I am writing this thread to think aloud the complex relationship that I have with Postcolonial Studies at the moment

1/n

I have to acknowledge that Presidency did train me well, when it comes to the foundations of the field in Postcolonial Studies but the readings were canonical, with an overt emphasis on the trio( Said, Spivak and Bhabha) and the writings of the Subaltern Studies Collective 2/n

It was never an uncritical admiration for me but I was always drawn to the radical potential of the discipline. I have had seniors at JUDE telling me, “Oh Postcolonial Studies is dead now. It has had its days and it’s not relevant anymore” or multiple iterations of 3/n

“It will be easier for you to get a job in the US because you do Postcolonial Studies” (to clarify: I have always wanted to come back to India where hiring is not field-based). I have always pushed back against both and have been often perceived as a “reactive scholar"
4/n

Well, I do think that Postcolonial Studies is a reactive discipline in many ways but it’s also about worldmaking and radical futures.
It was only during MA that I was introduced to postcolonialisms beyond South Asia (thank God ! for that) and I will always be grateful. 5/n

Yet, I continued admiring the trinity and even the Subaltern Studies Collective to a certain extent ( Gautam Bhadra, in particular always stood out to me ). My difficulty with them started during the me-too movement.
6/n

DC was explicitly called out and I believe the survivor (I have been hearing whispers about him from my college days. Spivak ended up signing something that defended Avital Ronnel.I came across a talk that requires one to pay $350 to attend one virtual talk by her (????!!!!) 7/n

Bhabha ended up accepting an invitation for a keynote lecture by the Israeli Sociological Association and then in the face of severe criticism, withdrew and gave a statement which was very unconvincing to me.
8/n

My sense of disillusionment and disappointment with Postcolonial Studies began in 2017. I have been reflecting on this and I realized that it is not such my disappointment with the field but more about personas/scholars in the field. 9/n

I have to make a distinction between the Cult of Celebrityhood in Postcolonial Studies with the discipline itself or else my disappointment will continue. 10/n

I have increasingly become more attached to Black Studies, the work of transnational collectives ( thinking of the Tricontinental magazine here) and abolitionist work in the US academy. 11/n

I do think that u can't separate the person from the scholarship because they are connected.I took a very conscious decision not to cite and teach D C’s work and though I continue to admire Spivak for so many things,I am increasingly trying to lessen my engagement with her.
12/n

.Critics of Cancel Culture: I hear you but it’s something that I have done to maintain my own integrity and ethics as a scholar. 13/n

It is not without its contradictions: I wonder that if I ever get to teach a Postcolonial Studies class, will it be a good thing for me and for my students to omit their work? I continue to struggle with this, though I tend to lean towards not having them on my syllabus. 14/n

What’s the way forward for me, then and also for the discipline?
I would like to unthink mastery in the disciplines with which I identify myself. (I am thinking of Julietta Singh’s work). I would not like to be a master.
15/n

Scholarship is political and any scholarship bereft of the current concerns ( without being opportunistic) does not hold any meaning for me. This scholarship is also connected to the work that I would want to do within the academy and outside it. 16/n

I would like to be part of collectives that would engage in amplifying voices without ventriloquizing and be an ally.

I would end with a note of hope. I recently read the 9/11 cluster of @AtPost45 . It is so thoughtful, engaging & the kind of work that I want to do 17/n

I am grateful that there are still people within the academy and beyond who continue building radical futures.
18/end thread