CSSS organises a Colloquium by Dr. Projit Bihari Mukharji

CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY

cordially invites you to the

THURSDAY COLLOQUIUM

“Psychic Citizens: ESP Research in Postcolonial India”

by

Dr. Projit Bihari Mukharji

on
14th September 2023 at SSS II,
ROOM NO. 013; 3:00 pm - 5: 00 pm

Abstract: The history of parapsychology has long presented historians of science with an interesting test case to explore what constitutes ‘science’. Most of these studies, however, are focused on the so-called West. Yet, parapsychology enjoyed a fairly robust career in mid-twentieth century India as well. The chronology, emphases, and politics of this career resonated with larger postcolonial ambitions of not only nation-building but also reimagining ‘science’ itself. In this paper, drawing upon a distinct set of parapsychological researches into ESP or extra-sensory perceptions, I will show both the practical ends and philosophical affordances that marked the Indian history of parapsychology. Additionally, I will also etch the larger Cold War context and its influence on this history. Finally, I would argue that the history of ESP research can give us a new perspective on the new histories of postcolonial citizenship.

Dr. Projit Bihari Mukharji is Professor and Head of the Department of History at Ashoka University. He is a historian of science and his most recent book, Brown Skins, White Coats: Race Science in India, c. 1920-66 (Chicago, 2023) looks at the historic reemergence of biological ideas about human races.