Open Class Session: "Race and Caste"

Over the semester, we have analyzed the making and remaking of racial and caste orders through the uneven development of capitalist economies, shifting state classificatory mechanisms, and oppositional collective action. Throughout, we've asked the question: How do the comparative and connective histories of race and caste help us understand the reproduction of inequality and the possibilities for liberation?

Our last class session will feature student presentations of their final papers on the impact of the course on their dissertation research projects. We welcome members of the GC community to attend. Do keep in mind that classroom space is limited and we can only accommodate 8-10 guests. Please RSVP to attend.

Fall 2024

Co-Taught by Ajantha Subramanian (CUNY Graduate Center) and Shreya Subramani (John Jay College of Criminal Justice).

Race and caste are two of the most enduring forms of social stratification. While their histories date well before the advent of political democracy, they have taken on new forms in the context of democratic social transformation and neoliberal capitalism. In this course, we will grapple with the meanings, uses, and politics of race and caste historically and in the contemporary moment. Drawing on work in history, anthropology, sociology, political theory and other related fields that traces the legacies of imperialism, settler colonialism, and capitalism in shaping race and caste, and on insights from anti-racist and anti-caste social movements, this course considers the intersections of and divergences between the two forms of stratification. What does thinking of race and caste together tell us about inequality and justice today?

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 5th Avenue,, New York, United States