Angana Chatterji

415.575.6119 | achatterji@ciis.edu

Angana P. Chatterji is Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). Her work integrates scholarship, research, teaching, and advocacy in linking the roles of citizen and intellectual. An advocate for social justice, Professor Chatterji has been working with postcolonial social movements, local communities, institutions and citizens groups, and government and donor agencies in India and internationally, since 1984, toward enabling participatory democracy.

Professor Chatterji's work focuses on India and South Asia, and her perspectives have been defined by a lifetime of learning, along with work in the United States. Her work focuses on issues of biopolitical governance and identity politics; nationalisms, self-determination, and gendered violence; development, globalization, and cultural survival. She has worked with land rights and public policy connected to public lands reform, addressing issues of indigenous land rights and community governance and grassroots resistance as mediated by class, ethnicity and religion, and migration, displacement and statelessness. She is currently working on mapping the intersections of majoritarian nationalism and social and gendered violence in Orissa, India, and on issues of militarization, gender and identity, and self-determination in Indian-administered Kashmir. She also works with issues of hyper-nationalism, diaspora, and identity politics in the United States.

Professor Chatterji's teaching and scholarship draws on cross-disciplinary frameworks, spanning issues of colonization, postcoloniality, human rights, law, and international relations. Her intellectual interests include issues of power and identity; feminist, postcolonial, poststructural, and Marxist critique; genealogy, archaeology, and historiography. Focused on research that seeks to take an advocacy position, she has been involved in shaping participatory, feminist, and advocacy research methodologies, and policy analysis mechanisms using critical, interdisciplinary frameworks. She draws on various disciplines in her work including anthropology, politics, law, history, and philosophy, and Cultural and Subaltern Studies, Postcolonial and Development Studies, and South Asia Studies.

Professor Chatterji worked with policy and advocacy research from 1989-97, including with the Indian Social Institute and Planning Commission of India, before joining the faculty at CIIS in 1997. Chatterji also served as the Director of Research, Asia Forest Network, initially housed at the University of California, Berkeley, and was involved in coordinating Network groups in member countries in South and Southeast Asia. At CIIS, in/since 1999, with Richard Shapiro, Chatterji enabled the re-envisioning of the Anthropology Graduate Program to prioritize issues of social and ecological justice in the context of a multicultural, postcolonial world. Following September 11, 2001, she convened the Dialogues for Peace at CIIS. In 2005, she convened the People's Tribunal on Communalism in Orissa, India. Presently, Chatterji is co-convener of the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir. She also works with social justice groups such as the Coalition Against Communalism, Coalition Against Genocide, and the Campaign To Stop Funding Hate. She serves on the board of directors of the Vasundhara, and the advisory board of the Network of Indian Environmental Professionals, Green Institute, and World Prout Assembly, and editorial boards of academic journals. She has also served on the board of directors of the International Rivers Network, Earth Island Institute, and Community Forestry International, and the advisory board of Sustainable Alternatives to the Global Economy. She has served on human rights commissions and tribunals, testified at briefings, hearings, and commissions, offered expert testimony on cases, and conducted workshops and lectured at various universities and organizations internationally. Chatterji holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Political Science, and a Ph.D. in the Humanities with a focus in Development Studies and Social and Cultural Anthropology, and is multilingual.

Professor Chatterji's publications include various research monographs, reports, and books. In 1996, based on extensive and participatory research, she published Community Forest Management in Arabari: Understanding Socioeconomic and Subsistence Issues (1996). More recently, she was guest editor for a special issue of Cultural Dynamics, a Sage Journal, entitled, 'Gendered Violence in South Asia: Nation and Community in The Postcolonial Present' (2004, Volume 16, 2/3).

Her present writings include three books, Violent Gods: Hindu Nationalism in India's Present; Narratives from Orissa (Three Essays Collective, 2009); two forthcoming titles, Land and Justice: The Struggle for Cultural Survival (in press), and a co-edited volume, Contesting Nation: Gendered Violence in South Asia; Notes on the Postcolonial Present(in press). She is currently working on a manuscript entitled, Archives of Mourning: Militarization and Governance in India-ruled Kashmir.

At CIIS, her courses include 'Nation/Nationalisms: Gendered Encounters', 'Contours of Violence: Systemic and Everyday', 'A Genealogy of Social Movements', 'Colonization: Rethinking Silenced Histories', 'History and Imagination of 20th Century Revolutions', 'Critical Discourses on Feminism', 'History and Anthropology: Genealogy as Deconstructive Practice', 'Marx/Foucault: Archaeologies of Revolution', 'Nation/Self-Determination: Religionization, Law, Governmentality', 'Crosscultural Issues in Social and Environmental Justice', 'Engendering and Reframing Development', 'Indigenous Cultural Survival: Genocide and Resistance', 'Applied Advocacy Research: Postcolonial and Feminist Practices',' Anthropological Research Methods'.

Chatterji lives and works both in India and the Bay Area. She has worked in association with and received support, including scholarships and research awards, for her work from various agencies and institutions, including the Planning Commission of India, Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development, Ford Foundation, Wallace Global Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, SwedForest, Marra Foundation, and Center for Southeast Asia Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.


PUBLICATIONS:
(Selected)

BOOKS, RESEARCH MONOGRAPHS:
Chatterji, Angana P. (2009). Violent Gods: Hindu Nationalism in India's Present. Narratives from Orissa. New Delhi: Three Essays Collective Press.
Description: http://www.threeessays.com/titles.php?id=40
Search inside the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Violent-Gods-Nationalism-PresentNarratives/dp/8188789453/ref=ed_oe_h#reader_8188789453

Chatterji, Angana P. Archives of Mourning: Militarization and Governance in India-ruled Kashmir (manuscript, in progress).

Chatterji, Angana P. & Lubna Nazir Chaudhry (Eds.) (forthcoming). Contesting Nation: Gendered Violence in South Asia. Notes on the Postcolonial Present. New Delhi: Zubaan Books/Kali for Women.

Chatterji, Angana P. (forthcoming). Land and Justice: The Struggle for Cultural Survival in Orissa. New Delhi: Orient Longman.

Chatterji, Angana P. & Shabnam Hashmi (Eds.) (2005). Dark Leaves of the Present. New Delhi: Anhad.

Poffenberger, Mark, Angana P. Chatterji & Alison Schwarz (Eds.) (1997) Participatory Inventorying, Planning and Monitoring Tools for Joint Forest Management. Berkeley: Asia Forest Network.

Chatterji, Angana P. (1996) Community Forest Management in Arabari: Understanding Socioeconomic and Subsistence Issues. New Delhi: Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development and Ford Foundation. (Bengali translation by author published by the Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development, New Delhi.)


HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AND TRIBUNAL REPORTS:
Chatterji, Angana P. and Parvez Imroz, et al. (November 2009). Buried Evidence: Unknown, Unmarked, and Mass Graves in Indian-administered Kashmir; A preliminary report.
http://www.kashmirprocess.org/graves/

Chatterji, Angana P. & Parvez Imroz, et al. (July 2009). Militarization with Impunity: Rape and Murder in Shopian, India-administered Kashmir. Srinagar: International People's Tribunal.
http://www.kashmirprocess.org/shopian/

Chatterji, Angana P. & Mihir Desai (Eds.) (2006). Communalism in Orissa (Report of the Indian People's Tribunal). Mumbai: Indian People's Tribunal.
http://www.iptindia.org/main/ipt.php?Page=Report&Report=40

Chatterji, Angana P. & Harsh Mander (2004). Without Land or Livelihood. The Indira Sagar Dam: State Accountability and Rehabilitation Issues. (Report of the Independent People's Commission). New Delhi: Center for Equity Studies.
http://www.narmada.org/nvdp.dams/indira-sagar/ISP_Report.pdf


JOURNAL ISSUE:
Chatterji, Angana P. & Lubna Nazir Chaudhry (Guest Editors) (2004) Gendered Violence in South Asia: Nation and Community in the Postcolonial Present, Cultural Dynamics: Theory Cross-Cultures 16 (2/3): 122-373, Special double issue. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
http://cdy.sagepub.com/content/vol16/issue2-3/


ASSISTANCE WITH BOOK PROJECT:
Fernandes, Walter, assisted by Sandhya Singh and Angana Chatterji (1990) Women's Status in the Delhi Bastis: Urbanization, Economic Forces, and Voluntary Organizations. A report of a study of ten slums, New Delhi: Indian Social Institute .


ARTICLES, BOOK CHAPTERS, AND RESEARCH REPORTS:
Chatterji, Angana P. (forthcoming) 'Memory-Mournings: The Biopolitics of Hindu Nationalism', Angana P. Chatterji, & Lubna Nazir Chaudhry (Eds.) (forthcoming 2009). Contesting Nation: Gendered Violence in South Asia, Notes on the Postcolonial Present. New Delhi: Zubaan Books/Kali for Women, 55 pages.

Chatterji, Angana P. and Richard Shapiro (forthcoming). 'Knowledge-Making as Intervention: The Academy and Social Change.' In Bryant, B. (Ed.) A collection on environmental justice and human rights. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 23 pages.

Chatterji, Angana P. (2006). 'Community/State Interactions in Forest Governance.' In Smitu Kothari (Ed.) Seeds of Hope. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 20 pages.

Chatterji, Angana P. (2005). 'Gendered Violence in Hindu Nationalism.' In Angana P. Chatterji & Shabnam Hashmi (Eds.) Dark Leaves of the Present . New Delhi: Anhad, pp. 53-70.

Chatterji, Angana P., Lise McKean & Abha Sur (2005). Genocide in Gujarat: The Sangh Parivar, Narendra Modi, and the Government of Gujarat. New York: Coalition Against Genocide. Research report.

Chatterji, Angana P.  and Richard Shapiro (2005) Talking Tsunami: To Dissent This Time. The Journal of Politics and Culture 2005: Issue 2: 90-96.

Chatterji, Angana P. (2004) 'The Biopolitics of Hindu Nationalism: Mournings', in Angana P. Chatterji, & Lubna Nazir Chaudhry (Eds.)  Gendered Violence in South Asia: Nation and Community in the Postcolonial Present, Cultural Dynamics: Theory Cross-Cultures 16 (2/3): 319-72, Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications.

Banerjee, Sukanya, Angana P. Chatterji, Lubna Nazir Chaudhry, Manali Desai, Saadia Toor, Kamala Visweswaran (2004) 'Engendering Violence: Boundaries, Histories, and the Everyday', in Angana P. Chatterji & Lubna Nazir Chaudhry (Eds.) Gendered Violence in South Asia: Nation and Community in the Postcolonial Present , Cultural Dynamics: Theory Cross-Cultures 16 (2/3): 125-39, Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications.

Chatterji, Angana P. (2001). A Critique of Forest Governance in Eastern India. International Journal for Economic Development 3(2) Online Journal.

Chatterji, Angana P. (2001). Postcolonial Research as Relevant Practice (Postmodern Research Methods Forum). TAMARA: Journal of Critical Postmodern Organization Science. 1(3): 1-13.

Chatterji, Angana P. (1999) Public Lands Reform in India. Earth Island Journal. Earth Island Institute: San Francisco.

Chatterji, Angana P. (1998) Toward An Ecology of Hope. Community and Joint Forest Management: Initiatives, Conflicts, Alliances in Public Lands Use, Access and Reform. Research report. Sweden: Scandisconsult Natura AB., and Berkeley: Asia Forest Network.

Poffenberger, Mark & Angana P. Chatterji (1997) Multilevel Interface Within Joint Forest Management in India: Assessing Priority Shifts Among Donor Agencies, Forest Departments and Local Communities . Research report. Berkeley: Asia Forest Network.

Chatterji, Angana P. (1990) Participatory Natural Resource Management. Wastelands News. New Delhi: Society for Promotion of  Wastelands Development.

Chatterji, Angana P. (1990) Gender and Development: Women in Search of Human Equality. Social Action. New Delhi: Indian Social Institute, 46-56.

Links:

Angana Chatterji's testimony on Kashmir at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on the occassion of its 13th regular session (March 2010)
http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2010statements/2473/

Violent Gods: A ZNet Book Interview, July 31, 2009
http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/22176

Angana Chatterji's work with the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir. http://kashmirprocess.org

Angana Chatterji's talk at the inaugural of the Harvard Kennedy
School Carr Center for Human Rights Policy's Kashmir Initiative:
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/cchrp/sbhrap/projects/kashmir/speaker_series_09.php

Professor Chatterji's work on Kashmir,video clips:
http://www.mtviggy.com/desi/change-kashmir-angana-chatterji-1
http://www.mtviggy.com/desi/change-kashmir-angana-chatterji-2
http://www.mtviggy.com/desi/change-kashmir-angana-chatterji-3
http://www.mtviggy.com/desi/change-kashmir-angana-chatterji-4
http://www.mtviggy.com/desi/change-kashmir-angana-chatterji-5
http://www.mtviggy.com/desi/change-kashmir-tribunal-2
http://www.mtviggy.com/desi/change-kashmir-tribunal-5

Testimony to the Congressional Task Force on International Religious Freedom (December 2008): http://www.sacw.net/article549.html

Orissa: Hindutva's Violent History (Tehelka, September 2008): http://www.tehelka.com/story_main40.asp?filename=Ne130908HindutvasViolentHistory.asp

Letter of Appeal to the UN Re. Cases of Security Forces Killing and Injuring Civilians in Kashmir (September 2008): http://sacw.net/mrel/kshsept08.pdf

Letter to the UN Re. Humanitarian Crisis in Kashmir (August 2008): http://sacw.net/peace/kashmir12Aug08.html

European Parliament Human Rights Subcommittee Hearing on Kashmir (July 2008): http://kashmirprocess.org/press/20080717_EPHR_PR.html

Disquiet Ghosts: Mass Graves in Indian Kashmir (Op-ed) Etala'at [Srinagar] Daily Newspaper, July 09, 2008

Angana Chatterji's Statement to the Orissa Judicial Inquiry Commission

Kandhamal: Hindutva's Terror, Cover story, Communalism Combat, Human Rights Magazine, 127. Reprinted in Znet, January 2008.

Kandhamal riots: Vandals in Orissa (Op-ed). Asian Age [New Delhi] Daily newspaper. Reprinted in Znet, January 10.

Campaign To Stop Funding Hate. The Foreign Exchange of Hate: IDRF and the American Funding of Hindutva.  Paris and Mumbai: The South Asia Citizens Web and Sabrang Communications & Publishing Private Limited. Research report.

Don't Damn Narmada. Op-ed, first published in Asian Age, April 14, 2006.

Xenophobes Xeroxed.Editorial, Combat Law, Vol. 5, Issue 1, February-March 2006.

Now, Hindu Nationalists Rewriting California Textbooks. Op-ed, first published India-West, January 6, 2006, A4-A6.

Angana Chatterji's work with the Indian People's Tribunal:

Communalism Watch

Letter to the National Human Rights Commission

San Francisco Chronicle

Human Rights Watch

The Hindu (online version of India's national newspaper)

Becoming in Diaspora, Editorial, first published in SAMAR Magazine, July 2005

Narmada: Where Terror and Hope Collide. Op-ed first published in Asian Age, New Delhi, April 23, 2005.

How we made US deny visa to Modi. Op-ed related to the Gujarat genocide, first published in the Asian Age, March 21, 2005.

Genocide in Gujarat: The Sangh Parivar, Narendra Modi, and the Government of Gujarat. A report prepared by Angana Chatterji, Lise McKean, and Abha Sur for the Coalition Against Genocide, March 2, 2005. Available at: www.sacw.net.

Justice Needed at Indira Sagar, Op-ed, FIRST published in the Asian Age, September 19, 2005.

Talking Tsunami: To Dissent This Time, by Angana Chatterji and Richard Shapiro. Published in the Journal of Politics and Culture, 2005, Issue 2, Special Issue: The Politics of Disaster.

State Tyranny in Orissa. This opinion piece was published in Humanscape in January 2005.

The Narmada Gave Us Life; They Have Turned Her Against Us. Interview with Robert Jensen, published in Counterpunch, September 21, 2004.

India: Harsud Lost. Op-ed, first published in Asian Age, August 18, 2004.

Angana Chatterji holds a three day fast in front of the World Bank in April 2004.

Anthropology and Cultural Survival. Published in Anthropology News 45(3), American Anthropological Association, March 2004.

Hindu Nationalism and Orissa: Minorities as Other. First published in Communalism Combat, Human Rights Magazine, Mumbai, March 2004; Issue 96.

Learning in Saffron: RSS Schools in Orissa, published in Dissident Voice,11/13/03. First published in Asian Age, Daily Newspaper, New Delhi, November 11, 2003.

Orissa: A Gujarat in the Making. First published in Communalism Combat, Human Rights Magazine, Mumbai, October 2003; Issue 92.

State Repression in the Narmada Valley, published in Dissident Voice, 8/21/03. First published in The Asian Age, daily newspaper, New Delhi, 8/20/03.

Orwellian Fantasy. First published in the Daily Times, Daily Newspaper, Lahore, July 10, 2003.

Women, Globalization, India, Dialogues for Peace. An interview with Angana Chatterji. June 2003. Audio.

Under Siege in the Narmada Valley, published in Dissident Voice, 5/27/03. First published in The Asian Age, daily newspaper, New Delhi, 5/26/03.

Liberation at Gunpoint, published in Dissident Voice, 5/6/03. First published in The Daily Times, daily newspaper, Lahore, 5/6/03.

As The Drums Roll For War, published in Dissident Voice, 3/22/03. First published in The Daily Times, daily newspaper, Lahore, 3/ 21/03.

Myths and Dreams: Hindutva Nationalism and the Indian Diaspora, op-ed, Asian Age, Daily Newspaper, New Delhi, 3/9/03.

This Is No Time For War, published in Dissident Voice, 2/4/03.

Gujarat: A Call for Kristallnacht?, published in Dissident Voice, 12/22/02.

Unholy Alliance: The India Development Relief Fund and Hindutva, published in Dissident Voice, 12/5/02.

Editorial, For Dissent Against Hindu Extremism, published in Dissident Voice, 7/02.

Angana Chatterji's article on the India-Pakistan conflict, published in Dissident Voice, 5/02.