BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 15.1//EN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Eastern Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:Eastern Standard Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250301T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:Eastern Daylight Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:The Moynihan Institute’s South Asia Center presents Pinky Hota\ , associate professor of anthropology at Smith College.In this talk\, Hota attends to discussions of money\, indigeneity\, and value to show how Kan dha adivasis [“Scheduled Tribes”/“original inhabitants”] in Odisha\, India engage the language of their own racialized simplicity. She focuses on ho w Kandha advivasis display understandings of the shifting contours of indi geneity and indigenous recognition as a set of entitlements from the devel opment state. \; Hota suggests that they signal understandings and occ upations of indigeneity through a variety of practices—from demanding thei r economic dues from caste Hindus to accepting bribes themselves—in order to aggressively counter assumptions that they do not understand money’s wo rkings and the broader sociocultural processes money indexes in the local development economy.Hota argues that invocations of money and value as rac ialized scripts of adivasi indigeneity serve as fictions crafted by state officials\, caste Hindus\, and development workers to precisely naturalize the accrual of capital by caste Hindus—historically and within the workin gs of the contemporary neoliberal development state—as well as the inabili ty of adivasis to achieve economic progress. These fabricated tropes of ra cialized simplicity demonstrate the collusions between the development sta te and neoliberal logics that entrench adivasi economic disenfranchisement in India as well as elide contradictions within the “modern” Indian state . Strikingly\, adivasis appropriate these fictions using a language of rig hts and entitlements ushered in by recognition to stake their claims to th e entitlements of their proprietary indigeneity anew. \;Ultimately\, H ota showcases the extent to which “tribal” as indigenous recognition in In dia does not counter\, but rather encapsulates\, the logic of the market. Kandhas describe their disillusionment with these failures of recognition yet recursively return to their tribal recognition as singular—and proprie tary.This event is co-sponsored by the Anthropology Department.Pinky Hota is associate professor of anthropology at Smith College where she serves a s a faculty member for South Asia Studies\, participates in Smith’s Progra m for the Study of Women and Gender\, and is a member of the Smith-Duke Ed itorial Advisory Board for the journal \;Meridians. \;Her research has been funded by the Wenner-Gren and Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundations and published in \;Modern Asian Studies\, \;Anthropological Quarte rly \;and \;Political and Legal Anthropology Review. DTEND:20250225T190000Z DTSTAMP:20260512T232253Z DTSTART:20250225T173000Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:Recognition Without Redistribution: Tribal Recognition and Caste Ca pitalism in India UID:RFCALITEM639142105735733326 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:
The Moynihan Institute’s South Asia Center presents Pinky Hota\, associate professor of anthropology at Smith College.

In this talk\, Hota attends to dis cussions of money\, indigeneity\, and value to show how Kandha adivasis [“ Scheduled Tribes”/“original inhabitants”] in Odisha\, India engage the lan guage of their own racialized simplicity. She focuses on how Kandha adviva sis display understandings of the shifting contours of indigeneity and ind igenous recognition as a set of entitlements from the development state.&n bsp\; Hota suggests that they signal understandings and occupations of ind igeneity through a variety of practices—from demanding their economic dues from caste Hindus to accepting bribes themselves—in order to aggressively counter assumptions that they do not understand money’s workings and the broader sociocultural processes money indexes in the local development eco nomy.

Hota argues that invocations of money and v alue as racialized scripts of adivasi indigeneity serve as fictions crafte d by state officials\, caste Hindus\, and development workers to precisely naturalize the accrual of capital by caste Hindus—historically and within the workings of the contemporary neoliberal development state—as well as the inability of adivasis to achieve economic progress. These fabricated t ropes of racialized simplicity demonstrate the collusions between the deve lopment state and neoliberal logics that entrench adivasi economic disenfr anchisement in India as well as elide contradictions within the “modern” I ndian state. Strikingly\, adivasis appropriate these fictions using a lang uage of rights and entitlements ushered in by recognition to stake their c laims to the entitlements of their proprietary indigeneity anew. \;

Ultimately\, Hota showcases the extent to which “tr ibal” as indigenous recognition in India does not counter\, but rather enc apsulates\, the logic of the market. Kandhas describe their disillusionmen t with these failures of recognition yet recursively return to their triba l recognition as singular—and proprietary.

This event is co-sponsored by the Anthropology Department.

Pinky Hota is associate professor of anthropology at Smith College where she se rves as a faculty member for South Asia Studies\, participates in Smith’s Program for the Study of Women and Gender\, and is a member of the Smith-D uke Editorial Advisory Board for the journal \;Meridians. \;Her re search has been funded by the Wenner-Gren and Charlotte W. Newcombe Founda tions and published in \;Modern Asian Studies\, \;Anthropological Quarterly \;and \;Political and Legal Anthropology Review.< /p>

END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR