Marxism and Dravidian Politics

Catalog description

Tamil Nadu, India's southernmost state, curiously has more Hindu temples than any other Indian state but remains a stronghold against the Hindu nationalist politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party. This course will investigate the political movement to which this state owes both its major political parties as well as its secular, anti-caste, and regionalist reputation: the Dravidian movement. Students will both (a) engage with the history, cultural production, and political economy of the Dravidian movement and (b) apprehend the doctrines of Karl Marx, B.R. Ambedkar, and Periyar E.V. Ramasamy as applied to the ideology of Dravidianism. Students will leave the course with an enhanced understanding of socialism as applied in the Indian context and the complications that caste, class, gender, religion, language, and region play in the development of Indian socialism. No background in Indian politics is necessary. Student-Initiated Course.