Transcript of podcast with Professor Gurminder Bhambra
Interviewer (David Lees; DL): I am here with Professor Gurminder Bhambra, who is
Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick and Director of the Social Theory
Centre. Gurminder is the academic lead for the Postcolonial sub-theme of the Connecting
Cultures GRP. We are really here to talk about the progress so far for this sub-theme. So
Gurminder, what do you see as the overall vision of the Postcolonial sub-theme?
Gurminder Bhambra (GB): Well I think the idea was really that there are so many people at
Warwick across the Humanities and Social Sciences that work in some way on
postcolonialism that it might be really great to bring them together in some forum to talk
about future research projects that might be possible if we actually talk to each other across
disciplinary boundaries.
DL: That sounds fantastic; a very clear vision for the sub-theme. I just wondered whether
you had recently organised any events to get together people who are interested in
postcolonial studies in some form across the University?
GB: We had a meeting last week which was an open meeting, to begin to talk about the
things we might do within the sub-theme. A number of people came along to the meeting, a
lot of people couldn’t and sent apologies, but it seemed to spark a lot of interest from across
the University. There were people from History, History of Art, English, Sociology, Politics.
People expressed from Economics and Law, so there’s quite a lot of interest across all the
disciplines I think within the Arts and Social Sciences at Warwick. Some of the things we
talked about were the possibility of setting up a film club on campus to bring together people
who might be interested in watching films with a postcolonial angle, and then having a
discussion afterwards. We also talked about a reading group, small-scale activities to
provide a forum for people to be able to get together.
DL: They all sound like very good initiatives. Do you have anything more substantial planned
for the future?
GB: One idea we had was the possibility of organising a big conference to coincide with the
anniversary year for Warwick in 2015. The idea was basically that in a way postcolonial
studies has had a long history at Warwick, mostly within English and Comparative Literature.
Benita Parry was here for a very long time; Neil Lazarus is still here and there a lot of people
who are internationally known within the field of postcolonial studies. So we thought we
would build on that legacy but then also bring in newer people who are working in these
areas but across different disciplines as I was mentioning. So the idea is to organise a big
international conference in 2015. We are in the process of deciding what the theme will be,
what the sub-panels will be and it’s all very exciting at the moment.
DL: What do you think it is about postcolonial studies in general, and especially across the
University, that makes it so special? What is it about this subject?
GB: I think that, especially at Warwick, there is a strong critical edge to it. So not everyone
involved likes the term ‘postcolonial’ for a start. But it’s not just because of the term but it is
because of a political engagement with ideals: whether colonialism is still existing, how we
should think about colonial relations in the past and in the present and so on. So there’s a
really strong critical element to people who are working in this area and I think that this has
really sharpened as a consequence of the interdisciplinary nature of the people who are here
because in most places postcolonialism is only a feature of English or the Humanities
broadly. At Warwick, there’s a strong Social Science interest in postcolonialism and so the
Social Sciences and Humanities mix, which makes for something quite distinctive and
unique within UK academia.
DL: So thinking about your own research, how does postcolonialism fit into your research?
GB: My work has been strongly within the discipline of Sociology and historical Sociology
particularly. But what I’ve always been interested in is the way in which postcolonial theory
and postcolonial perspectives can be used to interrogate the discipline of Sociology itself. So
I’ve used postcolonialism in a way to open up new questions within Sociology, to think about
how Sociology itself might be able to take up the challenge that’s put forward by postcolonial
theorists. But conversely, I’ve also tried to bring Sociology to bear in postcolonial theory as
well, so it’s not just the theories of representation or non-representation, but it’s grounded in
the material reality of people’s lives and what difference that might make.
DL: That sounds genuinely fascinating. So you’re the lead of this postcolonial sub-theme.
Firstly, how did you get involved in this sub-theme and secondly what would your message
be to those people hoping to get involved in this sub-theme in the future?
GB: I just went along to the initial meetings, because the University has been organising
these research areas for a while now and I went to a meeting that Loredana [Polezzi;
academic lead of the Connecting Cultures GRP] had organised, and so on. It was out of
conversations really, and I realised that for a long time—I’ve been here for about seven
years now—that there are a lot of people, and I’ve met people individually across the
University, working in these areas, but there has never been a forum to really bring people
together and to have sustained conversations about this. I thought that this would be a great
opportunity to get people together and to try to do something different at Warwick.
DL: Fantastic, and your message for people who did want to get involved? What would your
message be to people?
GB: Well get involved! Get in touch with me. We are very much open; the idea of a
conference is only just beginning, so there’s lots of opportunity to get involved and to help to
shape it. I’d really welcome anybody to get in touch with me about it.
DL: Thank you very much.
To contact Gurminder about getting involved with the Postcolonial sub-theme of the
Connecting Cultures GRP, please email Gurminder at g.k.bhambra@warwick.ac.uk