Department of Sociology

Faculty of Social Sciences

South Asian University
Sociology Seminar Series
Monsoon 2017-18
present
Indira's Emergency in a time of Modi -
thinking through Biopolitics in Indian
Constitutionalism

by akshay khanna
The Emergency of the 1970s, remembered through two
elements more than others - the attacks on the Freedom of
Expression and coercive sterilisation laid out the landscape
for the emergence of public interest litigation. Engaging
Agamben's theory of the 'biopolitical fracture', this excerpt
from the book Sexualness (New Text 2016) thinks through
the convolutions of biopolitics in Indian constitutionalism
and politics, bringing us to reflections on the question of
whether Moditva constitutes a new ontology of power, a
perversion of structures or an expansion of that which
already defined politics in India.

akshay khanna is a Social Anthropologist, political

activist, theatre practitioner and amateur chef
based in New Delhi.

Date: 4th October, 2017 / Wednesday

Time: 2:30 pm | Venue: FSI Hall, Akbar Bhawan