Centre for the Study of Social Systems
School of Social Sciences
CSSS Colloquium
Ajit Kumar Pandey
(Professor of Sociology, Banaras Hindu University)
Will be presenting a paper on
Understanding Subalternity in Indian Society
Date & Time: September 7th, 2017 (Thursday), 3.00 pm
Venue: CSSS Committee Room (Room No: 13), SSS-II
Abstract: Subaltern collectivists remained steadfastly glued to their binary definition of subalterns and elite. The sweeping canvas adopted by the subaltern studies was unable to notice the intra-subaltern differentiations except for the fact that sectarian interests within the subalterns used to break their horizontal unity. While these sectional interests were present both within the elite and within the masses, the internal differentiations within the subalterns were more an outcome of their different levels of subalternity and not simply related to sectarian interests. The different levels of subalternity, in turn, were informed by their different levels of socio-economic position which were not articulated in terms of sectarian interests as underlined by subaltern studies. This inability of the subaltern studies may be attributed to their analytical framework. Subaltern studies had taken a reductionist view of subalterns and subalternity where the basic premise of subalternity was state domain centric. The reason for this approach is their binary formulation of elite vs. masses where elite stand in opposition to the masses. The subaltern historiography by subaltern collectivists was not concerned with the issue of subaltern reproduction, as they were more concerned with locating the subalterns as an independent socio-political force in the formation of the anti-colonial nationalist movement and asserting the moral rights of subalterns. This paper will discuss the subaltern studies framework pregnant with the aforesaid limitations and will try to search for possibility of developing a more rational paradigm in social sciences in general and Indian historiography in particular which should not produce ethnocentric historicism.
Bio: Ajit Kumar Pandey is professor at the Department of Sociology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. His research areas include social theory and development issues, critique of subaltern studies, kinship and tribal policy, and gender studies. Prof. Pandey completed his Doctoral research on “Kinship and Power Structure among Tribal Societies: A Comparative Study of Mundas and Oraons of Bihar” from Jawaharlal Nehru University (1985). He has widely published books and articles in the areas of sociological theory, kinship, gender, development issues, and subaltern studies. Some of his recently published books include “New Directions in Sociological Theory: Disputes, Discourses and Orientations”, Rawat Publications, Jaipur, New Delhi, 2010; “Subalternity, Exclusion and Social Change”, Cambridge University Press, 2014. Prof. Pandey is currently working on a book titled “Dalits in India: Experiencing subalternity” to be published by Routledge, London.
