Abstract
In contemporary India, a general nationalist triumphalism, rising Hindu nationalism and globalization have shaped the circulation of a dominant muscular view of the Indian nation. Muscular nationalism is a masculine affair. Drawing upon the historical and contemporary political phenomena, this talk will unpack the gendered contours of this view of nation, trace its historical trajectory, and end with a discussion of political consequences if resistance to such a view of nation is not nurtured.
Bio
Sikata Banerjee is Professor Emerita of Gender Studies at the University of Victoria, Canada. Her work focuses on gender and nationalism. Selected publications include: Make Me a Man! Masculinity, Hinduism, and Nationalism in India (2005); Muscular Nationalism: Gender, Violence, and Empire in India and Ireland (2012), and Gender, Nation, and Popular Film in India: Globalizing Muscular Nationalism (Routledge 2017) as well as articles in Women’s Studies International Forum and International Feminist Journal of Politics.