ISSN 2517-6226 THE SOAS JOURNAL OF POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH DECOLONISATION IN PRAXIS VOLUME 11 Disclaimer: the opinions expressed in this publication are those of the editors and authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of SOAS University or its student body overall. Articles published under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 International Licence Printed and published at: School of Oriental and African Studies University of London Bloomsbury, London WC1H 0XG October 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS A NOTE FROM THE DECOLONISING SOAS WORKING GROUP 1 A NOTE FROM THE SOAS RESEARCH STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION (RSA) 2 INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 11 3 EDITORS-IN-CHIEF 4 ASSISTANT EDITORS 4 TECHNICAL PARTNERS 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 5 EDITORIAL I: CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS ‘DECOLONISATION IN PRAXIS’, SOAS 2018 6 EDITORIAL II: THE PRAXIS OF DECOLONISATION 10 RESEARCH ARTICLES 12 OPINION PIECES 14 LANGUAGES 15 TECHNICAL PIECE 15 BEYOND A FEMINIST ‘HERMENEUTICS OF SUSPICION’: READING ST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM’S COMMENTARIES ON MAN-WOMAN RELATIONS, MARRIAGE AND CONJUGAL ABUSE THROUGH THE ORTHODOX PHRONEMA 16 ROMINA ISTRATII ABSTRACT 16 INTRODUCTION 17 DECOLONISING GENDER AND THEOLOGY/RELIGION(S) SCHOLARSHIP 19 THE URGENCY FOR A DECOLONIAL STUDY OF ORTHODOX TRADITIONS 23 APPRAISING CHRYSOSTOM’S WORKS THROUGH THE ORTHODOX PHRONEMA 25 METHODOLOGY 28 AN OVERVIEW OF CHRYSOSTOM’S TEACHINGS 29 DISCUSSION: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PRESENT 41 CONCLUSION 43 BIBLIOGRAPHY 43 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 47 THE ART OF TELANGANA WOMEN AND THE CRAFTING OF THE DECOLONIAL SUBJECT: FROM DIALECTICS OF ‘OTHERING’ TO EXPRESSIONS OF RADICAL ALTERITY 48 MONIKA HIRMER ABSTRACT 48 INTRODUCTION 49 ON ‘BEING OTHERED’ AND ‘OTHERING’ AS (WHITE) WOMEN 49 ON ‘BEING OTHERED’ AND ‘OTHERING’ AS BROWN WOMEN AND AS A FEMINISED NATION 52 ON OVERCOMING THE DIALECTICS OF ‘OTHERING’: THE UNAPOLOGETIC ART OF TELANGANA WOMEN 55 BIBLIOGRAPHY 59 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 62 CELEBRATING THE BATTLE OF KOREGAON: CONTESTED HISTORIES AND THE (DE)COLONIAL DALIT SUBJECT 63 JONATHAN GALTON ABSTRACT 63 “ANOTHER IMPERIALISM”: PESHWA OPPRESSION AND BRITISH “LIBERATION” 67 INVASIONS FROM THE WEST 69 FALSE HISTORY AND COLONISED MINDS 71 THE ROOTS OF ALTERNATIVE HISTORY 72 DECOLONISED OR ANTI-NATIONAL? 75 CONCLUSION: DECOLONISATION IN PRAXIS? 79 BIBLIOGRAPHY 80 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 84 THE MAKING OF A POSTCOLONIAL HINDU IDENTITY IN THE SHARAVANA BABA MOVEMENT 85 DHRUV RAMNATH ABSTRACT 85 SHARAVANA BABA AND HIS MOVEMENT 87 HINDU SPIRITUALITY AND AVATARS 87 POSTCOLONIAL MORE THAN DECOLONISED 90 TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING A MURUGAN PHENOMENON 96 BIBLIOGRAPHY 98 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 99 CRITICAL REALISM, ASSEMBLAGES AND PRACTICES BEYOND THE STATE: A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSING GLOBAL DIASPORA ENGAGEMENT 100 CATHERINE RUTH CRAVEN ABSTRACT 100 INTRODUCTION 101 THE POLITICS OF DIASPORA ENGAGEMENT: A STATE OF THE ART 103 LOCATING POWER IN PRACTICES 106 OVERCOMING STATE-CENTRISM AND METHODOLOGICAL NATIONALISM 109 THE PROMISE OF ASSEMBLAGES: ACCESSING GLOBAL SOCIAL FIELDS 111 CONCLUSION AND AVENUES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 112 BIBLIOGRAPHY 113 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 115 CLASSING AUTONOMY: A REFUTATION THAT ‘…THERE REALLY IS NO ART MORE TRUE THAN ANY OTHER, AND THAT THERE IS NO ONE WAY ART HAS TO BE: ALL ART IS EQUALLY AND INDIFFERENTLY ART.’ 117 ROXY MINTER ABSTRACT 117 BIBLIOGRAPHY 122 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 123 WHO IS AFRAID OF DECOLONISATION? 124 SIMON FORBES ABSTRACT 124 CONCERNS ABOUT CULTURAL MARXISM 126 CONCERNS ABOUT CULTURAL RELATIVISM & RADICAL EGALITARIANISM 128 MODERATE CRITICISMS 129 BIBLIOGRAPHY 131 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 132 THE URGENCY OF DECOLONIALITY 133 TUNG-YI KHO ABSTRACT 133 INTRODUCTION 134 THE WHOLESALE CRISES OF (POST) MODERN CIVILISATION: POLITICAL-ECONOMIC, SOCIO-CULTURAL, ECOLOGICAL 134 MODERNITY, COLONIALITY, AND THE WEST 138 COLONIALITY AND THE GEO-POLITICS OF KNOWLEDGE 141 DECOLONISATION, DECOLONIALITY, AND DE-LINKING IN PRAXIS 145 CONCLUSION 148 BIBLIOGRAPHY 150 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 152 PAKANI: A GORWAA STORY 153 ANDREW HARVEY ABSTRACT 153 INTRODUCTION 154 BACKGROUND 154 THE STORY: PAKANI 157 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 183 BIBLIOGRAPHY 183 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 184 UNDERSTANDING THE POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITATIONS OF OPEN ACCESS PUBLISHING FOR DECOLONISING KNOWLEDGE-MAKING AND DISSEMINATION 185 ROMINA ISTRATII, HELEN PORTER ABSTRACT 185 INTRODUCTION 186 ROMINA ISTRATII: “OPEN ACCESS PUBLISHING: A STEP TOWARD THE DECOLONISATION OF KNOWLEDGE-MAKING?” 186 HELEN PORTER: “OPEN ACCESS: PRACTICAL BARRIERS TO, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, THE DECOLONIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE” 191 ROMINA ISTRATII: SUMMARY POINTS 194 Note from Decolonising SOAS Working Group / The SOAS Journal of Postgraduate Research, Volume 11 (2017-18), Page 1 A NOTE FROM THE DECOLONISING SOAS WORKING GROUP It is an enormous pleasure to be invited to write an introductory note for this special issue ‘Decolonisation in Praxis’–which is, as one would expect from SOAS’s Research Students, full of original, theoretically sophisticated, empirically rich and reflexive contributions to scholarship in a number of subject areas. Learning about new research projects such as these is one of the many joys of an academic role, and it is crucial that venues such as the RSA Journal exist to disseminate and debate this scholarship. This issue is of course particularly timely, as efforts to decolonise the academy and other structures globally are gathering momentum and attention from the mainstream media. As the Editors’ Introductions note, however, the term ‘decolonisation’ can begin to appear merely cosmetic when not accompanied by a more fundamental transformation in attitudes and being. I appreciate this understanding of ‘decolonising’ for us as being about a disposition, a way of being that emphasises epistemic humility and the need to de-centre from one’s own intellectual authority. However, it is important to be aware that this way of thinking about it is asymmetric; it assumes that one approaches the project of decolonisation from a position of relative authority (as many within the Western academy will). There is of course another side to the dialectic; the peoples, ideas and ways of being that have had epistemic humility and polyglotism forced upon them precisely through colonial encounters. Decolonisation for such groups may not mean the same thing at all; indeed it may mean its presumptive reversal. This does not mean that in either case the ‘decolonisation’ in question is inauthentic or incomplete, but it means that one’s relationship to power structures will profoundly shape what ‘decolonisation’ means for different people–theoretically, practically and ethically. The issue’s emphasis on ‘praxis’ is thus critical for cultivating an appreciation of these differences and diversities within decolonisation, which emerge both within the individual projects and reading across them as a whole. I congratulate the Editors–Romina Istratii, Monika Hirmer and Iris Lim–for their thoughtful curation and editing of this issue, and the contributors for their fascinating contributions. As the Decolonising SOAS Working Group looks forward into the next year, we are keen to ensure that our own work is never just ‘cosmetic’ but concretely focused on transforming praxis within our teaching and learning, our research, our collaborations, our institutional culture and our external partnerships. We are very happy to have supported the RSA’s work this year and look forward to further engaging with SOAS’s Research Student community in the next phases of the project. Dr Meera Sabaratnam Chair, Decolonising SOAS Working Group 1 Note from the RSA / The SOAS Journal of Postgraduate Research, Volume 11 (2017-18), Page 2 A NOTE FROM THE SOAS RESEARCH STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION (RSA) As this year’s elected Academic Officer for the RSA, and a PhD candidate at the Centre for Global Media and Communications, I was delighted to be the key organiser of ‘Decolonisation in Praxis’, the first joint conference of the SOAS Research Students’ Association (RSA) and The SOAS Journal for Postgraduate Research (SJPR). The SOAS Research Students' Association is the organisation that represents all Doctoral Researchers at SOAS. Its Committee consists of several Officers that are elected within the SOAS Students' Union elections. The organisation sends two members to the Doctoral School Management Group to ensure that students' voices are heard on all issues that concern them, and that students remain aware of any initiative that is taken by SOAS in regards to the doctoral experience. The RSA also represents Doctoral Researchers to the SOAS Student Union. We are looking back to a very active and successful academic year. During 2017-2018 the RSA President Robyn Waite and fellow RSA Officers have been actively involved in negotiations about issues such as critical changes in visa requirements and work spaces at the Doctoral School We deeply care about making students’ voices heard and our academic voices are part thereof. As such, we wanted to provide a forum for our postgraduate students not only to practise academic skills but also¾and particularly¾to share and discuss topics that lie at the heart of the vibrant and critically-minded SOAS student body. This is how the idea of an annual RSA conference was born during the first RSA meeting of the 2017-2018 academic year. With The SOAS Journal for Postgraduate Research aiming to showcase the talent and diverse research interests of SOAS research students, it was only natural to seek their cooperation on this endeavour. On behalf of the RSA, I would like to thank all the attendants and participants