Revisiting Gandhi

An Assistant Professor of Political Science at Yale University, Karuna Mantena works extensively on imperialism, decolonization and postcolonial thought. Mantena graduated from the London School of Economics and received her PhD from Harvard University in 2004. After teaching for a short time at Cornell University, Mantena joined Yale and has taught courses in both the history and the political science department, and has been associated with the prestigious Directed Studies Program. Apart from publishing a range of article and chapters, she has also written a book, Alibis of Empire: Henry Maine and the Ends of Liberal Imperialism, which was published earlier this year.

Mantena’s present work focuses on the political thought of Mahatma Gandhi, and her talk, entitled “On Gandhi’s Critique of the State: Contexts, Sources, Conjectures” expands on a paper with the same title.  Although Gandhi is a much studied political figure, Mantena explores new angles of his thought, focusing on his ideas of the state, politics and morality, and in some ways, de-mystifying his persona.

The talk will be held on Wednesday, 17th November in Room 105, Department of Anthropology, 10 Sachem Street. The room is wheelchair accessible.