Author-meets-Critics: Bangalore Girls: Witnessing the Rise of Nationalism in a Progressive City

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

In this author-meets-critic session, the author of Bangalore Girls: Witnessing the Rise of Nationalism in a Progressive City (2024, Rowman & Littlefield) will briefly present her book for the audience (who have not read it), followed by responses of three “critics” (who have read the book), each bringing different areas of expertise to their responses. These differing viewpoints will offer participants a chance to understand the concepts of the book from a more diverse perspective based on the areas of expertise of the “critics.”

The “book examines the intersecting forces of rising nationalism, religious extremism, and misogyny” (p. 3) as seen over decades through the eyes of girls who shared schooling experiences in the 1980s and have come of age in what was the progressive city of Bangalore in India. Through their stories about “growing up in Bangalore” they explore “how the city has changed under the impact of powerful political, ideological, and social forces” (p. 3). These stories reveal their lived experience during India’s shift from a progressive environment to the right and the impact this shift has on the lives of these ordinary women. While the book is about a specific location in India, it also offers “food for thought for other countries that are experiencing a turn to the right, including Brazil, France, the Netherlands, and, of course, the United States of America” (p. 3).

The critics will speak to the broader contextual influences in the book, including the shift to the right, religious fundamentalism, and nationalist agendas; gender dynamics; and issues related to human rights and the Indian context. There will be ample time for audience engagement in the topics.

The topic is relevant to the CIES community broadly in that it is about how educational experience interacts with broader socio-political forces.

The framework that informed the research is drawn from a critical constructivist perspective, where the author recognizes the value of the lived experiences of people to be able to provide a lens through which social justice issues can be better captured. Issues of nationalism and authoritarianism are usually addressed at macro, national levels, and oftentimes from patriarchal perspectives. This book allows readers to see how the spread of nationalism and authoritarianism are viewed in micro, local spaces, and through feminist lenses. Through the use of story, and using techniques of portraiture (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997), this book tells the story of one group of women, in one city who have borne witness to a pivotal event in 1991 and the subsequent fallout that has changed the fabric of the city.

The sources of data are women who shared schooling experience in the 1980s, and have lived in Bangalore, experienced the sociopolitical changes, including, for some, managing their own children’s educational experience in a changing city. The sample was drawn from a pool of 120 students in a specific graduating class of a girls’ school. Interviews of 35 women in 2021-2022, along with informal observations and interactions with a sub-set of participants over several decades, are the core data used in this study. The research was spawned from journals written by the author since the 1980s about her experience in school and life, and how key events in society which signaled the shift in values and ideologies.

The book’s contributions are original, linking lived experience over time in a community in India with larger societal, political, ideological, and cultural changes. In addition, the book examines how gendered lives are affected by ideological shifts they may not agree with. Life history interviews that reveal lives that span decades are difficult to do well, and this book excels. Most studies that look at societal-level change processes focus primarily on macro dynamics. This study links macro dynamics to how the changes are experienced by people in their daily lives. Changes in people’s lives affect how they make sense of the role of education, the experience of learning, and how they take charge of living their lives.

This book connects to the issues raised over the years in alignment with conference themes in 2022-2024, as well as topics that are connected to many of CIES SIGS, including several of which address structural issues affecting education. Further, the use of technology tools such as WhatsApp, the presence of online trolls, and the role of government in harnessing technology to move ideologies forward connects directly to the theme of the 2025 conference.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Karen Monkman, DePaul University

Individual Presentations

• Bangalore Girls: Witnessing the Rise of Nationalism in a Progressive City - Supriya Baily, George Mason University

Discussants

• Karen Monkman, DePaul University

• Monisha Bajaj, University of San Francisco

• Noah W Sobe, UNESCO