5 Questions to Svati P. Shah

Our new format „5 Questions to“ aims at promoting the work of exciting scholars in the field of Queer Anthropology and related disciplines. By creating this format we wish to establish an archive of catchy profiles, strengthening the visibility of our emerging field.

Professor Svati P. Shah is an anthropologist and queer feminist scholar whose work draws from a commitment to social justice and critical inquiry. They are Associate Professor of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass). Svati P. Shah’s work examines questions of sexuality in relation to materialist history, racialization, caste politics, and political economy in India. Their first monograph, Street Corner Secrets: Sex, Work and Migration in the City of Mumbai was published with Duke University Press. 

Portrait of Prof. Svati P. Shah

1. What topics excite you the most in your current research & why?

I am especially interested in the kinds of priorities that are evident within queer and trans studies in the Global South, where scholars are consistently pointing to connections between sexuality, gender studies and materialism.

2. What does queer methodology mean for you? Perhaps you would like to elaborate on this in relation to an object or concept that you (currently) work with?

Queer anthropology has a lot to offer longstanding methodological questions for both ethnography and for ethnographic writing, especially with respect to questions of space and the ethnographic archive. It’s an exciting time for queer and trans anthro!

3. Which book, film, or show has made an impression on you lately?

I recently taught Keguro Macharia’s book Frottage: Frictions of Intimacy across the Black Diaspora (NYU Press, 2019). It’s a great book, and part of an essential wave in African queer and diaspora studies that I have learned a lot from. I am also deeply influenced by Experimenta, an yearly Indian experimental film festival that has been running since the mid-2000s. The festival’s curator, Shai Heredia, has worked extensively with Arsenal and the Goethe Institute over the years.

4. Can you think of a lesson that you have learned in academia or during fieldwork and that you would like to share with young scholars in the field of queer/feminist ethnography?

It’s important to make mistakes! The field is the best teacher, especially on the importance of serendipity and improvisation.

5. What do you desire for the future of queer/feminist ethnography?

I hope we can build the kind of community of scholars and bodies of work that the world needs for the coming political and economic crises we will all be facing in the coming years. It’s an essential time to be producing scholarship that speaks to this moment, especially from queer, trans and feminist anthropology.

Thank you Svati!

The interview was conducted by Moxi Ochsenbauer

On July 11th, we welcomed Professor Svati P. Shah at the FU Berlin for a Public Keynote on “Anthropology (Re)Discovers Sexuality and Gender Identity: Lessons in Materialist Critique from A Dispersed Ethnography”. Organizer: Research Area “Gender, Body, Sexualities” (Prof. C. Liebelt)

Latest Publication: Shah, Svati P. “Caste Capitalism and Queer Theory: Beyond Identity Politics in India.” The South Atlantic quarterly 123.1 (2024): 105–128. Web.

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