Veena Das
Encyclopedia
Veena Das is Krieger-Eisenhower Professor
of Anthropology
at the Johns Hopkins University
. She also serves on the Executive Board of the Institute of Socio-Economic Research on Development and Democracy in India. She studied at the Indraprastha College for Women
and Delhi School of Economics
at the University of Delhi
and taught there from 1967 to 2000. She has published extensively as an ethnographer of India and thus is an established figure within Indian anthropology. Beyond India, her research has broad appeal within the anthropology of violence, suffering, and the State.
, gender studies
, sectarian violence
, medical anthropology
, post-colonial and post-structural theory
.
Veena Das's most recent book is Life and Words: Violence and the Descent into the Ordinary, California University Press, 2006. As the title implies, Das sees violence not as an interruption of ordinary life but as something that is implicated in the ordinary. The philosopher Stanley Cavell
has written a memorable foreword to the book in which he says that one way of reading it is as a companion to Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. One of the chapters in the book deals with the state of abducted women in the post-independence time period and has been the interest of various legal historians.
and others in the late nineties and early twenties gave a new direction to these fields. The volumes are titled Social Suffering; Violence and Subjectivity; and Remaking a World.
in 1995 (Johns Hopkins blurb), and an honorary doctorate from the University of Chicago
in 2000 (University of Chicago Magazine article). She is a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (American Academy members) and a fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences. In 2007, Das delivered the Lewis Henry Morgan Lecture at the University of Rochester
, considered by many to be the most important annual lecture series in the field of Anthropology.
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
at the Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
. She also serves on the Executive Board of the Institute of Socio-Economic Research on Development and Democracy in India. She studied at the Indraprastha College for Women
Indraprastha College for Women
Indraprastha College for Women also known as Indraprastha College or ' is the oldest women's college in Delhi; established in 1924, it is affiliated to University of Delhi....
and Delhi School of Economics
Delhi School of Economics
Delhi School of Economics , commonly referred to as DSE or D School, is a centre of post graduate learning of the University of Delhi. The centre is situated in the university's North Campus in Maurice Nagar, and is surrounded by a host of other prestigious academic institutions of the country...
at the University of Delhi
University of Delhi
The University of Delhi is a central university situated in Delhi, India and is funded by Government of India. Established in 1922, it offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate level. Vice-President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the Chancellor of the university...
and taught there from 1967 to 2000. She has published extensively as an ethnographer of India and thus is an established figure within Indian anthropology. Beyond India, her research has broad appeal within the anthropology of violence, suffering, and the State.
Education
Das completed her Ph.D. in 1970 at the University of Delhi under the supervision of M.N. Srinivas. She was Professor of Anthropology at the New School for Social Research from 1997-2000 before moving to the Department of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. Some of her research interests include: feminist movementsFeminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, gender studies
Gender studies
Gender studies is a field of interdisciplinary study which analyses race, ethnicity, sexuality and location.Gender study has many different forms. One view exposed by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: "One is not born a woman, one becomes one"...
, sectarian violence
Sectarian violence
Sectarian violence and/or sectarian strife is violence inspired by sectarianism, that is, between different sects of one particular mode of ideology or religion within a nation/community...
, medical anthropology
Medical anthropology
Medical anthropology is an interdisciplinary field which studies "human health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation". It views humans from multidimensional and ecological perspectives...
, post-colonial and post-structural theory
Post-structuralism
Post-structuralism is a label formulated by American academics to denote the heterogeneous works of a series of French intellectuals who came to international prominence in the 1960s and '70s...
.
Books
Her first book Structure and Cognition: Aspects of Hindu Caste and Ritual (Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1977) brought the textual practices of 13th to 17th century in relation to self representation of caste groups in focus. Her identification of the structure of Hindu thought in terms of the tripartite division between priesthood, kinship and renunciation proved to be an extremely important structuralist interpretation of the important poles within which innovations and claims to new status by caste groups took place.Veena Das's most recent book is Life and Words: Violence and the Descent into the Ordinary, California University Press, 2006. As the title implies, Das sees violence not as an interruption of ordinary life but as something that is implicated in the ordinary. The philosopher Stanley Cavell
Stanley Cavell
Stanley Louis Cavell is an American philosopher. He is the Walter M. Cabot Professor Emeritus of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value at Harvard University.-Life:...
has written a memorable foreword to the book in which he says that one way of reading it is as a companion to Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. One of the chapters in the book deals with the state of abducted women in the post-independence time period and has been the interest of various legal historians.
Research
Since the eighties she became engrossed in the study of violence and social suffering. Her edited book, Mirrors of Violence: Communities, Riots and Survivors in South Asia published by Oxford University Press in 1990 was one of the first to bring issues of violence within anthropology of South Asia. A trilogy on these subjects that she edited with Arthur KleinmanArthur Kleinman
Arthur Kleinman is a prominent American psychiatrist and is the Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor of medical anthropology and cross-cultural psychiatry at Harvard University, USA. He is well known for his work on mental illness in Chinese culture, was the chair of the Harvard Department of...
and others in the late nineties and early twenties gave a new direction to these fields. The volumes are titled Social Suffering; Violence and Subjectivity; and Remaking a World.
Awards
She received the Anders Retzius Gold Medal from the Swedish Society for Anthropology and GeographySwedish Society for Anthropology and Geography
The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography is a scientific learned society founded in Sweden in 1877...
in 1995 (Johns Hopkins blurb), and an honorary doctorate from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 2000 (University of Chicago Magazine article). She is a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (American Academy members) and a fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences. In 2007, Das delivered the Lewis Henry Morgan Lecture at the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
, considered by many to be the most important annual lecture series in the field of Anthropology.