The Intersections of Caste and Gender in South India with Dr. Rekha Raj
South Asia Reading Group
September 12, 2023
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
What lessons in intersectionality does the context of Dalit women’s politics in south India hold for us? Dr. Raj will speak about her pathbreaking research on Dalit women’s politics in Kerala, and the challenges of shaping intersectional politics in a society like Kerala’s, where the assumption of a “post-caste” enlightened society presents unique challenges for Dalit and minoritarian mobilization. Dr. Raj will draw on her formative role in Kerala’s Dalit feminist and queer movements— as an early or founding member of organizations including the Panchami Dalit Women’s Collective, Utharakalam, a leading digital platform for Dalit Bahujan and other dissident writings, the Kerala Queer Pride March collective, and Sahayatrika, a community organization for queer and trans people assigned female at birth.
Dr. Rekha Raj is a Dalit feminist scholar-activist from Kerala, south India, with over two decades of experience in shaping intersectional praxis and theory around Dalit women’s political interventions and lived experience. She is currently a recipient of the Kerala Chief Minister’s Nava Kerala Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Date posted
Aug 14, 2023
Date updated
Aug 24, 2023