Inclusive Philosophies: South Asian Feminist Philosophy

South Asian feminist philosophy is a rich and evolving field that critically engages with the cultural, historical, and philosophical traditions of South Asia through a feminist lens. It challenges dominant Eurocentric, patriarchal, and orientalist frameworks while drawing from indigenous sources such as Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Jain, and Sikh philosophies, as well as folk traditions and oral histories. South Asian feminist thinkers interrogate the intersections of gender, class, caste, religion, and nationality, often situating their critiques within both local contexts and global discourses. The field not only resists Eurocentric feminist paradigms but also reclaims suppressed voices, offering nuanced perspectives on agency, embodiment, and justice that reshape the philosophical discourse to be more inclusive and sensitive to difference.

About the Instructor:

Meena Dhanda is Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Politics at the University of Wolverhampton. She arrived in the UK from Indian Punjab in 1987 with an award of a Commonwealth Scholarship for her doctoral work in Philosophy at Oxford University. She is currently engaged in doing empirically informed social, moral and political philosophy, with a focus on casteism as a kind of racism. She is internationally recognised as a leading academic in the development of diaspora Dalit studies.

About this Event:

To mark the British Philosophical Association's 2025 Philosophy Matters campaign, The Philosopher is hosting five Zoom “masterclasses” on a range of inclusive philosophies, convened by Paul Giladi (SOAS University of London). Each masterclass will be led by a prominent academic, who will give a short presentation before opening to discussion with the audience. Please register at the Zoom link in advance because spots are limited; if you registered but are unable to attend please cancel your Zoom registration or email us (thephilosopher1923 [at] gmail.com) to let us know. You can also email us to join the waiting list if registration is full (closed).

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This is an online conversation and audience Q&A presented by the UK-based journal The Philosopher. It is open to the public and held on Zoom.

About The Philosopher (https://www.thephilosopher1923.org/):

The Philosopher is the longest-running public philosophy journal in the UK (founded in 1923). It is published by the The Philosophical Society of England (http://www.philsoceng.uk/), a registered charity founded ten years earlier than the journal in 1913, and still running regular groups, workshops, and conferences around the UK. As of 2018, The Philosopher is edited by Newcastle-based philosopher Anthony Morgan and is published quarterly, both in print and digitally.

The journal aims to represent contemporary philosophy in all its many and constantly evolving forms, both within academia and beyond. Contributors over the years have ranged from John Dewey and G.K. Chesterton to contemporary thinkers like Christine Korsgaard, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Elizabeth Anderson, Martin Hägglund, Cary Wolfe, Avital Ronell, and Adam Kotsko.