Professor:  Vatsal Naresh

M - 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

How do some groups acquire the label ‘minority’? What prevents different oppressed groups from collaborating in the pursuit of political power? Why do identities linger when they mark and connote deprivation, oppression, and violence? How do different forms of difference figure in  hierarchical relationships to each other and preponderant groups and political institutions? How do oppressed groups innovate in resisting oppression and creating alternative political projects? We will explore three interconnected forms of social difference, race, caste, and indigeneity in democratic societies like the United States and India by studying the formation of identities before and during democratic rule, and the interaction of groups and institutions of political power. We will read texts in social theory and the contemporary social sciences. This Junior tutorial will empower students to analyze race, caste, and indigeneity comparatively, in historically specific contexts, as well as the underlying abstract concepts.