most of the arguments in this lecture will emerge from my personal experiences as a student, researcher, and teacher across diverse schools and higher educational institutions in India. The Indian education system continues to be haunted by the specter of the 1835 Macaulay’s Minute on Education that expropriated the native indigenous systems of teaching and learning and appropriated the Eurocentric knowledge disciplines. Within India's Eurocentric education knowledge systems, the parameters of intelligence, intellectuality, and knowledgeability are interpreted based on one’s knowledge of specific Eurocentric sciences and literatures. To elaborate further, individuals, who do not possess knowledges about certain European sciences, technologies, histories, literatures, languages, and other disciplines are dehumanized; their intellectualities are dumped as stupid; they are demarcated as individuals who lack common sense, and they are convicted for not being enough vocal and aware about the modern (also read as colonial) knowledge frameworks.
Based on these arguments, the lecture will unfold how the pedagogical patterns in the higher educational institutions in India continue to preserve the hierarchical, dictatorial, and violent pedestals of Eurocentric knowledge systems and how the pedagogies of stupidity, common sense, and silence can generate collective networks of resilience against such violent teaching-learning practices. The arguments about these pedagogical practices, which I celebrate as fractured pedagogies, will be widely shaped from a set of case studies across different higher educational and alternate educational institutions in India, which I have conducted for my ‘trilogy of fractured pedagogies’ – ‘Pedagogy of the Stupid’, ‘Pedagogy of Common Sense', and ‘Pedagogy of Performative Silence’.
Based on these arguments, the lecture will unfold how the pedagogical patterns in the higher educational institutions in India continue to preserve the hierarchical, dictatorial, and violent pedestals of Eurocentric knowledge systems and how the pedagogies of stupidity, common sense, and silence can generate collective networks of resilience against such violent teaching-learning practices. The arguments about these pedagogical practices, which I celebrate as fractured pedagogies, will be widely shaped from a set of case studies across different higher educational and alternate educational institutions in India, which I have conducted for my ‘trilogy of fractured pedagogies’ – ‘Pedagogy of the Stupid’, ‘Pedagogy of Common Sense', and ‘Pedagogy of Performative Silence’.
Research Interests:
This book review has been written by Dr. Shankhadeep Chattopadhyay and it critically reflects on my monograph "Performing Memories and Weaving Archives: Creolized Cultures Across the Indian Ocean." It has been published by the Journal of... more
This book review has been written by Dr. Shankhadeep Chattopadhyay and it critically reflects on my monograph "Performing Memories and Weaving Archives: Creolized Cultures Across the Indian Ocean." It has been published by the Journal of Asian and African Studies (Sage).