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Panorama Dialogue Webinar
Speaker: Gajendran Ayyathurai
Abstract
Ending caste/casteism has not been a concern of academia. Paradoxically, like the civil societal and state institutions and practices which have invented and reified untouchability and caste, the theories, institutions, and practices of the academy are not free from perpetuating benign and malignant forms of caste.
In this talk, we will examine the possibilities in the new subfield of critical caste studies which could set right not only this conspicuous and colossal letdown but also engage in undoing caste in South Asia and the Indian diaspora.
About the speaker
Gajendran Ayyathurai, (PhD Columbia) is an anthropologist and a historian based in Göttingen, Germany. Before going to Göttingen University, Gajendran taught at Columbia University, City University of New York, and William Paterson University, USA.
He has published on the culture, memory, and history of the casteless Tamils/Indians in Tamil, English, and German. And he has initiated a new subfield, Critical Caste Studies, with scholars from India, Europe, and North America.
Panel discussion
We have invited the following three discussants to participate in the panel after Ayyathrai’s lecture:
- Filipe Campello (Professor of Philosophy, the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil)
- Franz Ulrich Knappik (Professor of Philosophy, University of Bergen, Norway)
- Kalyani K. (Assistant Professor, School of Arts and Sciences, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, India)
Dag Erik Berg will be the moderator and chair the panel discussion.
Read more
Dr Ayyathurai is the author of the blog piece “It Is Time for a New Subfield: ‘Critical Caste Studies’.” South Asia @ LSE Blog, July 5 2021.