Call for Papers by Yamini Narayanan
CALL FOR PAPERS Vegan Geographies and The End of Anthroparchy.
We seek to underscore what geogr... more CALL FOR PAPERS Vegan Geographies and The End of Anthroparchy.
We seek to underscore what geographers can contribute to our understanding of critical veganism and vegan praxis. Presentations in non-traditional and participatory formats are welcomed. Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words to [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] and [email protected] by 25 October 2017.
Veganism as an ethics and a practice has a recorded history dating back to Antiquity. Yet, it is... more Veganism as an ethics and a practice has a recorded history dating back to Antiquity. Yet, it is only recently that researchers have begun the process of formalising the study of veganism. Scholars who examine this theory and action are usually situated in sociology, history, philosophy, cultural studies or critical animal studies. The centrality and contested nature of place in the actions and discourse of animal rights activists however suggest an inherently spatial praxis. Slaughterhouses are deliberately closed and placed out of the sight; our familiar urban environment is filled with references to eating meat and exploiting animals, although normalised and rendered invisible. On the other hand, activists take to the street to defend animal rights and invite individuals to change their perception on everyday places and practices of animal violence. Animal liberation and veganism therefore embody an inherently spatial praxis – the desire to live without places of violence (White, 2015). As underlined by Harper (2010:5-6), ‘veganism is not just about the abstinence of animal consumption; it is about the ongoing struggle to produce socio-spatial epistemologies of consumption that lead to cultural and spatial change’. While an interest in domination over non-human animals has gained momentum within critical geography circles in the last two decades (Wolch and Emel, 1995; Philo and Wilbert, 2000; Emel et al., 2002, Gillespie and Collards, 2015; White, 2015), the scarcity of available literature highlights the need for geographers to further reflect on vegan activism and practice. As scholars-activists identifying with veganism, we seek to underscore what geographers can contribute to our understanding of critical veganism and vegan praxis.
CALL FOR PAPERS
Towards Vegan Geographies: Ethics Beyond Violence
We seek to underscore what geo... more CALL FOR PAPERS
Towards Vegan Geographies: Ethics Beyond Violence
We seek to underscore what geographers can contribute to our understanding of critical veganism and vegan praxis.
Presentations in non-traditional and participatory formats are welcomed.
Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words to [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] and [email protected] by 21 October 2016.
Please note: Once you have submitted an abstract to us and it is accepted, you will also need to register AND submit an abstract on the AAG website.
The velocity and efficiency of contemporary urbanisation occurs within neoliberal frameworks that... more The velocity and efficiency of contemporary urbanisation occurs within neoliberal frameworks that enable rapid growth by dismantling democratic governance and equitable social structures, and privileging instead, intensive, large-scale - and violent - exploitation of labour and natural resources. Clayton Crockett's particular deployment of New Materialism, as a postsecularist perception of blood and energy as commodities of violent exchange, posits that such growth relies on 'states of exception' to sanction violence on the labour and bodily resources of the poor, women, nonhuman animals, and natural resources.
Thus, our three-fold focus in the proposed Special Issue is to:
1. examine how religion intersects with neoliberal consumption to create trajectories of violence, power and powerlessness, and even warlike conditions to aid rapid urban growth
2. consider how religion may be utilised by perpetrators and victims of neoliberal violence to understand and address the human/animal condition , and the urban condition.
3. explore religion as a source of practical engagement (social capital) and an alternative imaginary that helps promote a gift economy rather than the coercion and violence necessary to uphold a debt economy. We examine how religion may reinstate more egalitarian distribution systems that allow sovereignty to be dispersed rather than hierarchical.
We thus call for papers that will address the above themes through a tri-levelled analysis that:
1. assembles new constellations of interdisciplinary analyses, definitions and themes that address the core issue of urban sustainability;
2. analyses urban case studies of innovation and good practice;
3. explores the implications of macro theory and micro-practice for the implementation of better practices of sustainability planning that underscore the need for urban governance to cultivate intellectual and creative openness in engaging (rather than managing) religion to conceptualise of sustainable cities for an increasingly urban planet.
Please send a Title, 200-word abstract and a brief bio by 1st May 2015 to:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Books by Yamini Narayanan
The speed and scale of urbanisation in India is unprecedented almost anywhere in the world and ha... more The speed and scale of urbanisation in India is unprecedented almost anywhere in the world and has tremendous global implications. The religious influence on the urban experience has resonances for all aspects of urban sustainability in India and yet it remains a blind spot while articulating sustainable urban policy.
This book explores the historical and on-going influence of religion on urban planning, design, space utilisation, urban identities and communities. It argues that the conceptual and empirical approaches to planning sustainable cities in India need to be developed out of analytical concepts that define local sense of place and identity. Examining how Hindu religious heritage, beliefs and religiously influenced planning practices have impacted on sustainable urbanisation development in Jaipur and Indian cities in general, the book identifies the challenges and opportunities that ritualistic and belief resources pose for sustainability. It focuses on three key aspects: spatial segregation and ghettoisation; gender-inclusive urban development; and the nexus between religion, nature and urban development.
This cutting-edge book is one of the first case studies linking Hindu religion, heritage, urban development, women and the environment in a way that responds to the realities of Indian cities. It opens up discussion on the nexus of religion and development, drawing out insightful policy implications for the sustainable urban planning of many cities in India and elsewhere in South Asia and the developing world.
Edited books/journals by Yamini Narayanan
Sustainable Development, 2016
Routledge, 2016
Religion and Urbanism contributes to an expanded understanding of the notion of 'sustainable ci... more Religion and Urbanism contributes to an expanded understanding of the notion of 'sustainable cities' in the context of South Asia by demonstrating that religion exerts a significant influence on the nature of urban development in the region. The book argues that the multiple, often conflicting and complicated ways in which religion or the multiplicity of religions enable or challenge socially equitable and ecologically sustainable urbanisation must thus be considered in analyses of 'sustainable urban development' of the region. South Asia has experienced relatively low rates of urbanisation; however the current and projected scale of its urban population growth, as well as the informal nature of urbanisation makes the study of 'sustainable urban development' and 'sustainable cities' in this region particularly compelling. Much like modernist urban planning, the 'sustainable cities' concept with its focus on environmentalism is imported uncritically from the West and imposed on planning practices in South Asia. However the notion has already been criticised for being exclusionary of the specific needs of the poorest, ethnic and religious minorities and women. Moreover, it negates discussions on other critical aspects of urban policy such as religion, culture and history. This book identifies and understands religion's influence on urban development, urbanity and the nature of urbanisation in South Asian cities as a challenge or an opportunity for sustainable urban development. It also provides much-needed implications for policy.
This book makes a much-needed contribution to the nexus between religion and urban planning for researchers, postgraduate students and policy makers in Development Studies, Urban Studies, Religious Studies, Asian Studies, Heritage Studies and Urban and Religious Geography.
Journal articles by Yamini Narayanan
Urban Geography
The paper introduces porcine bodies as landscapes upon which
caste as wildness, primitive, or sav... more The paper introduces porcine bodies as landscapes upon which
caste as wildness, primitive, or savage are inscribed and asserted in
India, by the Hindu Right and the Dalit Right, to respectively
advance parochial nationalisms. The general obscuration of the
pig in violent nationalist discourses, is itself due to her inherent
caste status as impure/polluting. Hindu Vedic scriptures endorse
a civilizational rhetoric of the cows as Brahminical and divine, and
the pigs as associated with filth and ferality. Caste advances or
obstructs political and economic power, and is interlocked with
market capitalism, which relies on nature – and casteised subhuman/
nonhuman bodies – as both profitable (and venerable), and
expendable (and despicable). The visceral socio-political contempt
the pig evokes is intertwined with their use in performing economic
labor as waste scavenger, and political labor as superfluous to
a nation in which pigs, and people associated with pigs do not
belong. Via empirical work in Chennai city, this paper focusses the
pig, ecologically and sociologically wild, feral and promiscuous, as
enmeshed in a long-enduring, constructed caste conflict around
Brahmin/Dravida; Hindu/Tamil; civilized/primitive; and even,
human/animal binaries. Finally, it specifies species as also core to
identity politics, as part of a transformative praxis to a post-casteist
society.
Journal of Intercultural Studies, 2020
As the pendulum swings toward a sweeping global conservatism, conversations proliferate on the co... more As the pendulum swings toward a sweeping global conservatism, conversations proliferate on the consequences of rampant nationalism, xenophobia, and anti-immigrant sentiments and policies. These anxieties were heightened with the election of Donald Trump as the president of the United States in 2016; however, the US elections only epitomised the global swirl of the resurgence of ethno-nationalism and extreme right-wing movements, marked by Brexit in the United Kingdom, the abandonment of the rule of law under President Duterte in the Philippines, the widespread prevalence of Hindutva extremist violence against Muslims and 'low-caste' Dalits in India, the rise in Islamophobia across Europe, the election of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, and the list goes on. Erosion of democratic process, rule of law, environmental destructions, pursuit of power, anti-immigrant policies, and forms of ethnic violence and cleansing have led to growing concern that what is manifesting is a deeply insidious growth of forms of right-wing or ultra-nationalism, religious extremism, settler-colonial violence, and even fascism around the world.
Environment and Planning A, 2019
India's status as the world's leading milk producer is significantly sustained by cow slaughter, ... more India's status as the world's leading milk producer is significantly sustained by cow slaughter, a criminal act in most Indian states. The paper argues that jugaad, a complex Indian sociological phenomenon of corruption and innovation, is vital in enabling the illegal slaughter of cows on an industrial scale in the informal economy. Jugaad is enacted through ingenious alterations to social processes and material products in two 'grey' and informal spaces that are rendered exceptional to formal governance: (1) illicit transportation to slaughterhouses; and (2) intricate social contracts between stakeholders along this production line. Through these processes in informal spaces, the bovine body itself is transformed by way of jugaad from protected dairy cow to contraband beef cow.
Hypatia, 2019
This paper argues that gaushalas, or cow shelters, in India are mobilized as sites of Hindutva or... more This paper argues that gaushalas, or cow shelters, in India are mobilized as sites of Hindutva or Hindu ultranationalism, where it is a “vulnerable” Hindu Indian nation – or the “Hindu mother cow” as Mother India – ¬ who needs “sanctuary” from predatory Muslim males. Gaushalas are rendered spaces of (re)production of cows as political, religious, and economic capital, and sustained by the combined and compatible narratives of “anthropatriarchy” and Hindu patriarchy. Anthropatriarchy is framed as the human enactment of gendered oppressions upon animal bodies, and is crucial to sustaining all animal agriculture. Hindu patriarchy refers to the instrumentalization of female and feminized bodies (women, cows, “Mother India”) as “mothers” and cultural guardians of a “pure” Hindu civilization. Both patriarchies commodify bovine motherhood and lactation, which this paper frames as a feminist issue. Through empirical research, this paper demonstrates that gaushalas generally function as spaces of exploitation, incarceration, and gendered violence for the animals. The paper broadens posthumanist feminist theory to illustrate how bovine bodies, akin to women’s bodies, are mobilized as productive, reproductive, and symbolic capital to advance Hindu extremism and ultranationalism. It subjectifies animal bodies as landscapes of nation-making using ecofeminism and its subfield of vegan feminism.
Sophia: International Journal of Philosophy and Traditions, 2018
The Hindu ethic of cow protectionism is legislatively interpreted in many Indian states through t... more The Hindu ethic of cow protectionism is legislatively interpreted in many Indian states through the criminalisation of cow slaughter, and beef consumption, obscuring dairying's direct role in the butchery of spent female and unproductive male bovines. Cow milk, however, is celebrated as sacred in scriptural and ritual Hinduism, and mobilised by commercial dairying, as well as by right-wing Hindu groups to advance the idea of a Hindu Indian nation. In order to fully protect cows from the harms of human exploitation, it is vital to problematise milk as a benign, rightful product for humans to consume, including its use in Hindu beliefs, rituals and identity. The paper applies feminist vegan critiques to two Hindu legends commonly invoked to promote milk consumption: the boy-god Krishna's great love for butter and the mythology of the gods and demons churning the Ocean of Milk to attain ambrosia. These critiques unsettle the core relationship of the Hindu to the cow as a lactating mother and provoke the idea that the original sacred milk in Hinduism in fact is plant-based and vegan.
South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 2018
Offering a more-than-human sociological analysis of cow protectionism in India, this article argu... more Offering a more-than-human sociological analysis of cow protectionism in India, this article argues that the discourse renders bovines vulnerable because it reinforces two compatible and comparable oppressions: 'casteism' and 'speciesism'. It privileges upper-caste Hindu nationalists whose identity politics are intertwined with sacralising native cows and their milk, producing 'casteised speciesism'. Through interviews with experts engaged in cow protection, the article demonstrates that native Indian breeds are burdened with representing Hindu purity, while buffalo and crossbred or Jersey cows are exposed to exploitation and oppression comparable to the situation faced by Dalits. To be meaningful for the animals, protectionism needs to be embedded in an animal rights movement that employs vulnerabilities as a framework to deconstruct the oppression of non-humans.
Society and Animals: Journal of Human-Animal Studies, 2018
Global warming and livestock farming are intertwined, and both call for radical policy changes th... more Global warming and livestock farming are intertwined, and both call for radical policy changes that recognize animal rights. India has the world’s largest cattle head count, and is exceptionally vulnerable to climate change. It is uniquely placed in having cow protection legislations though their focus is limited to the end of the cattle lifecycle by criminalizing slaughter and beef. However breeding programs, the start of industrial cattle lifecycle, also need to be abolished for animal rights and environmental protection. Using the exploitation of bulls in bovine frozen semen farms, this article critiques the practice in terms of cruelty; speciesism; and climatic change. It argues that with an expanded moral baseline on cattle protection that is explicitly embedded in animal rights, India is well placed to respond with radical action by abolishing animal husbandry as an outdated food production system that is inconsistent with planetary and ethical realities.
Environment and Planning D, 2017
This paper argues that colonial biopolitics and informality co-produce a 'state of exception' for... more This paper argues that colonial biopolitics and informality co-produce a 'state of exception' for nonhuman animals in cities, based on the socio-political construct of a human/animal binary. This state is enacted by exceptionalising animals as not-persons, and humans as not-animals, and through urbanisation, a uniquely human claim on land. 'Colonial' is understood in an anthropocentric sense of (privileged) human imperialism over nonhumans and poor humans. Informality, a carefully produced condition that is exceptional to formal governance and planning, legitimises the view of animals (and poor humans) as 'trespassers' in urban spaces. This paper examines street canines in Indian cities, demonstrating their marginalisation and eviction at the intersection of colonialism and informality. Last, this paper builds upon ‘subaltern urbanism’ that recognises the agency inherent in marginalised citizens and spaces, to conceptualise ‘subaltern animism’ as a way of acknowledging animal spaces and citizenship in the city.
Sustainable Development , 2016
The rights of livestock that are designated as food/farm animals has been a blind spot across dev... more The rights of livestock that are designated as food/farm animals has been a blind spot across development discourse and policies in spite of compelling moral (and socio-ecological) reasons. They are regarded as 'resources' to sustain growth, leading to food production systems that support factory farming and invasive animal husbandry. The paper argues that religion and sustainable development are unlikely partners in the commodification of animals in these policies. Capitalist-driven interpretations of religion support the objectification of animals. Sustainable development, an efficiency-driven growth paradigm is concerned with the preservation of finite natural resources. Sentient factory farmed animals are seen as infinite resources. Using Christianity and Hinduism as examples, the paper argues that religion can also shape alternative animal husbandry/food production practices, and expand the social justice element of sustainable development to encompass what I term 'sociozoological justice' in economic systems that heavily involve animals.
Multireligious syncretism in cities is chiefly upheld by the engagements of everyday life where e... more Multireligious syncretism in cities is chiefly upheld by the engagements of everyday life where enduring bonds are formed and sustained. This article studies the feminised dimensions of the 'everyday' in the home and neighbourhood of Jaipur city in India, which it sees as spaces of everyday activities and encounters between communities in multireligious Indian cities. Women's mutual engagements and agency in these spaces are vital to support cohesive multireligious community development in Indian cities. However, patriarchal political Hindu injunctions against Hindu women engaging with the 'Muslim other' are strong, and they consciously and/or subconsciously influence the degree to which Hindu women allow themselves to engage with Muslim women in everyday interactions. It concludes that feminised multi-faith engagement is vital for communal peace and stability, and must be consciously invoked for community development in Indian cities.
The nexus between religion and development is now well recognised in scholarship but the implicat... more The nexus between religion and development is now well recognised in scholarship but the implications for development policies have been relatively unexplored. The challenge with analysing religion as a policy construct is to ensure that its rich anthropological dimensions are not lost; rather, these inform the conception and implementation of development planning, especially in diverse, multireligious societies. The aim of this special issue is to unpack the complex anthropological, sociological and even theological dimensions of religion that can enable development policymakers to identify the ways in which religion shapes the society, the environment and the economy. Therein also lies the opportunities to articulate policies that are truly responsive to serious structural issues of inequalities and oppressions. The authors address five foci that are central to sustainable development policymaking – urbanisation and spatial equality; gender justice; environment and human/animal tensions; economic growth; and postsecularity and governance.
International Journal of Heritage Studies, 2013
Historic architectural heritage is important to sustainable urban planning policy, particularly i... more Historic architectural heritage is important to sustainable urban planning policy, particularly in cities that have heritage sites and/or themselves have ancient archaeological value. Delhi is one of the oldest living cities in the world. However, the vision of its planning policy is limited to valuing heritage for itself and for its economic value instead of also exploring the ways in the city's heritage might contribute to the social organisation and utilisation of the urban public space. Particularly, like most national policy documents on heritage, it ignores the heritage/gender nexus, which has implications for the identity and status of women in Delhi, community development and ecological preservation. But twenty women practioners and scholars of development in Delhi referred to heritage as a challenge as well as opportunity for gender and urban sustainability when asked for their perspectives on the most important sustainability issues in the city. I argue that Delhi's urban planning strategies must acknowledge the gender/heritage nexus to enable holistic and gender-inclusive urban development for the present and future generations of its citizens, which is an important thrust of the sustainability agenda.
Uploads
Call for Papers by Yamini Narayanan
We seek to underscore what geographers can contribute to our understanding of critical veganism and vegan praxis. Presentations in non-traditional and participatory formats are welcomed. Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words to [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] and [email protected] by 25 October 2017.
Towards Vegan Geographies: Ethics Beyond Violence
We seek to underscore what geographers can contribute to our understanding of critical veganism and vegan praxis.
Presentations in non-traditional and participatory formats are welcomed.
Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words to [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] and [email protected] by 21 October 2016.
Please note: Once you have submitted an abstract to us and it is accepted, you will also need to register AND submit an abstract on the AAG website.
Thus, our three-fold focus in the proposed Special Issue is to:
1. examine how religion intersects with neoliberal consumption to create trajectories of violence, power and powerlessness, and even warlike conditions to aid rapid urban growth
2. consider how religion may be utilised by perpetrators and victims of neoliberal violence to understand and address the human/animal condition , and the urban condition.
3. explore religion as a source of practical engagement (social capital) and an alternative imaginary that helps promote a gift economy rather than the coercion and violence necessary to uphold a debt economy. We examine how religion may reinstate more egalitarian distribution systems that allow sovereignty to be dispersed rather than hierarchical.
We thus call for papers that will address the above themes through a tri-levelled analysis that:
1. assembles new constellations of interdisciplinary analyses, definitions and themes that address the core issue of urban sustainability;
2. analyses urban case studies of innovation and good practice;
3. explores the implications of macro theory and micro-practice for the implementation of better practices of sustainability planning that underscore the need for urban governance to cultivate intellectual and creative openness in engaging (rather than managing) religion to conceptualise of sustainable cities for an increasingly urban planet.
Please send a Title, 200-word abstract and a brief bio by 1st May 2015 to:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Books by Yamini Narayanan
This book explores the historical and on-going influence of religion on urban planning, design, space utilisation, urban identities and communities. It argues that the conceptual and empirical approaches to planning sustainable cities in India need to be developed out of analytical concepts that define local sense of place and identity. Examining how Hindu religious heritage, beliefs and religiously influenced planning practices have impacted on sustainable urbanisation development in Jaipur and Indian cities in general, the book identifies the challenges and opportunities that ritualistic and belief resources pose for sustainability. It focuses on three key aspects: spatial segregation and ghettoisation; gender-inclusive urban development; and the nexus between religion, nature and urban development.
This cutting-edge book is one of the first case studies linking Hindu religion, heritage, urban development, women and the environment in a way that responds to the realities of Indian cities. It opens up discussion on the nexus of religion and development, drawing out insightful policy implications for the sustainable urban planning of many cities in India and elsewhere in South Asia and the developing world.
Edited books/journals by Yamini Narayanan
This book makes a much-needed contribution to the nexus between religion and urban planning for researchers, postgraduate students and policy makers in Development Studies, Urban Studies, Religious Studies, Asian Studies, Heritage Studies and Urban and Religious Geography.
Journal articles by Yamini Narayanan
caste as wildness, primitive, or savage are inscribed and asserted in
India, by the Hindu Right and the Dalit Right, to respectively
advance parochial nationalisms. The general obscuration of the
pig in violent nationalist discourses, is itself due to her inherent
caste status as impure/polluting. Hindu Vedic scriptures endorse
a civilizational rhetoric of the cows as Brahminical and divine, and
the pigs as associated with filth and ferality. Caste advances or
obstructs political and economic power, and is interlocked with
market capitalism, which relies on nature – and casteised subhuman/
nonhuman bodies – as both profitable (and venerable), and
expendable (and despicable). The visceral socio-political contempt
the pig evokes is intertwined with their use in performing economic
labor as waste scavenger, and political labor as superfluous to
a nation in which pigs, and people associated with pigs do not
belong. Via empirical work in Chennai city, this paper focusses the
pig, ecologically and sociologically wild, feral and promiscuous, as
enmeshed in a long-enduring, constructed caste conflict around
Brahmin/Dravida; Hindu/Tamil; civilized/primitive; and even,
human/animal binaries. Finally, it specifies species as also core to
identity politics, as part of a transformative praxis to a post-casteist
society.
We seek to underscore what geographers can contribute to our understanding of critical veganism and vegan praxis. Presentations in non-traditional and participatory formats are welcomed. Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words to [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] and [email protected] by 25 October 2017.
Towards Vegan Geographies: Ethics Beyond Violence
We seek to underscore what geographers can contribute to our understanding of critical veganism and vegan praxis.
Presentations in non-traditional and participatory formats are welcomed.
Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words to [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] and [email protected] by 21 October 2016.
Please note: Once you have submitted an abstract to us and it is accepted, you will also need to register AND submit an abstract on the AAG website.
Thus, our three-fold focus in the proposed Special Issue is to:
1. examine how religion intersects with neoliberal consumption to create trajectories of violence, power and powerlessness, and even warlike conditions to aid rapid urban growth
2. consider how religion may be utilised by perpetrators and victims of neoliberal violence to understand and address the human/animal condition , and the urban condition.
3. explore religion as a source of practical engagement (social capital) and an alternative imaginary that helps promote a gift economy rather than the coercion and violence necessary to uphold a debt economy. We examine how religion may reinstate more egalitarian distribution systems that allow sovereignty to be dispersed rather than hierarchical.
We thus call for papers that will address the above themes through a tri-levelled analysis that:
1. assembles new constellations of interdisciplinary analyses, definitions and themes that address the core issue of urban sustainability;
2. analyses urban case studies of innovation and good practice;
3. explores the implications of macro theory and micro-practice for the implementation of better practices of sustainability planning that underscore the need for urban governance to cultivate intellectual and creative openness in engaging (rather than managing) religion to conceptualise of sustainable cities for an increasingly urban planet.
Please send a Title, 200-word abstract and a brief bio by 1st May 2015 to:
[email protected]
[email protected]
This book explores the historical and on-going influence of religion on urban planning, design, space utilisation, urban identities and communities. It argues that the conceptual and empirical approaches to planning sustainable cities in India need to be developed out of analytical concepts that define local sense of place and identity. Examining how Hindu religious heritage, beliefs and religiously influenced planning practices have impacted on sustainable urbanisation development in Jaipur and Indian cities in general, the book identifies the challenges and opportunities that ritualistic and belief resources pose for sustainability. It focuses on three key aspects: spatial segregation and ghettoisation; gender-inclusive urban development; and the nexus between religion, nature and urban development.
This cutting-edge book is one of the first case studies linking Hindu religion, heritage, urban development, women and the environment in a way that responds to the realities of Indian cities. It opens up discussion on the nexus of religion and development, drawing out insightful policy implications for the sustainable urban planning of many cities in India and elsewhere in South Asia and the developing world.
This book makes a much-needed contribution to the nexus between religion and urban planning for researchers, postgraduate students and policy makers in Development Studies, Urban Studies, Religious Studies, Asian Studies, Heritage Studies and Urban and Religious Geography.
caste as wildness, primitive, or savage are inscribed and asserted in
India, by the Hindu Right and the Dalit Right, to respectively
advance parochial nationalisms. The general obscuration of the
pig in violent nationalist discourses, is itself due to her inherent
caste status as impure/polluting. Hindu Vedic scriptures endorse
a civilizational rhetoric of the cows as Brahminical and divine, and
the pigs as associated with filth and ferality. Caste advances or
obstructs political and economic power, and is interlocked with
market capitalism, which relies on nature – and casteised subhuman/
nonhuman bodies – as both profitable (and venerable), and
expendable (and despicable). The visceral socio-political contempt
the pig evokes is intertwined with their use in performing economic
labor as waste scavenger, and political labor as superfluous to
a nation in which pigs, and people associated with pigs do not
belong. Via empirical work in Chennai city, this paper focusses the
pig, ecologically and sociologically wild, feral and promiscuous, as
enmeshed in a long-enduring, constructed caste conflict around
Brahmin/Dravida; Hindu/Tamil; civilized/primitive; and even,
human/animal binaries. Finally, it specifies species as also core to
identity politics, as part of a transformative praxis to a post-casteist
society.