"Re-thinking secular-nationalism and untouchability in contemporary Central India"

Crossroads Asia Lecture by Beatrice Renzi (University of Fribourg/Switzerland) at ZELF Berlin

Abstract of the announced lecture: Amidst India’s rising economic power and the increasing role of its secular polity in international relations, religion and caste continue to forcefully influence both state and social systems from within. In light of the crisis of secular-nationalism in contemporary India, the presentation seeks to reflect on the cultural underpinnings of a nationalist project which was defined primarily in anti-colonial terms and their institutionalization in the state. In particular, through an ethnographic case study in Western Madhya Pradesh, it will re-examine the implications this still has on the collective identity formation and democratic participation of marginalized groups.

Venue: Institut für Geographische Wissenschaften, Campus Lankwitz FU, Malteserstr. 74-100, Berlin. Click here for directions. Building G, room 202.

Date: December 9th, 2014 at 12.