Michelutti Lucia

Dr Lucia Michelutti

Email:: lucia.michelutti@area.ox.ac.uk

Position:

Departmental Lecturer

Title:

Degrees:

MA; Ph.D

Website:

Lucia Michelutti

Introduction:

Lucia Michelutti has worked extensively in North India and more recently in rural Venezuela. She received her MA and PhD in Anthropology from the LSE. Her doctoral project explored through ethnographic and historical archival work the interlocking relationships between caste, popular politics and religion in the town of Mathura (Uttar Pradesh, India).

Research Activities and Interests:

She is currently writing a monograph based on her recent fieldwork on the Bolivarian socialist revolution in rural Venezuela and a series of comparative articles on Indian and Venezuelan popular politics, political leaders and charisma, criminalisation of politics and elections, caste and race, religion, post-secularism and socialism. Michelutti’s other major research interest is the anthropology of history and the impact of colonial legacies on political cultures in South Asia and Latin America.

Research Awards:

She has just completed a four-year ESRC Research Fellowship for a project entitled: "The vernacularisation of democracy: comparisons across India and Venezuela." The project investigated the social and cultural practices of popular politics and the dynamics of new forms of socialism. The findings challenge ‘India exeptionalism’ and generate fresh perspectives on caste, authority, kingship and religious languages and their relation with politics which may have wider relevance to other socio-cultural contexts.

Publications:

Authored Book

2008 . The vernacularisation of Democracy: Politics, Caste and Religion in India. Delhi, London: Routledge

Articles

2008. ‘Venezuelan Socialism’: the every day life of the Bolivarian revolution in a rural village. Working Paper: London: London School of Economics

2008. Goondas and Caudillos: Indian muscular politics in comparative perspective. Working Paper. London: London School of Economics

2008. ‘We are Kshatriyas but we behave like Vaishyas' diet and muscular politics among a community of Yadavs in North India. Journal of South Asian Studies 31(1): 76 – 95

2007. The vernacularisation of democracy: popular politics and political participation in North India. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 13: 639-656

2004. "We (Yadavs) are a caste of politicians": Caste and modern politics in a North Indian town. Contributions to Indian Sociology 38(3): 43-72.

Book Chapters

(Forthcoming) Understanding popular politics: caste, kinship and factionalism among Yadavs in North India. In Anthony Heath and Roger Jeffery (eds.), Politics and Society in Contemporary India: Change and Diversity. Proceedings of the British Academy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

(Forthcoming) The magic appeal of muscular politics in Indian popular democracy. In Pamela Price and Arild Ruud (eds), Power and Influence in South Asia: Bosses, Lords, and Captains. Delhi, London: Routledge.

(Forthcoming) Krishna symbolism in Uttar Pradesh politics: religious socialism and Hindutva. In Daniela Berti and Nicolas Jaoul (eds), The Cultural Entrenchment of Hindutva: Mediation and Resistance. Delhi: Routledge.