In the previous Unit, you have been introduced to some of the major theories of and approaches to... more In the previous Unit, you have been introduced to some of the major theories of and approaches towards nationalism. You have learnt how to understand and define the concept of the nation, as well as the various factors involved in these understandings and definitions, such as ethnicity, culture, language, race and gender. You have also been introduced to some of the issues that have been central to the debates around nationalism, such as territoriality, common heritage, the invention of histories and traditions. In addition, you have been introduced to feminist perspectives on nations and nationalism, on the issues noted above, as well as on the ways in which masculinity and femininity are deployed in these nationalist discourses.
This paper critically assesses the usefulness of the “new-Orientalism” thesis in understanding th... more This paper critically assesses the usefulness of the “new-Orientalism” thesis in understanding the discourses around the idea of “terrorism” and of “the terrorist”. It observes that critiques of “new Orientalism” provide important insights into the ways in which “Islam”, “the Muslim” and “terrorist” have come to be constructed. However, it also argues for the importance of the density of historical context and specificity of locality in understanding how these categories are formulated. The case of Bombay cinema is particularly instructive here. The paper argues that Bombay cinema – which has engaged with these concerns in some form since its inception, and is going “global” in unprecedented ways – exemplifies both the play of these two distinct discursive tendencies and also the tensions that arise because they are not identical. Post-9/11 films like Aamir (2008) and New York (2009) manifest these discursive mechanics and the tensions that result from the play between “new Orientalism” and the local.
Feminism, activism, politics: Production of knowledge in the semiperiphery - Book of proceedings in honour of Marina Blagojević Hughson, 2021
One of the central arguments of my recent book, Gender and Hindu Nationalism: Understanding Mascu... more One of the central arguments of my recent book, Gender and Hindu Nationalism: Understanding Masculine Hegemony, is that all hegemonic formations are also gendered hegemonies, or masculine hegemonies. This paper attempts to elaborate this formulation in the context of the university, both as an idea and as a real-world space. Universities are – at least theoretically – supposed to be gender-neutral and heterogenised spaces that ostensibly encourage questioning, tolerate dissent and support the co-existence of diverse, even contradictory perspectives. The paper argues that, contrary to such expectations, universities are structured and operationalised as strongly gendered sites, implicitly and explicitly upholding the hegemonic perspectives and dispositions that prevail outside them. It also argues that at least one reason for this is the relation of knowledge to power; another is the relation of knowledge to money – and consequently, the attendant implications of these for the institutionalisation of knowledge in the disciplinary and organisational structures of universities, and in its financial arrangements. A further significant factor in the production and dissemination of knowledge in universities is the role of such institutions in the containment and regulation of knowledge. The paper tries to explicate these questions by referring to the structures and dynamics of specific universities in India. Finally, the paper seeks to use the analytical framework of 'masculine hegemony' to unravel the mechanisms by which such gendered hegemonies are perpetuated even within spaces like the university, and argues that sites of knowledge transmission like universities serve ultimately to perpetuate the masculine hegemonies that they are molded by.
Among the many complexities of contemporary India is the steady increase in the numbers, frequenc... more Among the many complexities of contemporary India is the steady increase in the numbers, frequency, pervasiveness and intensity, of structural encounters between diverse, even contradictory forces and agencies. These include, among others, caste, communal, linguistic, and ethnic encounters; but perhaps the most fundamental, persistent and pervasive kind of encounter, especially over the last few decades, has been the quadripolar ones between (a) left-wing extremist (LWE) forces, also referred to generically as 'Naxals', 'Naxalites' and/or 'Maoists'; (b) the Indian state; (c) the tribal populations of central and western India, especially in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra; and (d) large multinational industrial corporations, of both Indian and foreign origin, seeking to establish operations in these areas. The multivalent, multilayered and often overlapping and intersecting nature of these encounters is one important reason for their characterisation as 'cosmopolitical'. The other is the persistence and pervasiveness of certain specific dynamics of encounter, even in and through this diversity of kinds of encounters. This article addresses some of these issues.
This article is a brief analysis of the conditions under which the strategy of non-violent politi... more This article is a brief analysis of the conditions under which the strategy of non-violent political protest can be effective, and the consequences of their absence.
This article revisits the concept and practice of 'collective bargaining' through its institution... more This article revisits the concept and practice of 'collective bargaining' through its institutionalised forms, the trade union and the professional association. It explores the political dynamics at work in these institutions, to see how effective they can be as institutions of social intervention and transformation.
This paper looks at the issue of sexual violence through the framework of toxic masculinity. It a... more This paper looks at the issue of sexual violence through the framework of toxic masculinity. It analyses the ways in which patriarchal formations draw on and reinforce such masculinities, using gender and sexual violence, to reinforce the dominance of men.
B R Ambedkar: The Quest for Justice. Vol II: Social Justice. Edited by Aakash Singh Rathore. OUP, New Delhi, 2020
Ambedkar observed that electoral democracy can only work if the political equality that it guaran... more Ambedkar observed that electoral democracy can only work if the political equality that it guarantees is matched by social and economic equality. This paper explores the meanings of this observation in contemporary India, by examining the ways in which the idea of ‘representation’ has played out in the contemporary Indian context. In relation to this, it discusses also how non-electoral forms of representation, such as the reservation system, have fared in the current political and social scene. The focus of the paper will be on the different ways in which these understandings of representation have impacted on caste and gender, as well as on the relations between them.
The University and Social Justice: Struggles Across the Globe, edited by Aziz Choudry and Salim Vally, Pluto Press, London, 2020
[A few sentences from the opening of the chapter, in lieu of an abstract]
Students are often per... more [A few sentences from the opening of the chapter, in lieu of an abstract]
Students are often perceived to be ‘unruly subjects’. This chapter discusses these ‘unruly subjects’ as political subjects. It will frame this discussion around three deeply intertwined questions:
What is entailed in this perception of the subject as ‘unruly subject’, i.e. how should we understand this phrase? What are the relations between the subject, qua subject, as this ‘unruly subject’, and as a ‘political subject’? What are, or could be, the politics of this ‘unruly subject’?
Unsustainable Institutions of Men Transnational Dispersed Centres, Gender Power, Contradictions, 2018
This paper will examine the ways in which ‘Hindutva’, or Hindu nationalism, has used the electron... more This paper will examine the ways in which ‘Hindutva’, or Hindu nationalism, has used the electronic media, especially the internet, in its growth to power. Several studies have already explored its close relationship to the spread of television in India, accounting in particular for the creation of a hegemonic discourse around the identity 'Hindu', and the religion 'Hinduism', especially since the 1980s. This paper will briefly outline the audio-visual manufacturing, through the expansion of television, of a hegemonic imagination of the nation as a 'Hindu' one. It will then 1) chart the subsequent extension and amplification of this imaginary, in and through the emergence and rapid spread of IT communication systems, including the exponential growth in IT-capable cellular phone usage. 2) outline the consequent transformations of social spaces and the emergence of a ‘virtual public sphere’ that transcends the more conventional boundaries of ‘public’ and ‘private’, as well as of ‘nation’. 3) trace the impact of these, as well as of the commercial interests that produce this ‘virtual public sphere’, on the discourses of gendered nationalism that constitute Hindutva. 4) profile the kind of gendered citizen-subject that is produced through these transformations and discourses, as well as the conditions (of access to that ‘virtual public sphere’) within and through which such a subject is produced. 5) argue that there are vast demographies that are excluded from access to these imaginations of the nation, because lacking either technological access, literacy skills or financial means. It will conclude with the suggestion that this exclusion is the clearest indicator of the power of Brahminical masculine hegemony, as a deeply entrenched system of social exclusion and negation, to re-establish itself, albeit tacitly.
Part 2 of a two-part piece on the Sabarimala controversy, and thus on how to reconcile religion w... more Part 2 of a two-part piece on the Sabarimala controversy, and thus on how to reconcile religion with politics
In the previous Unit, you have been introduced to some of the major theories of and approaches to... more In the previous Unit, you have been introduced to some of the major theories of and approaches towards nationalism. You have learnt how to understand and define the concept of the nation, as well as the various factors involved in these understandings and definitions, such as ethnicity, culture, language, race and gender. You have also been introduced to some of the issues that have been central to the debates around nationalism, such as territoriality, common heritage, the invention of histories and traditions. In addition, you have been introduced to feminist perspectives on nations and nationalism, on the issues noted above, as well as on the ways in which masculinity and femininity are deployed in these nationalist discourses.
This paper critically assesses the usefulness of the “new-Orientalism” thesis in understanding th... more This paper critically assesses the usefulness of the “new-Orientalism” thesis in understanding the discourses around the idea of “terrorism” and of “the terrorist”. It observes that critiques of “new Orientalism” provide important insights into the ways in which “Islam”, “the Muslim” and “terrorist” have come to be constructed. However, it also argues for the importance of the density of historical context and specificity of locality in understanding how these categories are formulated. The case of Bombay cinema is particularly instructive here. The paper argues that Bombay cinema – which has engaged with these concerns in some form since its inception, and is going “global” in unprecedented ways – exemplifies both the play of these two distinct discursive tendencies and also the tensions that arise because they are not identical. Post-9/11 films like Aamir (2008) and New York (2009) manifest these discursive mechanics and the tensions that result from the play between “new Orientalism” and the local.
Feminism, activism, politics: Production of knowledge in the semiperiphery - Book of proceedings in honour of Marina Blagojević Hughson, 2021
One of the central arguments of my recent book, Gender and Hindu Nationalism: Understanding Mascu... more One of the central arguments of my recent book, Gender and Hindu Nationalism: Understanding Masculine Hegemony, is that all hegemonic formations are also gendered hegemonies, or masculine hegemonies. This paper attempts to elaborate this formulation in the context of the university, both as an idea and as a real-world space. Universities are – at least theoretically – supposed to be gender-neutral and heterogenised spaces that ostensibly encourage questioning, tolerate dissent and support the co-existence of diverse, even contradictory perspectives. The paper argues that, contrary to such expectations, universities are structured and operationalised as strongly gendered sites, implicitly and explicitly upholding the hegemonic perspectives and dispositions that prevail outside them. It also argues that at least one reason for this is the relation of knowledge to power; another is the relation of knowledge to money – and consequently, the attendant implications of these for the institutionalisation of knowledge in the disciplinary and organisational structures of universities, and in its financial arrangements. A further significant factor in the production and dissemination of knowledge in universities is the role of such institutions in the containment and regulation of knowledge. The paper tries to explicate these questions by referring to the structures and dynamics of specific universities in India. Finally, the paper seeks to use the analytical framework of 'masculine hegemony' to unravel the mechanisms by which such gendered hegemonies are perpetuated even within spaces like the university, and argues that sites of knowledge transmission like universities serve ultimately to perpetuate the masculine hegemonies that they are molded by.
Among the many complexities of contemporary India is the steady increase in the numbers, frequenc... more Among the many complexities of contemporary India is the steady increase in the numbers, frequency, pervasiveness and intensity, of structural encounters between diverse, even contradictory forces and agencies. These include, among others, caste, communal, linguistic, and ethnic encounters; but perhaps the most fundamental, persistent and pervasive kind of encounter, especially over the last few decades, has been the quadripolar ones between (a) left-wing extremist (LWE) forces, also referred to generically as 'Naxals', 'Naxalites' and/or 'Maoists'; (b) the Indian state; (c) the tribal populations of central and western India, especially in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra; and (d) large multinational industrial corporations, of both Indian and foreign origin, seeking to establish operations in these areas. The multivalent, multilayered and often overlapping and intersecting nature of these encounters is one important reason for their characterisation as 'cosmopolitical'. The other is the persistence and pervasiveness of certain specific dynamics of encounter, even in and through this diversity of kinds of encounters. This article addresses some of these issues.
This article is a brief analysis of the conditions under which the strategy of non-violent politi... more This article is a brief analysis of the conditions under which the strategy of non-violent political protest can be effective, and the consequences of their absence.
This article revisits the concept and practice of 'collective bargaining' through its institution... more This article revisits the concept and practice of 'collective bargaining' through its institutionalised forms, the trade union and the professional association. It explores the political dynamics at work in these institutions, to see how effective they can be as institutions of social intervention and transformation.
This paper looks at the issue of sexual violence through the framework of toxic masculinity. It a... more This paper looks at the issue of sexual violence through the framework of toxic masculinity. It analyses the ways in which patriarchal formations draw on and reinforce such masculinities, using gender and sexual violence, to reinforce the dominance of men.
B R Ambedkar: The Quest for Justice. Vol II: Social Justice. Edited by Aakash Singh Rathore. OUP, New Delhi, 2020
Ambedkar observed that electoral democracy can only work if the political equality that it guaran... more Ambedkar observed that electoral democracy can only work if the political equality that it guarantees is matched by social and economic equality. This paper explores the meanings of this observation in contemporary India, by examining the ways in which the idea of ‘representation’ has played out in the contemporary Indian context. In relation to this, it discusses also how non-electoral forms of representation, such as the reservation system, have fared in the current political and social scene. The focus of the paper will be on the different ways in which these understandings of representation have impacted on caste and gender, as well as on the relations between them.
The University and Social Justice: Struggles Across the Globe, edited by Aziz Choudry and Salim Vally, Pluto Press, London, 2020
[A few sentences from the opening of the chapter, in lieu of an abstract]
Students are often per... more [A few sentences from the opening of the chapter, in lieu of an abstract]
Students are often perceived to be ‘unruly subjects’. This chapter discusses these ‘unruly subjects’ as political subjects. It will frame this discussion around three deeply intertwined questions:
What is entailed in this perception of the subject as ‘unruly subject’, i.e. how should we understand this phrase? What are the relations between the subject, qua subject, as this ‘unruly subject’, and as a ‘political subject’? What are, or could be, the politics of this ‘unruly subject’?
Unsustainable Institutions of Men Transnational Dispersed Centres, Gender Power, Contradictions, 2018
This paper will examine the ways in which ‘Hindutva’, or Hindu nationalism, has used the electron... more This paper will examine the ways in which ‘Hindutva’, or Hindu nationalism, has used the electronic media, especially the internet, in its growth to power. Several studies have already explored its close relationship to the spread of television in India, accounting in particular for the creation of a hegemonic discourse around the identity 'Hindu', and the religion 'Hinduism', especially since the 1980s. This paper will briefly outline the audio-visual manufacturing, through the expansion of television, of a hegemonic imagination of the nation as a 'Hindu' one. It will then 1) chart the subsequent extension and amplification of this imaginary, in and through the emergence and rapid spread of IT communication systems, including the exponential growth in IT-capable cellular phone usage. 2) outline the consequent transformations of social spaces and the emergence of a ‘virtual public sphere’ that transcends the more conventional boundaries of ‘public’ and ‘private’, as well as of ‘nation’. 3) trace the impact of these, as well as of the commercial interests that produce this ‘virtual public sphere’, on the discourses of gendered nationalism that constitute Hindutva. 4) profile the kind of gendered citizen-subject that is produced through these transformations and discourses, as well as the conditions (of access to that ‘virtual public sphere’) within and through which such a subject is produced. 5) argue that there are vast demographies that are excluded from access to these imaginations of the nation, because lacking either technological access, literacy skills or financial means. It will conclude with the suggestion that this exclusion is the clearest indicator of the power of Brahminical masculine hegemony, as a deeply entrenched system of social exclusion and negation, to re-establish itself, albeit tacitly.
Part 2 of a two-part piece on the Sabarimala controversy, and thus on how to reconcile religion w... more Part 2 of a two-part piece on the Sabarimala controversy, and thus on how to reconcile religion with politics
This is a "ghost story" of sorts, based in India. It has some triggering content, e.g., suicide. ... more This is a "ghost story" of sorts, based in India. It has some triggering content, e.g., suicide. There are a few Indian words used, which are: "mali" - gardener; "neem" - the margosa tree; "dhaba" - roadside eatery; "beedi" - the Indian cheroot; "saab" - contraction of the honorific "sahib", or "gentleman"; "gamcha" - a light, all-purpose towel carried by a lot of the peasantry in India; "bhaiya" - "brother", generically used to address men
A short story of sorts, re-examining the politics of the relation between Job and God (from the S... more A short story of sorts, re-examining the politics of the relation between Job and God (from the Story of Job, in the Old Testament). Do read the note at the end of the story.
THE JMC REVIEW: An Interdisciplinary Social Science Journal of Criticism, Practice and Theory, 2017
Review of a collection of essays that examines the question of Michel Foucault's somewhat unexpec... more Review of a collection of essays that examines the question of Michel Foucault's somewhat unexpectedly sympathetic relation to neoliberalism, the personal and political reasons for this, and its academic and political implications.
Book Review of Consumable Texts in Contemporary India: Uncultured Books and Bibliographical Socio... more Book Review of Consumable Texts in Contemporary India: Uncultured Books and Bibliographical Sociology, by Suman Gupta
This book presents an innovative approach to gender, nationalism, and the relations between them,... more This book presents an innovative approach to gender, nationalism, and the relations between them, and analyses the broader social base of Hindu nationalist organisation to understand the growth of 'Hindutva', or Hindu nationalism, in India.
Arguing that Hindu nationalist thought and predilections emerge out of, and, in turn, feed, pre-existing gendered tendencies, the author presents the new concept of 'masculine hegemony', specifically Brahmanical masculine hegemony. The book offers a historical overview of the processes that converge in the making of the identity ‘Hindu’, in the making of the religion ‘Hinduism’, and in the shaping of the movement known as ‘Hindutva’. The impact of colonialism, social reform, and caste movements is explored, as is the role of key figures such as Mohandas Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, and Narendra Modi. The book sheds light on the close, yet uneasy, relations that Hindu nationalist thought and practice have with conceptions of 'modernity', 'development' and women's movements, and politics, and the future of Hindu nationalism in India.
A new approach to the study of Hindu nationalism, this book offers a theoretically innovative understanding of Indian history and socio-politics. It will be of interest to academics working in the field of Gender studies and Asian Studies, in particular South Asian history and politics.
Video of online lecture delivered for Mindsperm, of Ashoka University, India. It attempts to disc... more Video of online lecture delivered for Mindsperm, of Ashoka University, India. It attempts to discuss the relations between the enforced isolation during the COVID pandemi, incarceration in prison, communication, social media, surveillance and state repression. The actual lecture starts 10 mins into the video - please feel free to jump straight to that point.
Participant in a Panel Discussion, along with Brit Holmberg (from the USA) and Davud Grosic, on t... more Participant in a Panel Discussion, along with Brit Holmberg (from the USA) and Davud Grosic, on the issues and concerns of fathers trying to raise boys who respect women, and who can become pro-feminist, if not feminists themselves.
Online video lecture (in Hindi), delivered for the Democratic Students Union, to commemorate Karl... more Online video lecture (in Hindi), delivered for the Democratic Students Union, to commemorate Karl Marx on his birthday this year.
Final schedule for the Obscenity! Blasphemy! Treason! An Interdisciplinary International Confere... more Final schedule for the Obscenity! Blasphemy! Treason! An Interdisciplinary International Conference on Censorship (淫穢!褻瀆!叛國!審查制度跨域國際會議)
Held March 3–5, 2022, Online
Hosted by Dr L. Acadia, Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, National Taiwan University, with funding from the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology.
Organizing Committee: Dr Santiago Juan-Navarro (Florida International University) and Dr Greg Simons (Uppsala University).
Keynote: “Why Ban Books?” by Dr Emily Knox (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Plenary: “Living with Covid from/and China: A Taiwanese Immigrant on Endgames” by Prof. Sheng-mei Ma (Michigan State University)
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Papers by Prem Kumar Vijayan
support the co-existence of diverse, even contradictory perspectives. The paper argues that, contrary to such expectations, universities are structured and operationalised as strongly gendered sites, implicitly and explicitly upholding the hegemonic perspectives and dispositions that prevail outside them. It also argues that at least one reason for this is the relation of knowledge to power; another is the relation of knowledge to money – and consequently, the attendant implications of these for the
institutionalisation of knowledge in the disciplinary and organisational structures of universities, and in its financial arrangements. A further significant factor in the production and dissemination of knowledge in universities is the role of such institutions in the containment and regulation of knowledge. The paper tries to explicate these questions by referring to the structures and dynamics of specific universities in India. Finally, the paper seeks to use the analytical framework of 'masculine hegemony' to unravel the mechanisms by which such gendered
hegemonies are perpetuated even within spaces like the university, and argues that sites of knowledge transmission like universities serve ultimately to perpetuate the masculine hegemonies that they are molded by.
Students are often perceived to be ‘unruly subjects’. This chapter discusses these ‘unruly subjects’ as political subjects. It will frame this discussion around three deeply intertwined questions:
What is entailed in this perception of the subject as ‘unruly subject’, i.e. how should we understand this phrase?
What are the relations between the subject, qua subject, as this ‘unruly subject’, and as a ‘political subject’?
What are, or could be, the politics of this ‘unruly subject’?
Several studies have already explored its close relationship to the spread of television in India, accounting in particular for the creation of a hegemonic discourse around the identity 'Hindu', and the religion 'Hinduism', especially since the 1980s.
This paper will briefly outline the audio-visual manufacturing, through the expansion of television, of a hegemonic imagination of the nation as a 'Hindu' one. It will then
1) chart the subsequent extension and amplification of this imaginary, in and through the emergence and rapid spread of IT communication systems, including the exponential growth in IT-capable cellular phone usage.
2) outline the consequent transformations of social spaces and the emergence of a ‘virtual public sphere’ that transcends the more conventional boundaries of ‘public’ and ‘private’, as well as of ‘nation’.
3) trace the impact of these, as well as of the commercial interests that produce this ‘virtual public sphere’, on the discourses of gendered nationalism that constitute Hindutva.
4) profile the kind of gendered citizen-subject that is produced through these transformations and discourses, as well as the conditions (of access to that ‘virtual public sphere’) within and through which such a subject is produced.
5) argue that there are vast demographies that are excluded from access to these imaginations of the nation, because lacking either technological access, literacy skills or financial means.
It will conclude with the suggestion that this exclusion is the clearest indicator of the power of Brahminical masculine hegemony, as a deeply entrenched system of social exclusion and negation, to re-establish itself, albeit tacitly.
support the co-existence of diverse, even contradictory perspectives. The paper argues that, contrary to such expectations, universities are structured and operationalised as strongly gendered sites, implicitly and explicitly upholding the hegemonic perspectives and dispositions that prevail outside them. It also argues that at least one reason for this is the relation of knowledge to power; another is the relation of knowledge to money – and consequently, the attendant implications of these for the
institutionalisation of knowledge in the disciplinary and organisational structures of universities, and in its financial arrangements. A further significant factor in the production and dissemination of knowledge in universities is the role of such institutions in the containment and regulation of knowledge. The paper tries to explicate these questions by referring to the structures and dynamics of specific universities in India. Finally, the paper seeks to use the analytical framework of 'masculine hegemony' to unravel the mechanisms by which such gendered
hegemonies are perpetuated even within spaces like the university, and argues that sites of knowledge transmission like universities serve ultimately to perpetuate the masculine hegemonies that they are molded by.
Students are often perceived to be ‘unruly subjects’. This chapter discusses these ‘unruly subjects’ as political subjects. It will frame this discussion around three deeply intertwined questions:
What is entailed in this perception of the subject as ‘unruly subject’, i.e. how should we understand this phrase?
What are the relations between the subject, qua subject, as this ‘unruly subject’, and as a ‘political subject’?
What are, or could be, the politics of this ‘unruly subject’?
Several studies have already explored its close relationship to the spread of television in India, accounting in particular for the creation of a hegemonic discourse around the identity 'Hindu', and the religion 'Hinduism', especially since the 1980s.
This paper will briefly outline the audio-visual manufacturing, through the expansion of television, of a hegemonic imagination of the nation as a 'Hindu' one. It will then
1) chart the subsequent extension and amplification of this imaginary, in and through the emergence and rapid spread of IT communication systems, including the exponential growth in IT-capable cellular phone usage.
2) outline the consequent transformations of social spaces and the emergence of a ‘virtual public sphere’ that transcends the more conventional boundaries of ‘public’ and ‘private’, as well as of ‘nation’.
3) trace the impact of these, as well as of the commercial interests that produce this ‘virtual public sphere’, on the discourses of gendered nationalism that constitute Hindutva.
4) profile the kind of gendered citizen-subject that is produced through these transformations and discourses, as well as the conditions (of access to that ‘virtual public sphere’) within and through which such a subject is produced.
5) argue that there are vast demographies that are excluded from access to these imaginations of the nation, because lacking either technological access, literacy skills or financial means.
It will conclude with the suggestion that this exclusion is the clearest indicator of the power of Brahminical masculine hegemony, as a deeply entrenched system of social exclusion and negation, to re-establish itself, albeit tacitly.
Arguing that Hindu nationalist thought and predilections emerge out of, and, in turn, feed, pre-existing gendered tendencies, the author presents the new concept of 'masculine hegemony', specifically Brahmanical masculine hegemony. The book offers a historical overview of the processes that converge in the making of the identity ‘Hindu’, in the making of the religion ‘Hinduism’, and in the shaping of the movement known as ‘Hindutva’. The impact of colonialism, social reform, and caste movements is explored, as is the role of key figures such as Mohandas Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, and Narendra Modi. The book sheds light on the close, yet uneasy, relations that Hindu nationalist thought and practice have with conceptions of 'modernity', 'development' and women's movements, and politics, and the future of Hindu nationalism in India.
A new approach to the study of Hindu nationalism, this book offers a theoretically innovative understanding of Indian history and socio-politics. It will be of interest to academics working in the field of Gender studies and Asian Studies, in particular South Asian history and politics.
The actual lecture starts 10 mins into the video - please feel free to jump straight to that point.
Held March 3–5, 2022, Online
Hosted by Dr L. Acadia, Department of Foreign Languages and Literature,
National Taiwan University, with funding from the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology.
Organizing Committee: Dr Santiago Juan-Navarro (Florida International University) and Dr Greg Simons (Uppsala University).
Keynote: “Why Ban Books?” by Dr Emily Knox (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Plenary: “Living with Covid from/and China: A Taiwanese Immigrant on Endgames” by Prof. Sheng-mei Ma (Michigan State University)