What resources for comparative understanding and critique may be gleaned from our scholarly work in particular regions? Answers to this question turn in part on how we take “area” to matter in area studies: as a geographic domain of expertise, or instead as an acknowledgement that our knowledge is necessarily shaped by the contexts in which it arises. This exploratory talk will seek to draw out potential sources of insight into this problem and its implications by reflecting on three anthropological projects pursued between the United States and south India over the last fifteen years.

Part of the South Asian Initiative Speaker Series, Year 2.