Anna Stirr’s Post

Here's the whole CFP - please follow the link in the post below to submit your abstracts by Jan 31! Center for South Asian Studies Spring Symposium 2025 (VIRTUAL) April 2-4, 2025 (additional dates may be added to accommodate time differences) Prominence and Power: Party Politics and Transnational South Asia  In recent years, politicians of South Asian descent have emerged as prominent figures both within South Asia and in the global diaspora, gaining significant visibility across the political spectrum. Leaders such as Rishi Sunak, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy in the UK and US, alongside India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demonstrate conservative political influence, while figures like US Vice President Kamala Harris and Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna embody a more liberal or progressive presence.  We invite scholars to critically examine this phenomenon from interdisciplinary perspectives, considering the role of literature, popular culture, political narratives, and economic frameworks in shaping public perception and influence. By analyzing how these politicians, now household names, impact global and domestic policies, this symposium aims to understand the shifting dynamics of South Asian identity, power, and influence. Presentations may also address how artistic and cultural representations reflect and respond to this new era of political prominence, offering a holistic view of the South Asian political footprint on the world stage. This symposium seeks to explore the broader implications of this increased visibility of South Asian representation, asking questions such as:  Has greater visibility of South Asians in global politics led to substantial socio-political change in South Asia and beyond?  What is peculiarly South Asian about this representation? Is being of South Asian descent relevant? Does it really inflect the style and affect of this symbolic representation in a way that speaks to something beyond a successful assimilation?  How are questions of religion, caste, gender, and sexuality rearticulated in these performative idioms?  Do they acknowledge and rewrite racialized discourses and stereotypes of a preceding generation or are they speaking an entirely new language?  What other kinds of diasporic engagement in sociopolitical issues does the growing visibility of politicians accompany?  How does this phenomenon contribute to our understanding of diasporic and/or transnational South Asia, beyond questions of representation, toward issues of local engagement; transnational solidarities; global social, political, and economic networks; and other such connections?