ANTH 244 - Globalizing India

Institution:

Williams College

Subject:

Anthropology

Description:

India's dramatic rise to global prominence has captured public attention. In newspapers, magazines, and popular books, we read about economic prosperity, growing cities, and new consumers. In this course, we will investigate the social issues behind these headlines by drawing on ethnographic accounts of contemporary life in India. Case studies will provide us with nuanced perspectives on issues such as migration, outsourcing, consumption, and economic development and enable us to re-consider popular and scholarly characterizations of globalization. As we explore the re-configurations of politics, power, and social life that have occurred since economic liberalization began in the early 1990s, we will tease apart the complex relationships between global economic integration and socio-cultural change. We will investigate how globalization presents possibilities for social mobility and political change as well as for exploitation along existing fault lines of inequality and exclusion. Course materials will include ethnographic case studies, documentary films, commercial films, and items from contemporary Indian media. Lectures will contextualize this material by providing background on India's history, cultural traditions, and politics.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Open to all

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.williams.edu

Phone Number:

(413) 597-3131

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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