Balmurli Natrajan
Professor • Community and Social Justice Studies
Degrees
Specialization
Group formation; Caste, Race; Identity & Inequality; Culture & Transmission; Development; India
Representative Publications
The culturalization of caste in India: Identity and inequality in a multicultural age;
Routledge;
2011
https://www.routledge.com/The-Culturalization-of-Caste-in-India-Identity-and-Inequality-in-a-Multicultural/Natrajan/p/book/9780415857864
Racialization and ethnicization: Hindutva hegemony and caste;
Ethnic and Racial Studies;
Volume
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2021.1951318
‘Why don’t they use the toilet built for them?’: Explaining toilet use in Chhattisgarh, Central India;
Volume
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0069966720972565
Cultural Identity and Beef Festivals: Toward a ‘Multiculturalism Against Caste’;
, Contemporary South Asia;
Volume
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ccsa20/current
Against Stigma: Studies in Caste, Race, and Justice Since Durban;
Orient BlackSwan;
2009
Representative Presentations
Castes Without Casteism? The Real Beef with Caste and ‘Culture’
“Caste as Political Identity: Difference, Hegemony, Solidarity”
Awards and Honors
06/01/2006
Media
The myth of the Indian Vegetarian Nation
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-43581122
A news article based on my co-authored publication 'Provincializing vegetarianism"
An interview podcast on "What is Hindutva" at the Polis Project
https://www.thepolisproject.com/billionaires-are-being-produced-at-the-same-time-that-people-are-actually-dying-from-lack-of-food-in-conversation-with-balmurli-natrajan/#.XvUDHWhKg2y
In this Podcast, Suchitra Vijayan (polis Project) speaks to Prof. Balmurli Natrajan about the political and cultural history of Hindutva - ultranationalist authoritarian populism in India.
Anthropology Course Explores the Life Cycle of, Say, Your Pen
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Anthropology-Course-Explores/129572/
The Chronicle did a piece on Dr. Natrajan's course on "Global Transformations and the Human Condition" at William Paterson University of New Jersey in which students do a project about the 'social life of everyday objects' to learn about globalization and development.
Fellowships, Grants and Research
Senior Fellowship Grant
Worlds of Work: Meeting the Challenge of Teaching Asia in the 21st century" for K-12 teachers
Notable Courses Taught
Global Transformations and the Human Condition
Culture, Identity, and Cognition
Language Matters
Research Methods
Foundations of Community Development
