Call for Proposals Abstracts: Anthology - Power and Privilege in South Asian American Studies

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:18:36 -0400

We invite abstracts for chapter-length essays that will contribute to a new anthology in South Asian American studies, tentatively titled, "Power and Privilege in South Asian American Studies." The anthology will focus on issues of privilege and power in South Asian American representation, community, and identity. Scholars in South Asian American Studies in particular have noted that systems of class and racial capitalism mediate racialization processes, and that South Asian Americans have accrued disproportionate access and control over political, social and economic capital. This privileged status remains understudied. This volume will examine power and privilege as both a defining and under-examined feature of South Asian American identity and community formation. As a starting point, we ask: What does South Asian American studies mean now, and what can or should it evolve into? The anthology will begin by discussing the boundaries and analytical frameworks that define the field of South Asian American studies now, and how they could and should evolve.

We are particularly interested in the intersections of caste and class privilege, racial hierarchies (especially anti-Black racism), Indocentrism, Hinducentrism, heteronormativity, cis privilege, diasporic mobility, and able-bodied privilege, as these factors impact the future of South Asian American studies. The anthology will also examine praxis from a position of power and privilege in political and activist spaces. We hope to include both new and emerging scholars as well as established scholars who have helped shape the field. By placing these voices in conversation, we aim not only to build on the foundational work of the field but also to push it in new directions. This cross-generational dialogue will also put into practice a guiding ethos of the anthology: by providing opportunities for mentorship, support, and the co-creation of new frameworks for understanding South Asian American privilege.

The anthology will consist of three sections, each examining understandings of privilege through different lenses. The first section will focus on structures of power within the South Asian American community, including caste, masculinity, Indocentrism, Hinducentrism, and ableism. The second section will explore South Asian American privilege in relation to other racial groups -for example, how the model minority myth operates in South Asian American communities and upholds anti-Blackness. The third section would focus on SAA privilege in relation to institutional power, including the state and media, and how SAAs leverage their political and economic power.

We seek submissions of chapter abstracts (< 500 words) and a 1-page CV/Resume/or list of relevant experience by December 15, 2025. We have been in conversation with Temple University Press as a potential publisher for this volume. We welcome contributions from a range of disciplinary and methodological backgrounds—including, but not limited to literature, sociology, history, anthropology, cultural studies, and media studies—as well as from scholars engaging theoretical approaches such as critical ethnic studies, postcolonial studies, diaspora studies, feminist and queer studies, and other related frameworks that ground and advance South Asian American studies. Please send your submissions to Naomi Joseph (njoseph@ucsb.edu) and Tamara Bhalla (tbhalla@umbc.edu) with the subject line "Power and Privilege Anthology Submission." Naomi and Tamara will also be available at the 2026 AAAS conference in Hawaii to meet with potential authors and answer questions.

Possible topics include but are not exclusive to:

The role of Indo-centrism in the SAA diaspora and/or in the discipline

The role of Hinducentrism and/or the Hindutva

Class privilege; the million and multi-millionaire class

Work on upper caste people

South Asian American masculinities, cis privilege and/or heteronormativity

South Asian American and disability justice, able-bodied privilege

South Asian Americans within Asian America - South Asian American privileges in relation to East Asian, Southeast Asians

South Asian Americans in relation to Black, Latinx, and other racial identities

South Asian Americans in relation to whiteness

South Asian Americans on the Right, e.g. Kash Patel, Vivek Ramaswamy, Usha Vance

South Asians on the "Left" e.g. Pramila Jayapal, Kamala Harris

South Asian American interactions with the state, e.g. diasporic mobility, citizenship pathways

South Asian Americans in the media

Read more on the American Studies Association posting here: https://www.theasa.net/jobs-opportunities/cfps/cfp-abstract-anthology-power-privilege-south-asian-american-studies