In this essay, I explore the genre of live comedy outside its traditional Western setting in popular and academic understanding. I argue that its ever-growing popularity in urban India is reflective of an expanding middle-class's search for an authentic social identity. I demonstrate -- through ethnographic and analytical detail -- how stand-up…

The university is a highly politicized and fractious realm for students and academics. Amidst trade-offs between the processes of massification, democratization, commodification, and globalization, the question of transformation "for" sustainability has become crucial to the social good(s) of higher education. This paper considers…

This article discusses from a critical education perspective what it is like to be a Dalit (former untouchable) student studying at an elite university in India. Much writing on exclusion and discrimination in higher education is focused on power relations such as gender, race, ethnicity and religion. This article broadens this focus to consider…

Focusing on the contemporary conflicts and social political complexities of South Asia (specifically, India and Pakistan), this paper explores the roles and relevance of Gandhi's and Bacha Khan's moral education in negotiating/addressing the situated disparities. Drawing from the words and wisdom of Gandhi and Bacha Khan, this paper examines…

Transitioning towards a plant-based diet is considered both ethical and environmentally friendly from a Western perspective of high per capita consumption of flesh foods. However, in contemporary India, beef-eating has emerged as a political act of subversion in the context of its current ban by the Indian state which is transforming…

In India, sexual violence today is a routine form of violence directed against Dalit women--those from the most subordinated castes of India. Dalit is a socio-political identity affirmed by India's ex-untouchable communities, historically considered "service castes" and exploited based on their birth. While all Dalits are exploited for…

In "Mansfield Park," Jane Austen has exhibited the English identity lies on property earned by the slave trade in Caribbean Islands. If we go deep inside of the history of Britain we could able to see their awareness and concern over a national identity, and consider American colonies a poor reflection on Britain. The traits of British…

The chairman of the drafting committee of the modern Indian Constitution, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, emphasized that education cultivates democracy in society, strengthens the roots of democracy, and brings about social transformation. The social transformation includes a way of life that will promote liberty, equality, and fraternity, which are Dr…

Diversity studies have mostly been done outside India and have largely focused on race, gender and ethnicity. The relevance of these studies to India remains less explored. Hence, faculties from various disciplines were interviewed across six states and a union territory. Diversity awareness was substantial regarding familiar social categories…

This article examines ethical and philosophical considerations in "theory translation," i.e. translating a theoretical framework from its original place to another national context. Critical race theory (CRT) was developed in the United States through significant struggle in order to analyze everyday racism. Marginalized groups have…

Despite having outlawed the caste system and the concept of untouchability in 1947, caste identity remains a cornerstone of social, political and economic life in India. Like other social institutions, educational institutions are the reflection of caste prejudices and discrimination. The recent inclusion of lower castes through the reservation…

India's "Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009" compels private schools to reserve a proportion of their seats for free for disadvantaged children. Although controversial, it is idealized as an equity measure for inclusion in and through education. This small-scale study, feeding into a larger research project,…

This article seeks to develop a critical perspective on silence, dialogue, and oppression in out-of-school education, in dialogue with Freire. It also shows how my classroom experiences or fieldwork incidents mediated this dialogue. Freire's concept of problem-posing education has been chosen as the central theoretical framework; that further…

Through a close analysis of an Indian woman's unsuccessful romance narrative, this article examines how class-based ideologies and prejudices concerning English and vernacular medium education sustain and perpetuate dismissive and disparaging attitudes toward people educated in the vernacular. The analysis utilizes theoretical understandings of…

Imperial British India is the point of origin for protagonists in both Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden" (1911) and Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Books" (1894-1895), two influential children's stories in which late Victorian notions of childhood education and nature converge with those of national and imperial…