Anthropology

942a
Research Seminar in Anthropology of South Asia

Fall 2015

Instructor: K. Sivaramakrishnan
Office Hours: Tuesday, 1 3 pm; Thursday, 3-4 PM.

Course Timings: Monday, 3:30 pm 5:20 pm
Room: 10 Sachem Street, #212

Course Requirements
All participants are expected to read and write commentaries for all the assigned
books, and to participate actively in class discussions. Commentaries should be
posted on the Classes v2 server by no later than noon each Monday before class.
They should be not more than single-spaced page (500 words) in length.

These commentaries should identify questions for discussion on theory, method, and
relationship to cognate literature on South Asia. Thinking in terms of how the reading
is useful, potentially, for your own work is also good though this may not be the way
to think about all the readings in the list! Tell us something you learned, something
you disagreed with. You cannot do all of this in every commentary, but do one or
more of these things as you reflect on the book before class meeting.

In addition to regular classroom participation, PhD students who are taking the
course for credit will act as a discussant for a book twice during the semester. PhD
auditors, postdocs, MA students, will be discussant once during the term.

Students who are taking this course for credit will be required to prepare a short
essay synthesizing 3-4 readings on a chosen theme by November 16, 2015. This essay
should be 2500-3000 words, 10-12 double-spaced pages in a 12-point font. These
students will also prepare an annotated bibliography for their own research by
December 16, 2015. This should cover 15-20 discrete items that may be cited in a
future research proposal to the American Institute for Indian Studies.

Grades
Participation including weekly posting of comments = 10%
Discussant Role = 20%
Short Essay = 30%
Final Assignment = 40%

A limited number of books are ordered at the Yale Book Store. And all the books that
are not Internet resources have also been placed on reserve at the Yale Library.

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Books Ordered

Bear, Laura, Navigating Austerity: Currents of Debt Along a South Asian River
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2015)
ISBN: 9780804795531; Yale Internet Resource

Cody, Francis, The Light of Knowledge: Literacy Activism and the Politics of Writing in
South India (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013)
ISBN: 9780801452024; Yale Internet Resource

Dave, Naisargi, Queer Activism in India: A Story in the Anthropology of Ethics (Durham,
NC: Duke University Press, 2012)
ISBN: 9780822353195; Yale Internet Resource

Doron, Assa and Robin Jeffrey, The Great Indian Phone Book: How the Cheap Cell
Phone Changes Business, Politics, and Daily Life (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
2013)
ISBN: 9780674072688; Yale Internet Resource

Haberman, David, People Trees: Worship of Trees in Northern India (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2013)
ISBN: 9780199929160; SML BL2015.T7 H33X 2013

Kale, Sunila, Electrifying India: Regional Political Economies of Development (Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 2014)
ISBN: 9780804787963; Yale Internet Resource

Kent, Eliza, Sacred Groves and Local Gods: Religion and Environmentalism in South India
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2013)
ISBN: 9780199895465; SML BL583.K46X 2013

Mankekar, Purnima, Unsettling India: Affect, Temporality, Transnationality (Durham,
NC: Duke University Press, 2015)
ISBN: 978-0-8223-5836-7; Yale Internet Resource

Rademacher, Anne and K. Sivaramakrishnan, Ecologies of Urbanism in India:
Metropolitan Civility and Sustainability (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2013)
ISBN: 978-988-8139-77-4; CSSSI HT384.I4 E26 2013 (LC); Yale Internet Resource

Sen, Amartya and Jean Dreze, An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013)
ISBN: 9780691160795; Bass HC435 .D69 2013

Shah, Svati, Street Corner Secrets: Sex, Work, and Migration in the City of Mumbai
(Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2014)
ISBN: 978-0-8223-5698-1; Yale Internet Resource

Singh, Bhrigupati, Poverty and the Quest for Life: Spiritual and Material Striving in Rural
India (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015)
ISBN: 978-0226194547

Witsoe, Jeffrey, Democracy Against Development: Lower-Caste Politics and Political
Modernity in Postcolonial India (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013)
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-06347-8; SML DS422.C3 W58X 2013


SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS


CONTEMPORARY INDIA
09.07.15
Sen & Dreze, An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions

09.14.15
Doron & Jeffrey, The Great Indian Phone Book: How the Cheap Cell Phone Changes
Business, Politics, and Daily Life

09.21.15
Mankekar, Unsettling India: Affect, Temporality, Transnationality


DEVELOPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
09.28.15
Kale, Electrifying India: Regional Political Economies of Development

10.05.15
Bear, Navigating Austerity: Currents of Debt Along a South Asian River


RURAL LIFE AND POLITICS
10.12.15
Witsoe, Democracy Against Development

10.19.15
Singh, Poverty and the Quest for Life: Spiritual and Material Striving in Rural India


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RELIGION AND ENVIRONMENT

10.26.15
Haberman, People Trees: Worship of Trees in Northern India

11.02.15
Kent, Sacred Groves and Local Gods: Religion and Environmentalism in South India


ACTIVISM
11.09.15
Cody, The Light of Knowledge: Literacy Activism and the Politics of Writing in South
India

11.16.15
Dave, Queer Activism in India: A Story in the Anthropology of Ethics


URBANISM
11.30.15
Shah, Street Corner Secrets: Sex, Work, and Migration in the City of Mumbai

12.07.15
Rademacher & Sivaramakrishnan, Ecologies of Urbanism in India: Metropolitan
Civility and Sustainability

Guidelines for Discussants
The discussant(s) should be prepared to speak for 10 minutes and raise specific
questions about theory, methods, contributions to India studies, and so forth, as we
thoroughly analyze the reading. It is always a good idea for the discussant(s) to
situate the reading in a relevant body of literature. Particular attention should be
given to:

a) theoretical approaches and inspirations for the study
b) main questions asked or problems posed
c) methods used and their efficacy in relation to the questions asked/problems
posed for analysis
d) the kinds of broader debates in the study of India that are addressed by the
study
e) what you learned of relevance to your own work from the book