{{short description|Indian anthropologist, activist, and feminist historian}} {{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Angana P. Chatterji | image = Angana Chatterji.JPG | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1966|11}} | birth_place = [[Calcutta]], India | citizenship = Indian | other_names = | education = [[Master of Arts|MA]] (political science)<br /> [[Doctorate|PhD]] (humanities) | alma_mater = [[California Institute of Integral Studies|CIIS]], San Francisco | occupation = | years_active = | employer = | notable_works = ''Violent Gods'', ''Buried Evidence'' | style = | partner = Richard Shapiro | website = [http://www.anganachatterji.net anganachatterji.net] }} '''Angana P. Chatterji''' (born November 1966) is an Indian anthropologist, activist, and [[feminist history|feminist historian]], whose research is closely related to her advocacy work and focuses mainly on India. She co-founded the [[International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir]] and was a co-convener from April 2008 to December 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kashmirprocess.org/conveners.html|title=Conveners, Legal Counsel, and Liaison|website=www.kashmirprocess.org}}</ref>
She is currently a research scholar at the Centre for Race and Gender at the [[University of California, Berkeley|University of California at Berkeley]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=CRG Staff & Research Scholars {{!}} UCB Center for Race & Gender |url=https://www.crg.berkeley.edu/crg-staff-research-scholars/ |access-date=2022-05-14 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Personal life==
Angana Chatterji is the daughter of Bhola Chatterji (1922–1992), a socialist and [[Indian independence movement|Indian freedom fighter]] and [[Anubha Sengupta Chatterji]]. She is the great-great-granddaughter of [[Gooroodas Banerjee]], a judge and the first Indian Vice-Chancellor of the [[University of Calcutta]]. She grew up in the communally-tense neighborhood of Narkeldanga and Rajabazar in [[Kolkata]]. Her family included intercaste parents and grandparents, and aunts who were Muslim and Catholic.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/violentgodshindu00chat/|title=Violent Gods: Hindu Nationalism in India's Present|last=Chatterji|first=Angana P.|publisher=Three Essays Collective|year=2009}}</ref>
Chatterji moved from Kolkata to [[Delhi]] in 1984, and then to the United States in the 1990s. She retains her Indian citizenship but is a [[permanent residence (United States)|permanent resident]] of the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA05/20191022/110143/HHRG-116-FA05-Wstate-ChatterjiA-20191022.pdf|title=Human Rights in South Asia: A Focus on Kashmir|date=October 22, 2019|last=Chatterji|first=Angana P.|publisher=Hearing on Human Rights in South Asia, October 22, 2019, House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee On Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation}}</ref> Her formal education comprises a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] and an [[Master of Arts|MA]] in [[Political Science]]. She also holds a [[Doctorate|PhD]] in the Humanities from [[California Institute of Integral Studies]] (CIIS), where she later taught [[anthropology]].<ref>https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=academiccatalogs, p. 165</ref> The topic of her dissertation (completed in 1999) was "The Politics of Sustainable Ecology: Initiatives, Conflicts, Alliances in Public Lands Access, Use and Reform in Orissa."<ref name="Chatterji thesis Politics of Sustainable Ecology">{{cite thesis |last1=Chatterji |first1=Angana P. |year=1999 |title=The Politics of Sustainable Ecology: Initiatives, Conflicts, Alliances in Public Lands Access, Use and Reform in Orissa |id={{ProQuest|304555492}} |oclc=1124774658 }}</ref>
==Career== From her graduation until 1997, Chatterji worked as director of research at the Asia Forest Network, an environmental advocacy group. During this period, she also worked with the [[Indian Institute of Public Administration]], the [[Indian Social Institute]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.anganachatterji.net/wp/biographical-sketch/|title=Biographical Sketch {{!}} Angana P. Chatterji|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-15}}</ref> and the [[Planning Commission (India)|Planning Commission of India]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.anganachatterji.net/wp/human-rights-reports/|title=Human Rights Reports and Briefs & Research Reports {{!}} Angana P. Chatterji|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-15|archive-date=31 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031185115/http://www.anganachatterji.net/wp/human-rights-reports/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Chatterji joined the teaching staff of the [[California Institute of Integral Studies|California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS)]] in 1997, and taught Social and Cultural Anthropology there. Her social and academic advocacy work was related to anthropology, as she was examining issues of class, gender, race, religion, and sexuality as formed by background (history) and place (geography).<ref name="bio">{{Cite web |title=Angana P. Chatterji |url=https://www.anganachatterji.net/wp/}}</ref> At CIIS, she worked with her colleague and partner, Richard Shapiro, to create a new academic center focused on postcolonial anthropology.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=914ZBwAAQBAJ So What? Now What? The Anthropology of Consciousness Responds to a World in Crisis], p.13 Matthew C. Bronson, Tina R. Fields, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009</ref>
Chatterji's publications include research monographs, reports and books.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=worldcat_org_all&q=angana+chatterji|title=Results for 'angana chatterji' [WorldCat.org]|website=www.worldcat.org}}</ref> In 1990, she co-published a report on immigrant women's rights in [[Delhi]]'s slums and resettlement colonies.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Women's status in the Delhi bastis: urbanisation, economic forces, and voluntary organisations : a report of a study of ten slums funded by Department of Women and Child Development, Government of India|date=7 August 1990|publisher=Indian Social Institute|oclc=23471372 }}</ref> In 1996, based on participatory research on indigenous and [[Dalit]] land rights issues and on caste inequities, she self-published a monograph ''Community Forest Management in Arabari: Understanding Socioeconomic and Subsistence Issues.'' In 2004, she co-edited with Lubna Nazir Chaudhury a special issue of ''[[Cultural Dynamics]],'' entitled "Gendered Violence in South Asia: Nation and Community in The Postcolonial Present"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chatterji |first1=Angana P. |title=The Biopolitics of Hindu Nationalism: Mournings |journal=Cultural Dynamics |date=October 2004 |volume=16 |issue=2–3 |pages=319–372 |doi=10.1177/0921374004047753 |s2cid=145785904 }}</ref> In 2005, she co-edited a book with [[Shabnam Hashmi]] entitled ''Dark Leaves of the Present'' which was non-scholarly and intended for the general public. In March 2009, after six and a half years of collaborative and theoretical research, she produced a study on Hindu nationalism entitled ''Violent Gods: Hindu Nationalism in India's Present; Narratives from Orissa,'' published by Three Essays Collective,<ref name="Violent Gods">{{cite book | last = Chatterji | first = Angana | title = Violent Gods: Hindu Nationalism in India's Present; Narratives from Orissa | url = https://archive.org/details/violentgodshindu00chat | url-access = registration | publisher = Three Essays Collective | location = Gurgaon | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-81-88789-45-0}}</ref> which received favourable reviews in popular periodicals,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://pd.cpim.org/2009/0517_pd/05172009_15.htm |title=Review in ''People's Democracy,'' May 17 |access-date=18 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619090349/http://pd.cpim./ |archive-date=19 June 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Review in ''[[The Hindu]]'' newspaper, 11 August. {{cite web|url=http://blogs.thehindu.com/delhi/?p%3D27714 |title=Hindutva movement in Orissa - TH-Delhi |accessdate=2009-11-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812174648/http://blogs.thehindu.com/delhi/?p=27714 |archivedate=12 August 2011}}</ref><ref>Review in ''Business Standard Review'' magazine, 28 June.</ref> and has been reviewed by ''[[American Ethnologist]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1548-1425.2010.01287_24.x | volume=37 | title=Violent Gods: Hindu Nationalism in India's Present; Narratives from Orissa by Angana P. Chatterjee | journal=American Ethnologist | pages=857–858 | last1 = Badami | first1 = Sumant| issue=4 | year=2010 | doi-access=free }}</ref>
She has co-contributed to an anthology with Tariq Ali, Arundhati Roy et al., ''[[Kashmir: The Case for Freedom]]'' (2011) and to ''South Asian Feminisms'' (2012), co-edited by Ania Loomba and Ritty A. Lukose.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dukeupress.edu/South-Asian-Feminisms/|title=Duke University Press - South Asian Feminisms|access-date=6 October 2013|archive-date=15 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215172340/https://www.dukeupress.edu/South-Asian-Feminisms/|url-status=dead}}</ref> She is co-editor of ''Contesting Nation: Gendered Violence in South Asia; Notes on the Postcolonial Present'' (2013) and is working on a forthcoming title: ''Land and Justice: The Struggle for Cultural Survival''.<ref name="AC_blog">[http://www.zmag.org/zspace/anganachatterji Angana Chatterji's Blog]</ref>
In 2002, Chatterji worked with the ''Campaign to Stop Funding Hate'' in the production of a report on the funding of [[Sangh Parivar]] service organizations in India by the Maryland-based [[India Development and Relief Fund]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://stopfundinghate.org/resources/news/121502MlliGazette.htm|title=CAMPAIGN TO STOP FUNDING HATE: PROJECT SAFFRON DOLLAR|website=stopfundinghate.org}}</ref>
In 2005, she helped form and worked with the [[Coalition Against Genocide]] in the United States to raise public awareness and protest the visit of Gujarat Chief Minister [[Narendra Modi]] to the U.S. as an honored guest.<ref>[http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2208/stories/20050422000704700.htm Modi and his visa]</ref>
In 2005, she co-convened a People's Tribunal to record testimonials on the experiences and concerns of different strata of people on the rise of the Hindu nationalist [[Sangh Parivar]] in Orissa. In this, Chatterji worked with [[Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights]], with [[Mihir Desai]], Retired Chief Justice [[K.K. Usha]] of Kerala, [[Sudhir Pattnaik]], [[Ram Puniyani]], [[Colin Gonsalves]] and others. As the People's Tribunal on Communalism in Orissa was ongoing in June 2005, Sangh members disrupted the Tribunal's proceedings, threatening to rape and parade the women members of the Tribunal.<ref>Das, Prafulla. 2005. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060918071527/http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/15/stories/2005061506381200.htm Sangh Parivar activists disrupt tribunal hearing]. The Hindu, 15 June.</ref><ref>Human Rights Watch. 2005. [https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2005/07/12/does-rss-have-any-moral-standards Does RSS have any moral standards?]. 12 July.</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/s-f-professor-fears-hindu-retaliation-2660792.php | work=The San Francisco Chronicle | title=S.F. professor fears Hindu retaliation / Militants threaten rape over investigations of caste tension, she says | first1=Mark | last1=Williams | first2=Jehangir | last2=Pocha | date=23 June 2005}}</ref><ref>World Prout Assembly. 2005. [http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2006/06/sangh_parivar_d.html Sangh Parivar Derails Tribunal on Communalism in Orissa] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20110717123747/http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2006/06/sangh_parivar_d.html |date=17 July 2011 }}.</ref> The Tribunal released a detailed report in October 2006, warning of future violence.<ref>Chatterji, Angana and Mihir Desai. 2006. [http://iptindia.org/pdf/orissa.pdf http://iptindia.org/pdf/orissa.pdf Communalism in Orissa] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229172822/http://iptindia.org/pdf/orissa.pdf |date=29 December 2009 }}: Report of the Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights. Mumbai: Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights.</ref>
After the [[Religious violence in Orissa#December 2007|outbreak of violence]] between the Hindu and Christian groups in December 2007, Chatterji testified to the Panigrahi Commission against the Sangh Parivar groups, and warned of further violence. She wrote articles criticizing the Hindutva groups, when fresh religious violence broke out in Orissa after the [[murder of Swami Lakshmanananda]] in August 2008.<ref>[http://www.tehelka.com/story_main40.asp?filename=Ne130908HindutvasViolentHistory.asp Hindutva's Violent History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100521040413/http://tehelka.com/story_main40.asp?filename=Ne130908HindutvasViolentHistory.asp |date=21 May 2010 }}. Tehelka, 5 September 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/its-still-religion-stupid/369086/ Opinion Piece on Orissa Violence]. Indian Express, 4 October. 2008.</ref>
Chatterji was lead author of a 2009 report titled ''Buried Evidence: Unknown, Unmarked, and Mass Graves in Indian-administered Kashmir'', detailing 2,700 unknown, unmarked, and mass graves across three districts and 55 villages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.anganachatterji.net/wp/human-rights-reports/|title=Human Rights Reports and Briefs & Research Reports | Angana P. Chatterji|access-date=6 October 2013|archive-date=31 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031185115/http://www.anganachatterji.net/wp/human-rights-reports/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kashmirprocess.org/reports/graves/|title=BURIED EVIDENCE: Unknown, Unmarked, and Mass Graves in Indian-Administered Kashmir|website=www.kashmirprocess.org}}</ref> The findings of the report would be verified by the united nation Human Rights Commission in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/09/22/what-lies-beneath-2/|title=What Lies Beneath|first=Basharat|last=Peer}}</ref>
On 30 August 2010, Chatterji was announced as a member of advisory board of the Kashmir Initiative at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy of [[Harvard Kennedy School]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hks.harvard.edu/cchrp/sbhrap/projects/kashmir/CarrCenterAdvisoryBoardAnnoucement_Final.pdf|title=Carr Center Advisory Board announcement|access-date=11 November 2010|archive-date=26 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126001019/http://www.hks.harvard.edu/cchrp/sbhrap/projects/kashmir/CarrCenterAdvisoryBoardAnnoucement_Final.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In October 2019, Chatterji testified before the U.S. Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs on human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://foreignaffairs.house.gov//hearings?ContentRecord_id=D48A8DE1-F0AA-4A66-98F5-CCCB7DA17EC1|title=Human Rights in South Asia: Views from the State Department and the Region|date=22 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUIL84NA2pU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/iUIL84NA2pU |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|title=Dr. Angana Chatterji's Testimony on Kashmir, 10/22/19|date=28 October 2019 |via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
In November 2010, Chatterji's husband, Richard Shapiro, was denied entry to India by immigration authorities at the Delhi airport,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scholars at Risk Network |url=http://scholarsatrisk.nyu.edu/Events-News/Article-Detail.php?art_uid=2454 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807004638/http://scholarsatrisk.nyu.edu/Events-News/Article-Detail.php?art_uid=2454 |archive-date=7 August 2011 |access-date=22 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=US professor deported for political activism in Valley - Indian Express |url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/us-professor-deported-for--political-activism--in-valley/706855/ |website=archive.indianexpress.com}}</ref> and was forced to return to the United States. Though no official reason was given to Shapiro for the denial of entry,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Protests outside Indian consulate in San Francisco |url=https://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-protests-outside-indian-consulate-in-san-francisco/20101110.htm |website=Rediff}}</ref> many suspect that he had been denied due to Chatterji's work on human rights issues in Kashmir.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sacw.net/article1707.html|title=Letter from US Academics Re. Richard Shapiro's Denial of Entry to India - South Asia Citizens Web|website=sacw.net}}</ref>
Chatterji and Shapiro were suspended in July 2011 and dismissed in December 2011 after 14 and 25 years of service respectively, after the CIIS received student complaints against them. The CIIS Faculty Hearing Board found them guilty of failure to perform academic duties and violation of professional ethics.<ref name="indiawest2011">{{cite news |author=Richard Springer |date=14 December 2011 |title=CIIS Fires Two Professors after Student Complaints |publisher=India-West |url=http://www.indiawest.com/news/1981-ciis-fires-two-professors-after-student-complaints.html |url-status=dead |accessdate=2012-01-05 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108004549/http://www.indiawest.com/news/1981-ciis-fires-two-professors-after-student-complaints.html |archivedate=8 January 2012}}</ref> The ''Chronicle of Higher Education'' reported that Chatterji (along with Shapiro) had been fired for having “breached student confidence, falsified grades, misapplied funds, and otherwise engaged inunprofessional conduct, generally to ensure the loyalty and obedience of those they taught and advised.”<ref name="che">{{cite news |author=Peter Schmidt |date=22 January 2012 |title=Questions of Undue Influence Unseat 2 Professors |publisher=Chronicle of Higher Education |url=http://chronicle.com/article/Questions-of-Undue-Influence/130407/ |accessdate=2012-02-20}}</ref> However, according to ''India Abroad,'' 39 Anthropology students from a Department of 50 retained legal counsel to take action against CIIS.<ref>[http://www.indiaabroad-digital.com/indiaabroad/20120106?pg=9#pg9] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610224157/http://www.indiaabroad-digital.com/indiaabroad/20120106?pg=9#pg9|date=10 June 2015}}</ref> The ''Chronicle of Higher Education'' also reported allegations by a student, who had been supportive of Shapiro and Chatterji, of being pressured to say negative things about the two professors."<ref name="che" /> All accusations against Chatterji and Shapiro were dropped by CIIS in early 2013 as part of an arbitration agreement, with the school paying toward their legal fees.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.anganachatterji.net/wp/memo/ | title=Memo | Angana P. Chatterji }}</ref>
== Recent publications ==
In October 2011, [[Verso Books]] published the book ''Kashmir: The Case for Freedom'', of which Chatterji is a contributing author.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.versobooks.com/books/1015-kashmir|title=Verso|website=www.versobooks.com|date=October 2011 |publisher=Verso Books }}</ref>
She is co-editor of ''Contesting Nation: Gendered Violence in South Asia; Notes on the Postcolonial Present'' ([[Zubaan Books]]), released in April 2013.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/C/bo17290142.html|title = Contesting Nation| publisher=Seagull Books }}</ref>
In 2012, she and Shashi Buluswar co-founded the Armed Conflict Resolution and People's Rights Project, housed at the University of California, Berkeley.<ref name="Project Website">{{Cite web|url=http://crg.berkeley.edu/content/politicalconflict|title=Project Website|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160210104157/http://crg.berkeley.edu/content/politicalconflict|archive-date=10 February 2016|access-date=13 February 2016}}</ref> The Project co-authored its first research report in 2015, "Access to Justice for Women: India’s Response to Sexual Violence in Conflict and Mass Social Unrest" with the Human Rights Law Clinic at Boalt Law School.<ref name="crg.berkeley.edu">{{Cite web|url=http://crg.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/AccesstoJustice.pdf|title="Access to Justice for Women" Report|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217023759/http://crg.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/AccesstoJustice.pdf|archive-date=17 February 2016|access-date=13 February 2016}}</ref> In the same year, it also published a monograph, ''Conflicted Democracies and Gendered Violence: The Right to Heal''.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|url=http://crg.berkeley.edu/content/politicalconflict-publications|title=Project Website|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217060222/http://crg.berkeley.edu/content/politicalconflict-publications|archive-date=17 February 2016|access-date=13 February 2016}}</ref> The monograph included a statement by former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [[Navi Pillay]] and a foreword by [[Veena Das]].
Chatterji co-edited, with Thomas Blom Hansen and Christophe Jaffrelot, the 2019 book ''Majoritarian State: How Hindu Nationalism is Changing India'', in which contributors discussed how Hindu nationalism has influenced Indian government bodies and social sectors since 2014.<ref name=majoritarian_state>{{cite book|title=Majoritarian State: How Hindu Nationalism is Changing India |editor-last1=Chatterji|editor-first1=Angana P.|editor-last2=Hansen|editor-first2=Thomas Blom |editor-last3=Jaffrelot|editor-first3=Christophe|isbn=978-178738-147-6|year=2019|publisher=Hurst|location=London}}</ref>
In September 2021, Chatterji authored ''BREAKING WORLDS: Religion, Law and Citizenship in Majoritarian India The Story of Assam'' in collaboration with Mihir Desai, Harsh Mander, and Abdul Kalam Azad, on the "weaponization" of citizenship laws and policies to erode or remove the citizenship rights of certain minorities, especially those of Bengali Muslims.<ref name=breaking_worlds>{{cite book|title=BREAKING WORLDS: Religion, Law and Citizenship in Majoritarian India, The Story of Assam |author-last1=Chatterji|author-first1=Angana P.|year=2021|publisher=Center for Race and Gender, UC Berkeley|location=Berkeley |doi=10.25350/B5F59Q |isbn=9780578978369 | url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6w56781n}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://kashmirprocess.org International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir] * [https://www.crg.berkeley.edu/angana-chatterji/ Chatterji's profile at UC Berkeley]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatterji, Angana P.}} [[Category:1966 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Writers about the Kashmir conflict]] [[Category:Indian human rights activists]] [[Category:Indian women human rights activists]] [[Category:Writers from Kolkata]] [[Category:2002 Gujarat riots]] [[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]] [[Category:21st-century Indian writers]] [[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]] [[Category:20th-century Indian writers]] [[Category:Indian political writers]] [[Category:Indian women political writers]] [[Category:20th-century Indian historians]] [[Category:21st-century Indian historians]] [[Category:Indian women historians]] [[Category:Women writers from West Bengal]] [[Category:Activists from West Bengal]] [[Category:Women educators from West Bengal]] [[Category:Educators from West Bengal]]