Gopal Guru Explained

Gopal Guru is an Indian political scientist. He is the editor of the journal Economic and Political Weekly.^{[1] [2]} He is a retired professor in political science at Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.^[3] He was a visiting professor at Columbia University, Oxford University and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.^{[4] [5]} Earlier, he taught at the University of Delhi and the University of Pune.^[6]

Career

Gopal Guru is the author of numerous articles on Dalit discourse, women, politics and philosophy.^[7] His specialisation includes Indian Political Thought, Humiliation, Social Movements etc. He is considered to be one of the high ranking academics to open up caste debates in the study of liberal arts in India.^[8] He pioneered new dimensions in the re-thinking of Dalit discourse with the introduction of critical theory in understanding questions of constructions and fallout of Dalit identity in India. His work primarily brings ethics back into theorizing and philosophizing Dalit discourses which, for decades, were lost in the debates of representational politics.^[9] His academic works theorizes on the moral categories of self-respect, recognition, shame, dignity, humiliation and at the same time re-asserts a non-instrumentalist view of rationality in explaining matters of social justice.^[10]

He delivered the first in a series of eight open lectures delivered on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus (17–24 February 2016), after the campus was branded anti-national by sangh parivar forces.^[11] He said that, the nation cannot be defined in terms of borders alone, and contended that there has to be "radical rotation" in society, that the economic and social aspects of a nation should be considered together, and the economic should not get precedence over the social.^[12] He also argued that Gandhi took Ambedkar much more seriously than other thinkers and leaders, who were their contemporary like Rabindranath Tagore.^[13]

Awards

• He received Malcolm Adiseshiah Award for Distinguished Contribution to Development Studies for 2013–14.^[14]

Important works

Gopal Guru has authored more than 120 articles and book chapters in various international journals and publishers.^[15] He also frequently writes in Indian Magazines and News Papers.^{[16] [17]}

Books

• Gopal Guru (ed). Humiliation: Claims and Context, Oxford University Press (2009), New Delhi.^[18]
• Gopal Guru & Sunder Sarukkai. The Cracked Mirror, Oxford University Press (2017), New Delhi.^{[19] [20]}
• Gopal Guru (ed). Atrophy in Dalit Politics, Vikas Adhyayan Kendra (2005), Mumbai.^[21]
• Gopal Guru & Sunder Sarukkai. Experience, Caste, and the Everyday Social, Oxford University Press (2020), New Delhi.^[22]
• Badalata Bharat

Book Chapter

• ‘Dalits in Pursuit of Modernity’, in Romila Thapar (Ed.), India another Millennium, New Delhi, Penguin-Viking (2000), New Delhi.^[23]
• ‘Constitutional Justice: Positional and Cultural’, in ed., Rajeev Bhargava, Politics and Philosophy of Indian Constitution, Oxford University Press (2008), New Delhi.^[24]
• ‘20th Century Discourse on Social Justice: a view from Bahishkrut Baharat’, in ed., Sabhyasachi Bhattacharya, History, Political thought in Modern India and Social Science, Oxford University Press (2007), New Delhi.

Journal articles

• "How Egalitarian are the Social Sciences in India?," Economic & Political Weekly, vol.37, No.5 (2002): 5003–09.^[25]
• ‘Appropriating Ambedkar‘, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 26, No.27/28 (1991): 1697–1699.^[26]
• "Archaeology of Untouchability", Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. 44, No. 37(2009): 49–56.^[27]
• "The Idea of India: Derivative, Desi and Beyond," Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 46, No. 37 (2011): 36–42.^[28]
• Migration: A Moral Protest, Social Change (SAGE), 24 June 2019.^[29]
• The Language of Social Sciences in India, Review of Development and Change (SAGE), 19 July 2019.^[30]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Political Scientist Gopal Guru Appointed New Editor of EPW. 2021-05-13. The Wire.
2. News: PTI. 2018-01-04. Professor Gopal Guru appointed Editor of EPW. en-IN. The Hindu. 2021-05-13. 0971-751X.
3. Web site: Gopal Guru. 2021-05-13. scholar.google.com.
4. Web site: 2013-08-19. Gopal Guru. 2021-05-13. Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). en.
5. Web site: 15th Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Lecture (AML) 2019: 'Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's Thoughts on Moral Foundation of Democracy' TISS. 2021-05-13. tiss.edu.
6. Web site: PLENARY SPEAKERS BIOS International Conference on Caste and Race: Reconfiguring Solidarities. 2021-05-13. engagement.umass.edu.
7. News: Wire.in. The. 2018-01-06. Gopal Guru appointed new editor of Economic and Political Weekly. Business Standard India. 2021-05-13.
8. Web site: 2016-04-06. Campus with a difference. 2021-05-13. The Indian Express. en.
9. Web site: GURU, Gopal. 2021-05-13. GLOBAL SOCIAL THEORY. en-GB.
10. Web site: Guru. Gopal. Was the displacement of Pandits a greater tragedy than the displacement of Dalits?. 2021-05-13. Scroll.in. en-US.
11. Web site: Dixit. Shubhra. The nation cannot be defined in terms of borders alone: watch JNU Professor Gopal Guru's historic public lecture. 2021-05-13. Scroll.in. en-US.
12. News: Ramani. Srinivasan. 2016-02-25. Nationalism that's progressive. en-IN. The Hindu. 2021-05-13. 0971-751X.
13. Web site: 2016-11-27. Mahatma Gandhi took BR Ambedkar much more seriously than others: JNU professor. 2021-05-13. The Indian Express. en.
14. News: 2013-04-19. Malcolm Adiseshiah award for Gopal Guru. en-IN. The Hindu. 2021-05-13. 0971-751X.
15. Web site: 2015-06-05. Gopal Guru. 2021-05-13. Economic and Political Weekly. en.
16. News: JNU Political Science professor Gopal Guru appointed as editor of EPW for five years. PTI. 4 January 2018. 2022-12-23. Firstpost.
17. Web site: Articles by Gopal Guru. 2021-05-13. magazine.outlookindia.com/.
18. Book: Humiliation: claims and context. 2011. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-807492-2. Guru. Gopal. Oxford India paperbacks. New Delhi ; New York, NY.
19. Book: Guru. Gopal. The Cracked Mirror: An Indian Debate on Experience and Theory. Sarukkai. Sundar. 2017-07-27. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-947459-2. Oxford, New York.
20. Giri. Ananta Kumar. 2014-10-01. Book Review: Gopal Guru and Sundar Sarukkai. 2012. The Cracked Mirror: An Indian Debate on Experience and Theory. Contributions to Indian Sociology. en. 48. 3. 445–449. 10.1177/0069966714540237. 145519418. 0069-9667.
21. Book: Guru, Gopal. Atrophy in Dalit Politics. 2005. Vikas Adhyayan Kendra. en.
22. Book: Experience, Caste, and the Everyday Social. 2020-01-05. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-949605-1. Oxford, New York.
23. Book: Thapar, Romila. India: Another Millennium?. 2000. Viking. 978-0-670-89645-5. en.
24. Book: Bhargava, Rajeev. Politics and Ethics of the Indian Constitution. 2009-09-03. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-806355-1. Oxford India Paperbacks. Oxford, New York.
25. Guru. Gopal. 2002. How Egalitarian Are the Social Sciences in India?. Economic and Political Weekly. 37. 50. 5003–5009. 4412959. 0012-9976.
26. Guru. Gopal. 1991. Appropriating Ambedkar. Economic and Political Weekly. 26. 27/28. 1697–1699. 4398126. 0012-9976.
27. GURU. GOPAL. 2009. Archaeology of Untouchability. Economic and Political Weekly. 44. 37. 49–56. 25663543. 0012-9976.
28. Web site: Vol. 46, No. 37, SEPTEMBER 10-16, 2011 of Economic and Political Weekly on JSTOR. 2021-05-13. www.jstor.org. en.
29. Guru. Gopal. 2019-06-01. Migration: A Moral Protest. Social Change. en. 49. 2. 315–328. 10.1177/0049085719844108. 198791719. 0049-0857.
30. Guru. Gopal. 2011-12-01. The Language of Social Sciences in India. Review of Development and Change. en. 16. 2. 145–159. 10.1177/0972266120110201. 199865739. 0972-2661.