KCHR Webinar

Conceptual Landscape Of Marginality And Adivasis: Surpassing Subaltern Studies 

Dr. Rajesh KP

Assistant Professor of Sociology, Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur

December 5, 2024 | Thursday| 3 pm

To join online: https://zoom.us/j/99475289985

Abstract : Meanings around the marginality of Adivasis in Kerala are intimately bound up with the discourses on development and politics. These discourses have implied three pertinent questions: what constitutes the notion of development and politics, historically and contemporaneously? How and in what forms are these intersected with different forms of marginality? How do these discussions and analyses facilitate amplifying the descriptive meanings of marginality to locate them in a more conceptual landscape. A major source of answering these questions is the discourses constructed by Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS), a widely noticed contemporary movement of Adivasis in Kerala. Another source that I use here is Adimamakka (‘Slave Children’ or ‘Children of Slaves’), the recently published autobiography of CK Janu. Based on discourse analysis, this presentation argues that marginality is an evolving concept to look at contemporary Adivasi assertions in India by embracing the varied meanings attached to this concept. Further, these meanings surpass the traditions of subaltern studies.

About the speaker : Dr. Rajesh KP works with the Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU), Nagpur as an Assistant Professor of Sociology and additionally holds charge of the Centre for Tribal and Land Rights. Before joining MNLU Nagpur, he taught in the School of Livelihoods and Development at the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), Hyderabad (2017 to 2020). He obtained his PhD from the Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad. His research areas and interests include the sociology of social movements and development, postcolonial political sociology, civil and political society, Adivasis and modernity in Kerala, indigeneity and Indigenous People’s rights, law and development, citizenship, and social justice. His recent publications are ‘Theorising Marginality: Discourses on the Making of Modern Adivasi Communities in Kerala’ (South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies), ‘The Anti-Coca Cola Movement’ (Journal of Developing Societies) and ‘Social Movement Studies in India, Within and Beyond Sociology: Constructing Post-Colonial Political Sociology as an Evolving Framework’ (Asian Journal of Social Science).