S Anandhi
Associate Professor
Madras Institute of Development Studies
79, Second Main Road, Gandhinagar,
Adyar, Chennai - 600 020
Tamil Nadu, INDIA.

E-mail: anandhi@mids.ac.in

Tel: 0091-44-24412589 / 24419771 Extn: 337; Fax: 0091 - 44 - 24910872

Education:
Ph.D, in History from Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi;

Areas of Research:
Women's Studies with the special focus on Gender, Caste and Identity Politics.

Select Publications:
Land to the Dalits: Panchami Land Struggle in Tamilnadu, Indian Social Institute, Bangalore, 2000.

Contending Identities: Dalits and Secular Politics in Madras Slums, Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, 1995.

'Representing Devadasis: Dasigal Mosavalai as a Radical Text', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.XXVI, Nos.11 and 12, Annual Number, 1991. Reproduced in Alice Thorner and Maithreyi Krishnaraj (ed.), Ideals, Images and Real Lives: Women in Litrerature and History, Orient Longman, Mumbai, 2000.

'Reproductive Bodies and Regulated Sexuality: Birth Control Debates in early Twentieth century Tamilnadu' in Mary E. John and Janaki Nair (eds.), A Question of Silence? : The Sexual Economies of Modern India, Kali For Women, New Dlehi, 1998.

'Interlocking Patriarchies and Women in Governance: A Case Study of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Tamilnadu' in Karin Kapadia (ed.), The Violence of Development: The Politics of Identity, Gender and Social Inequalities in India, Kali for Women, New Delhi, 2002.

Current Research Work:
Currently engaged in a detailed analysis of biography and politics of Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy, the first woman medical graduate, the first woman legislator and a well-known nationalist. A public figure of multiple ambivalences, born in the much-despised Devadasi caste, she, in terms of her class location, belonged to the colonial middle class of professionals. Given her caste location, she was in the forefront of social reform unlike most other nationalist women political activists. This brought her, despite being a nationalist, in alliance with the non-Brahmin movement at different points. The research would engage with issues of how Muthulakshmi Reddy appropriated the language of nationalism (nation-building) and used it to address issues of gender, especially issues of citizenship for women.