In Perspective

In this episode, anthropologist Dr. Mahuya Bandyopadhyay speaks with us about the idea of imprisonment, human rights, and the linkages between violence within the prison system and violence in society at large. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.  Notes:  00:01:00:02- How has human rights law evolved...

In this episode, anthropologist Dr. Sarah Pinto talks to us about the links between women's societal position and the diagnosis and treatment of their mental illnesses, and the powerful counter-narratives of women's trauma in South Asian literature. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.  Notes:  00:01:1...

In this episode, historian Dr. Arunima Datta talks to us about the lesser known history of thousands of Indian coolie women who worked on plantations in British Malaya in the 19th century, the surprising reasons for them joining the Rani of Jhansi regiment during the freedom struggle, and the contemporary relevance of their stories.  ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics...

In this episode, gender and language studies scholar Dr. Geeta Patel discusses why Ismat Chughtai's Lihaaf was charged for obscenity, the 'homely' girl in matrimonial ads, and challenging notions of respectability in Indian society. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.  Notes:  00:00:53:00- What role d...

In this episode, independent dance practitioner and writer Ranjana Dave talks to us about the evolution of Indian classical dance, and what it means for dance to be political. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.  Notes:  00:00:47:09- How do we interrogate the relationship between classical dance and c...

In this episode, historian and gender studies scholar, Dr. G. Anurima talks to us about why we've misunderstood the nature of matriliny in Kerala, Ravi Varma's legacy as a 'public artist,' and how family photos reflect domestic hierarchies. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.   Notes:  00:01:07:02- Wh...

In this episode, literature scholar Dr. Shampa Roy talks to us about why widows were villains in early Bangla detective novels, portrayals of women criminals in daroga accounts, and descriptions of zenanas in British women's travel writings ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.  Notes:  00:01:03:09- Wha...

In this episode, historian and gender studies scholar Dr. Mytheli Sreenivas discusses women writing about the need for desire in marriage in Tamil magazines in the 1920s, the complicated impact of modern property laws, and the Dravidian nationalist vision for casteless marriage in colonial South India. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about...

In this episode, essayist and documentary filmmaker Dr. Shohini Ghosh discusses the changing notions of media censorship, Indian movie stars embracing queerness, and how Rituparno Ghosh shaped queer cinema in India. A link to Shohini’s documentary film — Tales of the Night Fairies ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, socie...

In this episode, historian Dr. Divya Kannan talks to us about the evolution of education in colonial India, and how caste and gender have played a huge role in shaping access. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.    Notes:  00:01:00:10- How do you deal with the difficulties of doing archival work on ch...

In this episode, historian Dr. Charu Gupta discusses how the growth of print culture led to public debates around gender, sexuality and erotic literature in 19th century India. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.  Notes:  00:01:18:06- What role did print media play in furthering communalism in contemp...

In this episode, gender studies scholar, Dr. Ashwini Tambe talks to us about debates around girlhood, age of sexual consent, and state regulation of commercial sex work in colonial India. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.  Please note that the word 'prostitution' is used in this podcast because it i...

In this episode, researcher and Director of the Internet Democracy Project, Dr. Anja Kovacs discusses using the feminist idea of consent to prevent data misuse, how anonymity can empower women online, and why we need to reimagine how data governance works. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.  Notes: ...

In this episode,  researcher Amrita Nandy talks to us about the romanticisation of maternal sacrifice, perceptions of voluntary non-mothers, and the imposition of caregiving on women. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.  Notes:  01:01:20- Why is the mother seen as the "epitome of femininity and womanh...

In this episode,  anthropologist Dr. Naisargi Dave joins us to discuss letter exchange as a form of community-building for women loving women in the 1990s, the fraught relationship between the lesbian movement and the autonomous women’s movement in India, and the problems with arguing for queer rights on the basis of the right to privacy. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where acad...

 In this episode, film studies scholar Dr. Ranjani Mazumdar joins us for a deep dive into film posters, the anti-hero, travel in celluloid, and the history of Bombay cinema. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.  Notes: 00:01:08:17- How did the film poster emerge in 20th century India? How has its artis...

 In this episode, Dr. Tanika Sarkar talks to us about the first public debates on sati, widow remarriage and age of consent, and locating  the woman’s voice in colonial India. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.  Notes: 1:13- With the example of the Age of Consent debate or the debate around the Widow...

In this episode, historian Dr. Sanjam Ahluwalia talks to us about how middle-class men led India's birth control advocacy in the 19th century, how contraception is used to surveil women, and why reproductive rights is such a fraught issue around the world. ‘In Perspective’ is our podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture. Notes: 1:16- In the...

In this episode, legal historian Dr. Mitra Sharafi talks to us about how racial differences shaped the development of forensic science in colonial India, why the anti-abortion law was poorly enforced back then, and how death by poisoning became common during epidemics. ‘In Perspective’ is our podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture. Notes:...

In this episode, anthropologist Dr. Dolly Kikon talks to us about why the 2020 Baghjan crisis in Assam is a global issue, the exploitative politics of resource extraction in the Northeast, and why development often excludes local communities. ‘In Perspective’ is our podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.   Notes: 1:25- Natural resource e...

In this episode, historian Dr. Mrinalini Sinha talks to us about the emergence of the stereotype of the 'effeminate Bengali', why Katherine Mayo's 1927 book 'Mother India' became controversial, and how women got divided along caste lines in the fight for their right to vote in colonial India. ‘In Perspective’ is our podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, soc...

In this episode, Dr. Harini Nagendra, ecologist and Director of Research Center at Azim Premji University, talks to us about the need for re-imagining environmental sustainability, reframing the development versus environment binary, and creating more equal cities by fostering urban commons. ‘In Perspective’ is our podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, soci...

In this episode, gender and sexuality studies scholar Dr. Ruth Vanita talks to us about narratives of same-sex love in early India, and the challenges of running one of India’s first feminist magazines back in the 1970s. ‘In Perspective’ is our podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture. 

In this episode, feminist scholar Dr. Mary John talks about the relationship between feminism and the nation, the skewed sex ratio in India, and changing attitudes towards sexual violence. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.

In this episode, gender studies scholar Dr. Vibhuti Patel talks about the history of the autonomous women’s movement, gender-responsive budgeting, and the problems with women’s political representation in India. ‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.