Formerly at Lancaster University
Through bringing history into conversation with ethnography, my research considers the relationship between religion and politics in modern South Asia. My doctoral work integrated scholarship and fieldwork to consider how religion and traditions of service operate as colonial and contested categories.
In particular, I gave special attention to how Hindu nationalist traditions of service emerge as a conservative project of moral reform, and how these practices have been differently used by those at the margins of society as part of their own ritual-politics of caste and gender. This research forms the basis of my upcoming monograph to be published by Routledge.
My post-doctoral work examines Hindu activist ‘ghar wapsi’ (Hindu ‘homecoming’) campaigns in modern India. Especially how non-elite actors think about these issues.
I have written widely on Hindu nationalism, covering issues such as service, children and Sanskrit in Hindu nationalist schools, and Hindu representation and the politics of caste in north India. In addition to my monograph, I am currently writing on Hindu nationalism, ethics and development in rural India, with a focus on critically considering the voices of activists which go beyond secular/sacred binaries.
I am currently a research assistant on the Remembering Resistance in India project, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to tracing the impact of the urban environment on the origins and evolution of ‘religious’ contention in modern Delhi.
I am currently the Early Career Representative for the British Association for South Asian Studies.
My teaching engages students to explore the variety of ways in which people think about and practice religious and political traditions in the modern world, including their relationship with media technologies.
I lecture on the module Media, Religion and Politics (PPR.363). This is a level three module. I further lecture on Media, Religion and Politics (PPR.563). This is a M.A module.
I lecture on the module Religions and Politics (PPR.357). This is a level three module.
In terms of aims, my teaching encourages students to develop knowledge of and engage with scholarly approaches to the study of religious and political traditions, together with building a wider set of academic skills that are transferable across units.
My teaching engages students to work collaboratively in small groups to work with and raise questions about specific case studies presented in seminars and lectures. This also opens a low pressure way for students to discuss their ideas before opening to a wider audience.
My teaching approaches feedback as an integral part of the learning cycle and as a collaborative project.
My teaching considers the promotion of student diversity and an inclusive learning environment as central to the development of scholarly thinking.
k.alder@lancs.ac.uk
Office Hour: Monday, 10-11. Or by prior appointment.
D.04
Politics, Philosophy and Religion
County South
Lancaster University
Lancaster
United Kingdom
LA1 4YL
I was awarded my PhD from the Department of Religions and Theology at the University of Manchester. I teach modules on South Asian religions and politics, media and religions, and politics and religions. I have previously taught on Buddhism in contexts of violence and killing, Hinduism, as well as methods in the study of religious traditions.
Through bringing history into conversation with ethnography, my research considers the relationship between religion and politics in modern South Asia. My doctoral work integrated scholarship and fieldwork to consider how religion and traditions of service operate as colonial and contested categories.
In particular, I gave special attention to how Hindu nationalist traditions of service emerge as a conservative project of moral reform, and how these practices have been differently used by those at the margins of society as part of their own ritual-politics of caste and gender. This research forms the basis of my upcoming monograph to be published by Routledge.
My post-doctoral work examines Hindu activist ‘ghar wapsi’ (Hindu ‘homecoming’) campaigns in modern India. Especially how non-elite actors think about these issues.
I have written widely on Hindu nationalism, covering issues such as service, children and Sanskrit in Hindu nationalist schools, and Hindu representation and the politics of caste in north India. In addition to my monograph, I am currently writing on Hindu nationalism, ethics and development in rural India, with a focus on critically considering the voices of activists which go beyond secular/sacred binaries.
I am currently a research assistant on the Remembering Resistance in India project, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to tracing the impact of the urban environment on the origins and evolution of ‘religious’ contention in modern Delhi.
I am currently the Early Career Representative for the British Association for South Asian Studies.
My primary areas of research are:
