Category: Talks

Books, Reviews, Talks

A Shortcut to Tipperary Review

By JASON KEITH FERNANDES

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure for me to release A Shortcut to Tipperary this evening.

There is an interesting set of dynamics between the person who releases a book and the event of a book release. In some cases, it is the person who brings honour to the event, and in others it is the event that brings honour to the person invited to release the book. This afternoon is an example of the latter case and I thank Doutor Radharao for the opportunity. I could think of many others, some present in this gathering, who are more worthy of this task, but I am nevertheless delighted to be able to release the book and share with you my thoughts on the novel. (more…)

Interventions, Talks

What’s going on in India? Contemporary perspectives from Portuguese India By Jason Keith Fernandes

Overview

India seems to be scarily slipping into outright majoritarian rule where an apparent secular liberal democracy is transforming into a Hindu dominated caste polity. It is my argument that this situation did not simply come to pass by some recent accident but is the result of the Hindu nationalism that is hardwired into Indian nationalism since even before British India gained independence. To demonstrate this case, I will draw on the history of citizenship in Goa, former capital of Portuguese India.

I argue that because of its distinct political and legal history Portuguese India offers a useful perspective to appreciate, and critique, the way the structures of British India have impacted on contemporary Indian history. For example, the perspective from Portuguese India allows us to see how a review of the citizenship experiences of Catholics fracture the established Hindu-Muslim binary when discussing the collapse of secularism in India. Additionally, this perspective may also offer opportunities to contemplate the possible futures for India.
Bio note

Jason Keith Fernandes is a researcher at the Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA) at ISCTE, Lisbon. He obtained a PhD in Anthropology in 2013 for his research on the Citizenship Experiences of Catholics in Goa. This work was the basis of his book, Citizenship in a Caste Polity: Religion, Language, and Belonging in Goa, published in 2020 which has recently won the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies Book Award (2017-2022).

Jason’s prior degrees include a Masters in the Sociology of Law, from the International Institute for the Sociology of Law (Oñate – Spain), and a Bachelor’s degree in Law, from the National Law School of India (Bangalore – India). His research interests include comparative post-colonial theory, with a special emphasis on Portuguese-India via Goa, his preferred research field, through which he observes citizenship practices, and the operation of secularism in India. More recently he has developed an interest in Catholic theology, convinced that it has lessons to offer us in the current assault on (and collapse of) liberal democracy.

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Books, Interventions, Talks, Webinars

Jason Keith Fernandes, ‘CONTEMPLATING CITIZENSHIP IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA’ Special Lecture at the Tamil Nadu National Law University,13 July 2021

Abstract

Citizenship has been at the heart of many of the more recent controversies within India – be it those linked with the revocation of Article 370 of the Indian constitution and the dismemberments of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, the National Register of Citizens, or the Constitutional Amendment Act. The polemics around these issues have demonstrated with uncomfortable clarity, however, that there is much confusion between the terms nationality and citizenship, with the latter often being understood to mean the same as the former. Drawing on the legal history of the subcontinent, including spaces from outside of British India, particularly Portuguese India, Dr Fernandes suggests that there is a fundamental distinction between the two terms and it is necessary to maintain this distinction if the citizenship rights of Indian nationals are to be preserved.

 

Interventions, Talks

“Fé, Império, e Nação” and “How (Not) To Talk About India”

Details of two presentation by Jason Keith Fernandes.
On the 5th of  November Fernandes presented a lecture titled “Fé, Império, e Nação” at the Núcleo de Estudos da Religião at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

 

On the 7th of November Fernandes conducted a workshop titled “How (Not) To Talk About India” at the Fórum Internacional de Cultura, Literatura e Linguística Aplicada – FICLLA 201, organised by the Programa de Pós-graduação em Letras of the Universidade Federal do Paraná and held at Curitiba, Brazil.