At home in diaspora : South Asian scholars and the West

During the past two decades, at the same time that the South Asian presence in the U.S. and Europe has become an increasingly visible part of mainstream social life and popular culture, scholars of South Asian descent have come to occupy many prominent positions within the Western academy, contributing to the development of disciplines across the social sciences and humanities. In this collection of highly personal essays, leading figures in anthropology, history, and cultural and literary studies reflect on the complex interplay between individual and collective trajectories, examining their own experiences as students, scholars, and teachers. Their narratives trace the arc of interactions between East and West from the late colonial period, through Indian Independence, the Cold War, the radicalism of the 1960s, and the development of subaltern and postcolonial studies, to the current conjuncture. Throughout, these writers explore the past and future significance of area studies as a paradigm for education and scholarship. Contributors are Shahid Amin, Arjun Appadurai, Urvashi Butalia, Dipesh Chakrabarty, Partha Chatterjee, Vasudha Dalmia, Prasenjit Duara, Ramachandra Guha, Akhil Gupta, Sudipta Kaviraj, Purnima Mankekar, Gyan Prakash, and Sanjay Subrahmanyam. During the past two decades, at the same time that the South Asian presence in the US, the UK, and Europe has become an increasingly visible part of mainstream social life and popular culture, scholars of South Asian descent have come to occupy many prominent positions within the Western academy, contributing to the development of disciplines across the social sciences and humanities. In this collection of highly personal essays, leading figures in anthropology, history, and cultural and literary studies reflect on the complex interplay between individual and collective trajectories, examining their own experiences as students, scholars, and teachers. Their narratives trace the arc of interactions between East and West from the late colonial period, through Indian Independence, the Cold War, the radicalism of the 1960s, and the development of subaltern and postcolonial studies, to the current conjuncture. Throughout, these writers explore the past and future significance of area studies as a paradigm for education and scholarship. Knowledge, circulation and collective biography / Arjun Appadurai My place in the global republic of letters / Partha Chatterjee Off-centre : feminism and South Asian studies in the diaspora / Purnima Makekar Crossing borders and boundaries / Vasudha Dalmia Representing rural India / Akhil Gupta De-ghettoising the histories of the non-West / Shahid Amin Journey to the East, by the West / Prasenjit Duara The location of scholarship / Gyan Prakash Globalisation, democratisation and the evacuation of history? / Dipesh Chakrabarty On the advantages of being a barbarian / Sudipta Kaviraj The ones who stayed behind Ramachandra Guha My brothers' keeper / Sanjay Subrahmanyam Recasting women in the publishing world / Urvashi Butalia. Knowledge, Circulation And Collective Biography -- My Place In The Global Republic Of Letters -- Off-centre: Feminism And South Asian Studies In The Diaspora -- Crossing Borders And Boundaries -- Representing Rural India -- De-ghettoising The Histories Of The Non-west -- Journey To The East, By The West -- The Location Of Scholarship -- Globalisation, Democratisation And The Evacuation Of History? -- On The Advantages Of Being A Barbarian -- The Ones Who Stayed Behind -- My Brothers' Keeper -- Recasting Women In The Publishing World. Edited By Jackie Assayag And Véronique Bénéï. Includes Bibliographical References. Some dichotomies have enjoyed as great a vogue in academic circles as in popular wisdom: those between 'East' and 'West', between Europe and Asia or Africa, between 'the West' and 'the Rest'-'North' and 'South', as the current idiom currently has it.