Prof. Shivani Kapoor
08/01/2024 2024-01-08 13:23Prof. Shivani Kapoor
Prof. Shivani Kapoor
Coordinator & Associate Professor
Ph.D. Political Science (Jawaharlal Nehru University);
M.Phil Political Science (Jawaharlal Nehru University);
M.A Political Science (Jawaharlal Nehru University);
B.A. (Hons.) Journalism (University of Delhi)
Dr. Shivani Kapoor is trained in political science and researches on caste and sensory politics in India from an interdisciplinary perspective. Her research and teaching interests span across Indian politics; politics of writing especially writings on and about caste and anti-caste issues; anthropology of the senses; science and technology studies; social justice; and political economy of labour and commodities in South Asia.
She holds doctorate in Political Science from Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her doctoral work located at the intersection of caste, sensory politics and labour examines the relationship between caste and the senses in the leather industry in Uttar Pradesh. Her earlier work examined debates around the representations of caste-selves through self-writing and its circulation in the form of Hindi Dalit autobiographies in Uttar Pradesh. Prior to joining CWS, she has worked at Shiv Nadar University, Ambedkar University, and the University of Delhi. She has also been a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi.
Caste, Dalit writing and autobiographies, Anthropology of the senses, Social Justice, Material histories, Science and technology studies, Technical education.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- ‘The Smell of Caste: Leatherwork and Scientific Knowledge in Colonial India’, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 44: 5, pp 983-999
- ‘The Violence of Odors: Sensory Politics of Caste in a Leather Tannery’, The Senses and Society Vol. 16 No. 2, 2021, pp 164-176
- ‘The Search for ‘Tanner’s Blood’: Caste and Technical Education in Colonial Uttar Pradesh’, Review of Development and Change: Special Issue – Caste, Craft and Education in India and Sri Lanka, Volume XXIII, Number 2, July-December 2018, pp 118-138
- ‘Your Mother, You Bury Her’: Caste, Carcass and Politics in Contemporary India’, Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies, Vol 3, No. 1, (Animals Without Borders), Summer, 2018, Indiana University Press, pp 5-30
- ‘Cast(e) in Disgust: Is an Empathic Reading of Caste Possible?’, Emotions: History, Culture and Society, Volume 2, Issue 2, Nov 2018, pp 256-273
- ‘Itr Banam Chamda: Uttar Pradesh Mein Jati Aur Gandh Ki Rajniti’, in Pratiman, CSDS, Issue 7, Year 4, January-June 2016, pp 240-257
Articles in Journals/Online Collections
- ‘‘The Air Smells Rotten’: Caste and Senses in and around a Tannery’, Venti Journal: Air, Experience and Aesthetics – “Senses”, Winter 2021 (forthcoming)
- ‘Feminist Understanding of Politics and Power’, in Political Theory and Thought: Western and Indian Traditions, in e-PG Pathshala (MHRD-UGC), http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/ahl.php?csrno=29
- ‘Marxist Understanding of Politics and Power’, in Political Theory and Thought: Western and Indian Traditions, in in e-PG Pathshala (MHRD-UGC), http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/ahl.php?csrno=29
Chapters in Books
- ‘Words that Smell – Caste and Odors in Hindi Dalit Autobiographies’, in Scentscapes of Asia, edited by Gwyn McClelland, Perspectives on Sensory Studies Series, Penn State University Press (Forthcoming)
- ‘The Smells of Caste: Body, Self and Politics’, in Olfaction: An Interdisciplinary Perspective from Philosophy to Life Sciences, Human Perspectives in Health Sciences and Technology 4, (Eds.) N. Di Stefano and M. T. Russo, Springer, 2021, pp 21-34.
- ‘A Pox on Your House: Exploring Caste and Gender in Tulsi Ram’s Murdahiya’, in Dalit Text: Aesthetics and Politics Reimagined, (Eds) Judith Misrahi-Barak, K. Satyanarayana and Nicole Thiara, New York: Routledge, 2020, pp 138-150
- ‘Hierarchies of Caste and Gender in Hindi Dalit Autobiographies’, Chapter in ‘Negotiating Margins – African American and Dalit Writings’, ed. A Karunaker, Prestige Books International, Delhi
Media Publications
- ‘The Rise of Bhim’s Army Signals A New Era of Indian Politics’, in ScoopWhoop, May 27, 2017, https://www.scoopwhoop.com/why-bhim-army-risks-of-falling-into-the-same-political-trap-as-mayawatis-bsp/#.o69tuaamh
Podcasts
- ‘Caste, Sensory Politics and Labour’, Episode 1, Confronting Caste, Kings India Institute, UK, November 13, 2020. Link: https://soundcloud.com/kings-india-institute/episode-1
- ‘Political Economy of Caste and Labour’, Dalit Lives Matter, Nepal, September 29, 2020. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nujSOccsP4
- ‘Varna vyavastha: A Short History of the Caste System’, Lights, Camera, Azadi, September 6, 2020. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPywBM3QRZA&t=2059s