Logo image
Back
Surviving COVID-19 in India: Transgender Activism in a Neoliberal-Developmentalist Assemblage
Journal article   Open access

Surviving COVID-19 in India: Transgender Activism in a Neoliberal-Developmentalist Assemblage

Aniruddha Dutta
Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies, Vol.1(1-2), pp.19-45
Summer 2022
DOI: 10.57814/3xbp-gp66
Appears in  Diamond Open Access
url
https://doi.org/10.57814/3xbp-gp66View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Transgender and gender non-conforming people, particularly communities from predominantly working class and Dalit (oppressed-caste) backgrounds such as kothis and hijras, were among those hit hardest during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The COVID-19 crisis was exacerbated by the policies of the Indian state, which demonstrate an unstable assemblage or conjuncture of neoliberal and developmentalist tendencies, in keeping with long-term systemic patterns in the region. The article situates Indian trans activism during the COVID-19 pandemic within the context of the neoliberal-developmentalist assemblage that characterizes governance in contemporary India, and examines the possibilities and limitations of such activism. During the COVID-19 crisis, trans communities and activists contest and negotiate with the state in variable ways, sometimes bolstering and suturing neoliberal and developmentalist modes of governance and sometimes challenging or undermining them, and even playing them against each other. The article traces these varied negotiations and analyzes how they not only enable the survival of trans people through the pandemic but also demonstrate ways in which activists may push back against the state’s simultaneous regulation and neglect of their communities.

Details

Metrics

15 Record Views
Logo image