Harvard WGS Visiting Professor (2004) and Visiting Scholar (2014 - 2015) Banu Subramaniam's new book, Holy Science: The Biopolitics of Hindu Nationalism has recently been published by the University of Washington Press.

Through several case studies, Subramaniam explores the limitations of the "universality" of science to reveal how science in postcolonial contexts is always locally inflected and modulated. Evoking the rich mythology of comingled worlds, where humans, animals, and gods transform each other and ancient history, Subramaniam demonstrates how Hindu nationalism sutures an ideal past to technologies of the present by making bold claims about the scientific basis of Vedic civilization and deploying this narrative to consolidate caste, patriarchal, and Hindu power.

We congratulate Professor Subramaniam on this publication and are pleased to be hosting a book talk with her on Tuesday, September 17th. 

Banu Subramaniam is professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and author of Ghost Stories for Darwin: The Science of Variation and the Politics of Diversity, winner of the 2016 Ludwik Fleck Award from the Society for the Social Studies of Science.