Exploring Coercion, Caste, and Labour in the Indian Army through Swadesh Deepak's 'Court Martial' | Taveeshi Singh

Join us for the third seminar in the 2024-2025 Seminar Series presented by the CrimSL Research Cluster for the Study of Racism and Inequality.

This is a free event, however, registration is required.

Prior to the seminar, join us for a light lunch from noon to 12:30 pm in the Centre Lounge. Please indicate your lunch RSVP for catering purposes when you register.

Abstract

The talk will examine the dynamics of coercion, caste, and labour in the Indian Army through a literary text — Swadesh Deepak’s critically acclaimed Hindi language military courtroom drama Court Martial, performed across India, Pakistan and Nepal — and fieldwork conducted with military veterans in India. 

About the Speaker

Taveeshi Singh received her PhD from the interdisciplinary Social Science program at Syracuse University, with a designated concentration in Women's and Gender Studies. Her dissertation, Domestic Exertions: Soldier-servants, Military Elites, and Securitized Labor in India, explores the politics of gender, labor, value, and national security through an examination of the postcolonial Indian army’s sahayak system (formerly, the colonial “batman” system) in which combatant soldiers are coerced into performing domestic chores in officers’ households.

Taveeshi was previously a Visiting Instructor in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at Hamilton College. She is co-editor of the Feminist Freedom Warriors project, an online archive documenting cross-generational conversations about justice, politics, and hope with feminist scholar-activists. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies.

About the CrimSL Research Cluster for the Study of Racism and Inequality

In March 2021, faculty of U of T's Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies proposed the creation of a Research Cluster for the Study of Racism and Inequality related to BIPOC people. This Research Cluster aims to build knowledge about the historical and ongoing legacies of racism, colonialism, gendered and sexual violence, exclusion and other forms of structural inequality by providing a research platform for interrogating the roots of social disenfranchisement.

Learn more about the CrimSL Research Cluster for the Study of Racism and Inequality.

Accessibility

Please note that our Centre Lounge and CG 265 seminar room are on the second floor of the Canadiana Gallery building, with stair access only as there is no elevator. If you have any access needs or if there are any ways we can support your participation in this session, please email crimsl.communications@utoronto.ca and we will be glad to work with you to make the appropriate arrangements.

Notice of photography and videography

Photography, audio and video recording may occur throughout this event. Therefore, by attending, you hereby authorize the University of Toronto to take your photograph, video and/or record your voice and grant the university all rights to these sounds, still or moving images in any medium for educational, promotional, marketing, advertising or other such purposes that support the mission of the university. If you do not consent to this, please speak with a university representative upon your arrival.

Health & Safety

We are following health and safety measures outlined by the University of Toronto and the Government of Ontario. Should there be changes in protocols related to health and safety of our guests and community, registrants will be advised.