Moral geographies of 'pan-Asian' sisterhood in elite Indian women's thought c.1910s-40s

Join us on 26th September 2024 at 12:00 PM in D-006 for a compelling talk titled “Moral Geographies of 'Pan-Asian' Sisterhood in Elite Indian Women's Thought c. 1910s-40s,” presented by Shruti, a British Academy-funded Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge. This engaging discussion will explore how elite Indian women mobilized their thoughts and actions around Asia as a moral framework for anti-imperial politics during the early 20th century, drawing on archival evidence from the All-Asian Women’s Conference held in Lahore in 1930. Shruti will examine the forms of anticolonialism and anti-imperialism that characterized solidarity among Asian women and expand on the concept of moral geographies of Asia, highlighting the contributions of elite Indian women thinkers to a broader collective vision of gendered anti-imperialism across West, South, and Southeast Asia. With her extensive research background in elite Indian women's international thought, Shruti promises to offer valuable insights into the intersection of gender and international relations during this pivotal era. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with an important aspect of historical activism!

Abstract:
This talk focuses on how elite Indian women mobilized and articulated normative and political imaginaries of Asia as a moral grounding for their anti-imperial politics during the 1910s to 1940s. Using archival evidence from the All-Asian Women’s Conference held in Lahore in 1930, I will explore what forms of anticolonialism and anti-imperialism characterized ‘south-south’ solidarity among Asian women. The talk will develop and expand on the term ‘moral geographies of Asia’ by utilizing ideas propounded by elite Indian women thinkers, as part of a larger collective of women from across West, South, and Southeast Asia, to offer their gendered, anti-imperial visions of historical international relations.

Short Bio: Shruti is a British Academy-funded Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge and a Research Associate at King’s College, Cambridge. She received her doctorate from the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics, where she wrote a thesis on the formation of elite Indian women’s international thought regarding gender, race, and anti-imperial solidarities in late British India through primary archival research.