Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CasteFree (Freedom From Caste: The Political Thought of Periyar E.V. Ramasamy in a Global Context)
Berichtszeitraum: 2020-10-01 bis 2022-09-30
The research project 'Freedom from Caste: The Political Thought of Periyar E.V. Ramasamy in a Global Context' (acronym CasteFree) engaged the MSCA Individual Fellow, Dr Karthick Ram Manoharan supervised by Professor Meena Dhanda at the University of Wolverhampton. It specifically built on the Fellow’s expertise, aiming to synthesise the political thought of a critical South Asian thinker, Periyar, who is well known for his anti-caste politics as an influential public figure of his times but is under-appreciated in academic studies. The project has taken the Fellow’s work on this important egalitarian thinker from modern South India to a broader global audience.
The project had the objective of evaluating Periyar's contribution and highlighting its contemporary significance to global conversations on social justice. The Fellow crafted an intellectual portrait of Periyar exploring the contours of his political discourse, giving thematic coherence to his thoughts from a huge corpus of writings, and providing new insights from the study of this important rationalist anti-caste leader from India. As the title suggests, the focus was Periyar’s concern with ‘freedom from caste’ as both duty and a human right. Comparing Western and non-Western thinkers, the Fellow discussed in theoretical detail Periyar’s approach to religion, atheism, caste, nationalism, state, and gender, highlighting his contemporary relevance. Periyar is presented as an atheist and rationalist with socialist leanings, who militantly participated in several protests for social justice during his public life. His comprehensive and complex insight on the specificity of caste in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu was highlighted by the project. Any understanding of modern Tamil and Indian politics is incomplete without a reference to the contributions of this foundational leader of the Dravidian Movement in South India. Caste has become a subject of research in global academia including contributions by the Supervisor: CasteFree served to bring the work of the Fellow into conversation with these global discussions. Likewise, the rise of the religious identity politics of Hindu nationalism within India has become an issue of concern outside India too. The project deepened the understanding of the complex role played by Periyar’s thought in checking the rise of caste-inflected religious identity politics.
A two-day conference on anti-caste thought and a special issue of the journal Caste: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion, jointly edited by the Supervisor and the Fellow, fostered discussion between young scholars and senior academics. Periyar became the reference point for an international knowledge exchange on anti-caste thought. The Fellow's monograph on Periyar, a key project output, was released in Tamil Nadu by Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, an Indian Member of Parliament well known for her feminist views, in a public event including the Fellow and the Supervisor. The book has not only generated academic discussion on caste and anti-casteism from a new Periyarist angle, but also gained praise from intellectuals from minority communities for its commitment to secularism at a time when the concept faces severe political challenges in India.
The project had the objective of evaluating Periyar's contribution and highlighting its contemporary significance to global conversations on social justice. The Fellow crafted an intellectual portrait of Periyar exploring the contours of his political discourse, giving thematic coherence to his thoughts from a huge corpus of writings, and providing new insights from the study of this important rationalist anti-caste leader from India. As the title suggests, the focus was Periyar’s concern with ‘freedom from caste’ as both duty and a human right. Comparing Western and non-Western thinkers, the Fellow discussed in theoretical detail Periyar’s approach to religion, atheism, caste, nationalism, state, and gender, highlighting his contemporary relevance. Periyar is presented as an atheist and rationalist with socialist leanings, who militantly participated in several protests for social justice during his public life. His comprehensive and complex insight on the specificity of caste in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu was highlighted by the project. Any understanding of modern Tamil and Indian politics is incomplete without a reference to the contributions of this foundational leader of the Dravidian Movement in South India. Caste has become a subject of research in global academia including contributions by the Supervisor: CasteFree served to bring the work of the Fellow into conversation with these global discussions. Likewise, the rise of the religious identity politics of Hindu nationalism within India has become an issue of concern outside India too. The project deepened the understanding of the complex role played by Periyar’s thought in checking the rise of caste-inflected religious identity politics.
A two-day conference on anti-caste thought and a special issue of the journal Caste: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion, jointly edited by the Supervisor and the Fellow, fostered discussion between young scholars and senior academics. Periyar became the reference point for an international knowledge exchange on anti-caste thought. The Fellow's monograph on Periyar, a key project output, was released in Tamil Nadu by Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, an Indian Member of Parliament well known for her feminist views, in a public event including the Fellow and the Supervisor. The book has not only generated academic discussion on caste and anti-casteism from a new Periyarist angle, but also gained praise from intellectuals from minority communities for its commitment to secularism at a time when the concept faces severe political challenges in India.
The project was conceived with interdisciplinarity from the outset. The work carried out was supported by several international academics who contributed to the development of anti-caste thought with Periyar at the centre of attention. Workshops, webinars and book discussions were held in Edinburgh (South Asian Studies), Nottingham (Philosophy), King’s College (Politics), Molde College, Norway (International Relations), LSE and Oxford (South Asian Studies), besides other venues. A panel was co-convened by the Fellow and the Supervisor for the UK Political Studies Association annual conference. In total, the Fellow presented research at 24 academic events and 8 non-academic events. The Supervisor chaired webinars, presented papers at some joint events, and co-authored the editorial introduction of the J-Caste special issue. Apart from well-established academics, early career researchers and students, the project events were attended by policy makers, journalists, activists, and students.
The main academic publications of the Fellow include: 1) the monograph 'Periyar: A Study in Political Atheism' (Orient BlackSwan 2022), the first rigorous theoretical engagement with Periyar's writings that places him in global debates on anarchist political theory, secularism, politics of religion and post-secularism; 2) the research essay 'Sudras and the Nation: Periyarist Explorations' (Economic and Political Weekly 2022) detailing Periyar's approach to the intermediate castes and how this is reflected in his views on the idea of the nation; 3) the research essay 'Radical Freedom: Periyar and Women' (Open Research Europe 2021) delving into Periyar's newly published texts and explored his contributions to feminist debates and 4) the coedited special issue 'Freedom from Caste: Anti-caste Thought, Politics and Culture' (J-CASTE 2022) brought together essays on unexplored areas of anti-caste movements and thinkers in South Asia. Outputs 2,3, 4 are in open access. The monograph is enjoying great distribution in South Asia and beyond.
The main academic publications of the Fellow include: 1) the monograph 'Periyar: A Study in Political Atheism' (Orient BlackSwan 2022), the first rigorous theoretical engagement with Periyar's writings that places him in global debates on anarchist political theory, secularism, politics of religion and post-secularism; 2) the research essay 'Sudras and the Nation: Periyarist Explorations' (Economic and Political Weekly 2022) detailing Periyar's approach to the intermediate castes and how this is reflected in his views on the idea of the nation; 3) the research essay 'Radical Freedom: Periyar and Women' (Open Research Europe 2021) delving into Periyar's newly published texts and explored his contributions to feminist debates and 4) the coedited special issue 'Freedom from Caste: Anti-caste Thought, Politics and Culture' (J-CASTE 2022) brought together essays on unexplored areas of anti-caste movements and thinkers in South Asia. Outputs 2,3, 4 are in open access. The monograph is enjoying great distribution in South Asia and beyond.
The project championed the extension of comparative political thought, beyond the inclusion of B. R. Ambedkar and M. K. Gandhi, widely acknowledged as pan-Indian national figures of political importance. The Fellow's grasp of regional manifestations of casteism and the multifarious voices against it, enabled focus on Periyar. A step change brought about by CasteFree was the Fellow’s intellectual portraiture of Periyar as an equally important anti-caste leader and crusader for social justice. The Fellow gave thematic coherence to Periyar’s thought drawn from a huge corpus of his writings and developed the concept of 'Political Atheism' - a novel intervention in the existing scholarship in Indian political thought. Periyar’s approach to the women’s question was explored, building on the works of South Indian feminist scholars and placing Periyar in dialogue with western feminists. This CasteFree output explored how Periyar spoke beyond the language of rights and using the paradigm of freedom – as freedom from caste and patriarchal oppression, and freedom towards economic and sexual autonomy. The CasteFree project has initiated interdisciplinary, transcontinental dialogues on identity-based demands for social justice. The outputs have contributed much needed theoretical legitimations for anti-caste campaigns.
The CasteFree launch and 2-day online conference were key dissemination events aimed at attracting a wide international audience; both live-recorded events were very successful as indicated by viewing figures. In addition, the translation of one of Periyar's writings from the project was performed by professional actors in a film for which the Fellow was a consultant. The Icon and the Iconoclast premiered in the Being Human Festival, the largest festival of humanities in the UK, facilitated by the Supervisor.
The CasteFree blog, https://theperiyarproject.com/(öffnet in neuem Fenster) and the Twitter handle https://twitter.com/CasteFreeH2020(öffnet in neuem Fenster) charted the progress of the project. All project outputs are offered as exploitable resources for academics, writers, journalists, policymakers, and activists interested in caste and anti-casteism.
The CasteFree launch and 2-day online conference were key dissemination events aimed at attracting a wide international audience; both live-recorded events were very successful as indicated by viewing figures. In addition, the translation of one of Periyar's writings from the project was performed by professional actors in a film for which the Fellow was a consultant. The Icon and the Iconoclast premiered in the Being Human Festival, the largest festival of humanities in the UK, facilitated by the Supervisor.
The CasteFree blog, https://theperiyarproject.com/(öffnet in neuem Fenster) and the Twitter handle https://twitter.com/CasteFreeH2020(öffnet in neuem Fenster) charted the progress of the project. All project outputs are offered as exploitable resources for academics, writers, journalists, policymakers, and activists interested in caste and anti-casteism.