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- Convenors:
-
Bhargabi Das
(Shiv Nadar University, Delhi)
Nasrin Khandoker (University College Cork)
Mahmudul Hasan Sumon (Jahangirnagar University)
Send message to Convenors
- Chairs:
-
Nasrin Khandoker
(University College Cork)
Bhargabi Das (Shiv Nadar University, Delhi)
- Discussant:
-
Sneha Roy
(University of Edinburgh)
- Formats:
- Panel
- Mode:
- Face-to-face
- Location:
- Facultat de Geografia i Història 311
- Sessions:
- Friday 26 July, -
Time zone: Europe/Madrid
Short Abstract:
With the new wave of decolonising the curriculum movement, we want to understand forms of colonial knowledge negotiated by anthropologists of global south. This panel wishes to center scholarships produced by anthropology's ‘Other’ in an effort to decolonise knowledge produced within anthropology.
Long Abstract:
The call for decolonisation in academia is not new. It has been foregrounded throughout the 1990s and 2000s in various academic discourses, including anthropology. Yet, it is still being determined what outcome this debate has brought into the global South, where anthropology as a discipline still exists in various institutions and seats of knowledge production and universities. As anthropologists and academics positioned in the global South, this question besets all of us who teach anthropology in universities.
Postcolonial critiques in anthropology raised questions regarding the colonial entanglement and bases of anthropology. With the critique from subaltern studies, documenting voices from the margin influenced the disciplinary approach of Anthropology of South Asia. However, the postcolonial and subaltern studies often ignore the continuum of colonial knowledge with many other forms of dominant discourses that emerged with nationalism in the global South. Such a continuum then justified the emergence of fascist nationalism in South Asia. This panel aims to look at that continuum and locate the excluded 'Other' within the discourse of postcolonialism.
The questions we wish to ask in the panel, but are not limited to, are:
1. What does it mean to be an anthropologist of/from the 'Other cultures'?
2. How do anthropologists in the global South navigate between the colonial canon of anthropology and local participants?
3. What does our positionality contribute to the anthropology of the global North and its decolonisation process?
4. What is the future of decolonising anthropology in the global South?
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 26 July, 2024, -Paper short abstract:
This paper delves into what anthropological inquiries into the everyday practice and theory of Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists can tell us about contemporary Leftist understandings of “Islamism” in light of calls to decolonize academia and an age marred by contested politics.
Paper long abstract:
Under the banner of “fighting Islamism” the mainstream Western narrative legitimized both the imperialist wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the surveillance of Muslim communities. Hereby, in a colonial fashion, knowledge production in Western academia, including anthropology, has also played its part.
In academic and activist circles alike the question of the relationship of Leftists to “Islamists”, has been heatedly debated. The organization of Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists (ERS), which grew in popularity during the 2011 Revolution and has been severely hit by state repressions since the 2013 military coup, has taken a unique and not uncontroversial stance. While both the state narrative and many Leftists, often in a “postcolonial framework”, have labeled diverse “Islamist” movements as “fascists”, the ERS have popularized the tactic “with the state never, with the Islamists sometimes”.
In their multifaceted interactions with the Muslim Brotherhood, members of the organization have navigated how to deal with those who they are actually politically opposed to in their daily modes of practice. Based on anthropological research spanning 17 months with members of the ERS in exile in the global north and in the political underground, I delve into what anthropological inquiries into the practice and theory of ERS can say about contemporary Leftist understandings of “Islamism” in light of calls to decolonize academia and an age marred by contested politics. I ask what the interactions by ERS, as social actors from the global south, tell us about activism from below fighting for a more just world.
Paper short abstract:
The paper explores and examines citational practices as a scholar from global south towards production of knowledge in anthropology.
Paper long abstract:
In academia the gaze that sees, understands the world and writes has historically been centred in the institutions of Europe and America, often considered the centres of knowledge production. As a global south academic in an institution in the global north, my gaze is that of a migrant person of colour from a former colony that comes alongside being Upper-caste, and middle-class. Doing academic work entailed navigating these multiple power structures.
My navigation and academic praxis further hinges on the fact that I am an Indian, who was researching counter-narratives to the Indian state located in the lifeworlds of Kashmiris living in Delhi. The writing of the PhD thesis entailed navigating the academic requirement of engaging with an “established canon” without decentering the scholarship coming from critical Kashmir studies. Drawing on my experiences of writing and teaching as a PhD researcher in an institution in the global north, in this paper, I question the practices of citation that impacts knowledge production. The paper seeks to explore the question: whose knowledge is knowledge? By exploring the implication of citations on the researched, the researcher and the body of knowledge
Paper short abstract:
Opportunities for African researchers in the global north to conduct research ‘back home’, embody a shift to decolonial Anthropology. Reflections on complexities of positionality, social responsibility and decolonisation during my fieldwork as a South African affiliated with a Dutch university.
Paper long abstract:
In the pursuit of economic opportunities, early career African researchers often migrate to the global north while conducting research ‘back home’, in their home countries, signaling a shift towards decolonial Anthropology. This migration, however, introduces challenges related to navigating complex dynamics of positionality, decoloniality, and fieldworker responsibility. The researcher’s transnational, racial, ethnic, class and gender identities result in a continual shifting on the insider-outsider spectrum.
In this article I draw reflections on my fieldwork experience in Mankweng, South Africa, as a South African pursuing a Ph.D. at a Dutch university, I grapple with the conspicuous nature of my position upon entering the field. The historical relationship between the Netherlands and my post-colonial home significantly influences gatekeeping and collaboration opportunities, providing a contextual backdrop for my research.
Similar to other African scholars documented by Bourke et al. in 2009, I confront the tension between social responsibility towards my interlocutors and their expectations of mutual benefit. The proximity of the research field to my home offers a chance to reconnect with loved ones, but it also intensifies the pressure to be present for significant life events, adding complexity to my fieldwork journey.
This reflection, from the perspective of a global south early career researcher affiliated with a global north university, contributes a nuanced narrative to the Anthropology of southern Africa. It echoes the voice of scholars who navigate the complexities of conducting fieldwork 'back home,' where personal, social, and decolonial dimensions intersect in a delicate dance.
Paper short abstract:
This paper problematizes the notion of ‘epistemic injustice’, challenging ‘the way of knowing’ and ‘the way of doing’ development with the 'severe poor'.
Paper long abstract:
This ongoing research critically scrutinizes the role, status, and methodological practices of researchers and practitioners in dealing with the 'severe poor'. The term 'severe poor' is deliberately employed to differentiate this group from the 'extreme poor' as defined by the World Bank. The 'severe poor' in this case are identified as those who are residing at the lowest rungs of society and often lacking agency, power, and political influence, characteristics that align with Gayatri Spivak's (2003, 2005) concept of the 'subaltern'. The research problematises the notion of ‘epistemic injustice’, challenging ‘the way of knowing’ and ‘the way of doing’ development with the 'severe poor' based on the learning and microethical reflections derived from the experience of a number of empirical fieldworks in Bangladesh. One key argument is that an encounter with the 'severe poor' engages symmetrical gazing both by the researchers (and the practitioners) and the participants as evidenced by certain gestures. This keeps ‘the colonial’ alive with its ‘after-effects’ (Hall, 1996: 248) along with the appropriation of class hierarchies that sustain the ‘divide and rule’ system. The severe poor are thus further disenfranchised even with uttered commitment to inclusionary practices. It is anticipated that this research will contribute to the ongoing discourse on decolonizing knowledge and development, an area of interest that has predominantly been theoretical rather than grounded in research and development practice. This will involve a thorough examination of how the severe poor or marginalized individuals are heard, portrayed, and targeted by both researchers and practitioners.