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“Knowledge is not Territory”: Episodes from the Archive for Early Colonial India
September 27, 2023 @ 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Please join the UNC Department of Religious Studies for a colloquium talk hosted by Dr. Shahzad Bashir on September 27th!
“Knowledge is not Territory: Episodes from the Archive for Early Colonial India”
In the wake of historiographical movements such as Postcolonial and Subaltern studies, we are used to thinking that European colonial expansion from the early modern period onward entailed a simultaneous and inexorable worldwide domination of European knowledge systems. Utilizing materials produced in India circa 1780-1850, I suggest that, for the colonial period, we should separate the history of knowledge from that of control over territory. This requires reading the colonial archive anew, concentrating equally on empirical work and a rethinking of concepts we use to correlate between ideas and political circumstances. An evaluation of the past in this vein has implications for how we imagine our futures today, academically and otherwise.
The Carolina Asia Center supports diverse Asia-related events. However, CAC co-sponsorship of any talk, seminar, documentary screening, film screening, performance or celebration does not constitute endorsement of or agreement with the views presented therein. As an academic institution, we value diverse perspectives that promote dialogue and understanding.