Chitralekha

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Chitralekha

Associate Professor of Media Studies, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Jawaharlal Nehru University
chitralekha@ashoka.edu.in

Chitralekha is a social anthropologist who has employed ethnography in diverse sites of caste, class, and ethnic marginalization in India. Her work advances understandings of particularities to constitutions of difference, and the ways in which they may be negotiated over time and place. Her first book, a monograph based on her doctoral thesis, supported by the Nehru Memorial Fund, was an account of lived histories of mobilization to armed violence in domains seen as deeply disparate in academic discourse (Ordinary people, Extraordinary Violence: Naxalites and Hindu Rioters in India, Routledge, 2012 [South Asia Edition 2018]). Located from the standpoint of the foot soldier, and based on extensive fieldwork with Naxalite armed cadre and later, perpetrators of the 2002 violence against Muslims in Gujarat, it was concerned with understanding of not just the formalized ideological contexts to left radical and ethnic mobilization in India, but also the local histories, mediatic habitus, and idea-structures within which ordinary people may be mobilized to collaborate in projects of violence. Her work has since been published or is forthcoming in journals such as Current Anthropology, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Public History Review, Contributions to Indian Sociology, Economic and Political Weekly; and in several edited volumes.

She is presently completing a book project, Reflexive Radicalism, an ethnographic examination of student protest in the Kashmir valley between 2011-2017. In continuity with anthropological examinations of militarization and its production of social suffering for particular communities, as well as of forms of social action and meaning making in virtual worlds, her work renders visible the constitutive becomings of the dreamwork of `freedom’ and `terror’ that tear at powered discursive circulations that currently appropriate both. In doing so, it helps us think about what `digitality’ might mean in a state of exception. This project was supported by the Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton, where she was Member (2017-18) and Visitor (2018-19). Chitralekha is working on two additional book projects. The first, thinking with Gadamerian hermeneutics, engages with prospects of `understanding’ in anthropology of violence. She began this project at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton, as part of a workshop on Philosophy and Ethnographic Practice, curated for the theme Seminar, School of Social Science, and had the opportunity to think further in collaboration with a year-long seminar on Debt (2020-21) with the Committee for Globalization and Social Change at the Graduate Centre, CUNY. A major essay, discussing the arguments at its heart, is forthcoming in Current Anthropology. The second project in progress traces a public history of the mediatized region of Pulwama in south Kashmir.

Chitralekha was formerly faculty at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi (2012-23), and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai (2010-11). Her present teaching and advising interests are with the complex, historically located, yet indeterminate relationships between culture, technology, and inequity.

Books (Peer reviewed)

  1. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Violence: Naxalites and Hindu Extremists in India. London, New York, New Delhi: Routledge. [South Asia Edition, 2018].

Journal Articles (Peer reviewed)

  1. (forthcoming) Prospects of an anthropology of understanding: Gadamer and counter-critique in India. Current Anthropology.
  1. Self-Writing in Tral, Kashmir: Struggles in Public History. Public History Review. Vol. 29, pp. 31–37.
  1. Why does the subject speak? Prejudgement in Fieldwork with Naxalites and Hindu Rioters. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI), March, 23 (1). 
  1. Purpose versus Function: Which way for Public Libraries in India? Economic and Political Weekly, August 2, Vol. XLIX, No. 31: 24-27.
  1. Censorship for Counterinsurgency: Dilemmas for Citizenship in Kashmir. Economic and Political Weekly, May 24, Vol. XLIX, No. 21: 55-58.
  1. Committed, Opportunists and Drifters: Revisiting the Naxalite Narrative in Jharkhand and Bihar. Contributions to Indian Sociology. October, 44:299-329.

Book Chapters (Peer Reviewed) 

  1. The public anthropology of violence in India in Didier Fassin and George Steinmetz (eds.) The Social Sciences in the Looking-Glass. Studies in the Production of Knowledge, Durham: Duke University Press, Chapter 7, pp. 195-217.
  1. Self-writing in Tral: Struggles in history-making in (Indian) Kashmir in Paul Ashton, Tanya Evans and Paula Hamilton (eds.) Making Histories (Series eds. Indira Chowdhury and Michael M. Frisch, Public History in International Perspective: Theory, Method, and Public Practice), Berlin/ Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, Chapter 17, pp. 213- 223.
  1.  Oral History with Women Naxalites and Rioters: Problems of Epistemology and Ethics in Maitrayee Chaudhuri and Manish Thakur (eds.) Doing Theory. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, Chapter 12, pp. 255-273.
  1.  Coming to be `Maoist’: Surviving Tropes, Shifting Meanings in Ajay Gudavarthy (ed.) Revolutionary Violence Versus Democracy: Narratives from India. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi: Sage, Chapter 7, pp. 161-190.

Policy Reports

  1. Teachers and Students in Kashmir: Perspectives and Possibilities. Lead researcher report for Hum Kadam Project, Education for Peace, Youth and Peacebuilding. Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP).
  1. Women’s Reservation in Panchayati Raj Institutions (Maharashtra): Implications for Gender and Governance Theory. Introductory chapter, Gender and Governance Project, Centre for Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Numerous writings in newsmagazines/ English dailies in India from 1997 onwards. Cover and lead stories in Sunday (Ananda Bazar Patrika Group) on urgent social and political issues of the time, including documentation of (then virtually unheard) perspectives of lesbian women in India, the unacknowledged depression epidemic, investigations into public healthcare and medical negligence.Several short films with Living on the Edge, India’s longest running environment and social issues program, on subjects such as the left insurgency in Jharkhand and Bihar, displacement of adivasis from forested lands, hazardous medical practice in rural and small-town India, diverse environment and wildlife conservation issues. Edit page columns in Hindustan Times, Times of India (Crest Edition), The Conversation, Huffington Post etc.

Select examples:

  1. A new resistance in Kashmir. The Conversation. Access on http://theconversation.com/a-new-resistance-in-kashmir-68857
  1. It’s us versus them again. Edit Page, The Times of India, Crest Edition, New Delhi. December 12.
  1. Everyday killers. Special Report, Hindustan Times, Delhi April 19.
  1. Not just following orders. Edit Page. Hindustan Times, Delhi. April 7.
  1. The Decline of Delhi. Cover Story. Sunday, Delhi. Vol. 25, 21-27 June, pp. 28-38.
  1. Gods of the Small Screen. Sunday, Delhi. Vol. 25, 15-21 March, pp.34-38.
  1. Loving Women. Indian lesbians talk about themselves. Cover Story. Sunday, Delhi. Vol. 25, 17-23 May, pp.34-45.
  1. On the brink. Depressive illness in India. Sunday, Vol. 24, 16-22 November, pp.42-46.
  1. Border Trouble. A film on 1971 Indo-Pak war draws crowds. And controversies. Cover

Story. Sunday, Delhi. Vol. 24, 27 July-2 August, pp. 32-40.

Select Invited Talks

  1. Prospects of an anthropology of understanding: Gadamer and counter-critique in India. Invited Talk, Sociology and Anthropology Colloquium Series. Ashoka University, October 27.
  1. Vinay Shukla’s While We Watched [teleconference]. Invited Discussant, One World Film Festival, Prague, March 26.
  1.  Digital Speech, Surveillance and Militancy in (Indian) Kashmir [teleconference]. Invited Talk, Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age, A Kofi Annan Foundation Initiative, Social Science One, Stanford University, March 24.
  1. Virtually Radical: Speech, Digitality, and Militancy in (Indian) Kashmir. Invited Talk, Department of Anthropology, Princeton University. February 28.
  1. Virtually Radical: Speech, Surveillance and Silence in (Indian) Kashmir. Invited Talk, Social Science Seminar 2017-18. Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton. November 20.
  1. Sangh Women in 2002 Gujarat: Affect and (Idea) Structures of Violence. Invited Talk, Program in South Asian Studies, Fall 2017 Speaker Series, Princeton University, November 16.
  1. (Un) Grievable Lives: Locating Migrants and Media Frames in India. Invited Talk, International Organization for Migration (IOM)-UNESCO Orientation Day on `Images of Migrants: Media and its Role in Shaping Public Perception’. United Nations Conference Hall, Delhi. October 5.
  1. Naxalism and Communalism: A Structural Comparison. Invited Talk, Conflict Transformation and Peace-Building (CTPB) Programme. Lady Shriram College, Delhi. September.
  1.  Sowing Seeds of Justice. Invited Talk, 28th National Convention of YWCA, Puri. 7-11 February.
  1. Does it Make Sense to Compare Maoists and Rioters? Invited Talk. Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), Mumbai. November 9.
  1. The Context of Extremism: Comparing Naxalites and Hindu Rioters. Invited Talk, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai. September 2.

Select Workshop Papers

  1. Student–protestor–terrorist: Constituting destructible bodies. Theme seminar Borders (2021-22). Committee for Globalization and Social Change (CGSC), Graduate Centre, City University of New York (CUNY), New York, May 3.
  1. Prospects of an anthropology of understanding: Gadamer and counter-critique in India. Theme seminar Debt (2020-21).Committee for Globalization and Social Change (CGSC), Graduate Centre, City University of New York (CUNY), New York, May 4.
  1. Anthropology of Violence in India: Historical Reflexivities, Contemporary Trajectories. School of Social Science Workshop on`Social Science in a Changing World’. Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton, November 8-9.
  1. Surveillance and the New Militancy in (Indian) Kashmir (Panel: Security, Politics, and the Law: Ethnographic, Critical, and Historical Perspectives). Ann. Meeting on Law and Society. Toronto, June 7-10.
  1. Philosophy and Ethnographic Practice. Curated with Alice Crary, Jean-Louis Fabiani, and Carel Smith. Theme Seminar, School of Social Science, Institute of Advanced Studies, April 18.
  1. Virtual Radicals: Reflections on Digital Discourse and the New Militancy in Indian Kashmir (paper accepted/ unable to attend). Brazil-India Journalism Research Colloquium: Rethinking Journalism on a Global South Perspective. University of São Paulo, Brazil. November 6-7.
  1.  Oral History with Women Naxalites and Hindu Rioters: Questions of Epistemology and Ethics. IX International Oral History Association (IOHA) Conference on `Speaking, Listening, Interpreting: The Critical Engagements of Oral History’. Bengaluru, India. June 27-July 1.
  1. Sangh Women in the Gujarat Riots: Affect, Memory and Structures of Violence. University of Lincoln- JNU- British Academy Conference on `Translations in Feminism: Methodologies, Politics and Affect’. Jawaharlal Nehru University, 15 September. 
  1. Leader Bhi Ban Sakte Hai (I may even become a leader): Politics of Recognition in the Naxalite Movement. Seminar on `Understanding Maoist Politics in India’. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. 24-25th
  1. Dramaturgy, Performance and Approximations of Truth: Fieldwork and Theory with Naxalites and Hindu Rioters. Workshop on `Theorising the Social: Locations and Hierarchies’. Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University. 22-23 January. 
  1. Censorship for Counterinsurgency: Dilemmas for Citizenship in India. Seminar on `Communicating Soft Power: Contrasting Perspectives from India and China’. Communication and Media Research Institute, University of Westminster, London. 9-10 September (paper accepted/ unable to attend).
  1. Refusing to learn from the Arab Spring: Censoring media in Kashmir. International Seminar on `Media and Global Affairs: Exploring Indian Media in West Asia’. Centre for Media Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. 19-20 March.
  1. Libraries towards what Purpose? 1st National Conference of Association of Media Libraries and Archives on `Managing Indian Media Libraries and Archives: Challenges, Opportunities and Best Practices’. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, 4-5thFebruary.
  1. Education for Peace: Teachers and Students in Kashmir: Perspectives and Possibilities. National Roundtable on Equity, Access and Quality in Education: Challenges before Jammu and Kashmir. WISCOMP (Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace). Delhi, January 13-14.
  1. Classrooms for Counterpublics: Can Teaching Sociology Combat Extremist Propaganda and Violence? National Seminar on `Challenges to teaching Sociology in 21st Century India’, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, February.

Awards/ Fellowships

2017-2018. Member, School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.

2004-2006. Jawaharlal Nehru Scholarship for Doctoral Studies, Nehru Memorial Fund, New Delhi.

1993-1994. Merit Scholarship, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi.

Visitorships

2021-2022. Visiting Fellow. Borders Seminar (Remote), Committee for Globalization and Social Change (CGSC), Graduate Centre, City University of New York (CUNY), New York.

2020-2021. Visiting Fellow. Debt Seminar (Remote), Committee for Globalization and Social Change (CGSC), Graduate Centre, City University of New York (CUNY), New York.

2018-2019. Visitor, School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.

Courses, 2024

  • Media and Democracy (FC, Monsoon)
  • Media, Culture, and Society (MS1201, Monsoon)
  • Media, Politics and Violence (MS3260/ SOA3139, Spring)
  • Digital Ethnography (MS2271/ SOA2240, Spring)

PhD Awarded, Primary Advisor

  1. Pamyo Chamroy. Alternative Media Practices in India: A Comparitive Study of Video Volunteers and People’s Archive of Rural India. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
  1. Priyanka Srivastava. Dalit Media Field: Discourses in Print and Online Forums. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
  1. Meenakshi Mishra. Reporting Insurgency: A Study of Regional Print Media in Chhattisgarh. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
  1. Priyam Ghosh. Alternative Sexuality in Indian Media: Representation of Queer Bodies since c. 1990s. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
  1. Deepika. Reading Television in Urban Slums: Meanings, Ideas, and Life Chances in Anand Nagar Slum in Bhopal. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
  1. Abdul Raoof Mir. Media and Religion in Contemporary Kashmir: A Case Study of Anantnag and Srinagar. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

MPhil. Awarded, Primary Advisor,

  1. Pamyo Chamroy. Musicking and Change in the Naga Hills: A Case Study of the Hao-Tangkhul Naga Musical Practices.
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