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The space of the Mohalla political mobilisation of and in Delhi's urban communities

The space of the Mohalla political mobilisation of and in Delhi's urban communities

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The space of the Mohalla political mobilisation of and in Delhi's urban communities
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<strong>Centre for Historical Studies School of Social Sciences</strong> a Lecture <strong>The space of the Mohalla political mobilisation of and in Delhi's urban communities</strong> <strong>Stephen Legg</strong> The University of Nottingham <strong>20th April 2016</strong> This paper will examine the mohallas (urban, sometimes walled, communities) of Delhi as both material spaces that can be mapped and spatially reconstructed using the colonial archive, but also as spaces that were politically mobilised and restructured in the interwar years. Augmenting existing literature on mohallas as sites for Muslim organisational penetration (Malik 1993), cultural identification (Dayal 1975; Pernau 2013) and political mobilisation (Masselos2007; Spodek 2011), this paper will look at how mohallas became spaces for rival penetration (eg Muslim League and Congress) and the scale at which biopolitical and increasingly militaristic conducting of local populations (eg RSSS and the Muslim National Guard) pre-partitioned Delhi in the 1940s. Stephen Legg is an historical geographer who uses postcolonial theory and colonial governmentality studies to analyse interwar colonial India. He has published two monographs and edited one volume: Spaces of Colonialism: Delhi's Urban Governmentalities (2007, Wiley-Blackwell); Prostitution and the Ends of Empire: Scale, Governmentalities and Interwar India (2014, Duke University Press); and Spatiality, Sovereignty and Carl Schmitt: Geographies of the Nomos (ed, 2011, Routledge). His current work explores the spaces of anti-colonialism, nationalism and communalism in interwar Delhi.

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Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

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