In Caste, Society, and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age , Susan Bayly describes caste as “a real and active part of Indian life.” Caste is not presented as something distant or historical, but as deeply embedded in everyday social and political structures. Although British observers found the system outrageous, they were also the reason it expanded to what it is today. Their involvement did not eliminate caste; instead, it contributed to making

In Clothing Matters: Dress and Identity in India , Emma Tarlo explores the active role that clothing has played in “the identity construction of individuals, families, castes, regions and nations.”   Her work is an example of the importance of researching history, opinions, personal stories, and more, to understand a topic. Tarlo emphasizes that it is not enough to locate a person within a historical trend without understanding the context of before and after, and how they fe

From Midnight to the Millennium  is one of my favorite reads so far. Although it is not directly related to the field of anthropology,...

1. Food Choices & Diets When you walk into an ethnic neighborhood, you often see the grocery store matching the food necessities of the people. For example, when you enter a South Asian neighborhood, you would see turmeric, ghee, and such items in the local grocery stores. These products would have the labels of “Indian spices” or “veg alternatives”, etc. This is a result of anthropology studies on how food is connected to culture and geography. Such examples of anthropology

1. Food Choices & Diets When you walk into a grocery store, you immediately see labels such as fair trade, organic, or locally sourced....

This book was an incredible read. While it offered many insightful ideas, what I loved most was how the author, Veena Das, combined so...

Veena Das is currently an anthropology professor at Johns Hopkins University. She has worked extensively on researching the impacts of...