In this episode, Sahar Aziz is in dicussion with Dr. Audrey Truschke and Dr. Dheepa Sundaram about the new groundbreaking report published by CSRR entitled Hindutva in America: A Threat to Equality and Religious Pluralism, which is available for download at csrr.rutgers.edu

Audrey Truschke is a Professor of History and Director of Asian Studies at Rutgers University-Newark. She is the author of numerous books about India published by Columbia University Press, Stanford University Press and Princeton University Press. She just released her fourth book with entitled India: 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent.

Dheepa Sundaram who is an assistant professor at Denver University where she teaches courses in Hindu studies, critical theory, and digital religion. Professor Sundaram is a cultural theorist whose research examines the formation of South Asian digital religious publics. Her current book project is entitled “Globalizing Darsan: Virtual Steriology and the Making of a Hindu ‘Brand’” and has written articles critically examining Hindutva’s influence on both India and the United States’ stated commitments to equality and pluralism.

The two experts explain the difference between the global religion of Hinduism and the right wing ethnonationalist ideology of Hindutva.

In India, Hindu nationalists advocate a strict form of ethnonationalism that reimagines the secular Indian republic as an exclusively Hindu nation and seeks to relegate religious minorities–especially Muslims–to an inferior status. Hindu nationalism is distinct from Hinduism, notwithstanding Hindutva proponents’ erroneous claims of representing all Hindus. In the United States, Hindutva proponents seek to silence the voices of Indian Americans and others who disagree with their ideology, promote harmful policies favorable to India’s Hindu nationalist political parties, and control knowledge about South Asia’s diverse, multireligious history.

Listen to the conversation about this transnational political movement that is threatening the civil rights of Muslim, Sikh, Christian communities of South Asian origin in the United States.

#Hindutva #Islamophobia #Populism #India #Equality #

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In this episode, Professors Nathan J. Brown and Shibley Telhami, leading experts on the region and U.S. foreign policy toward Israel, offer a thoughtful examination of the current situation in Israel-Palestine. Our guests provide nuanced analysis of how decades of unsuccessful peace negotiations have transformed the political landscape.

The conversation explores the increasingly apparent "one state reality" that exists across territories under Israeli control, challenging traditional diplomatic frameworks that have long focused on a two-state solution. Dr. Brown and Professor Telhami discuss how this reality necessitates reconsidering fundamental concepts of statehood, sovereignty, and national identity that have shaped discourse around the conflict.

Our guests provide historical context that helps listeners understand contemporary debates, including controversial questions about the nature of the political system. The discussion offers fresh perspectives on how we might better understand the complex power dynamics and lived experiences of those in the region.

This episode presents a valuable opportunity to move beyond conventional political narratives and engage with the challenging realities facing Israelis and Palestinians today, informed by scholarly expertise rather than partisan positioning. The conversation is based on the book One State Reality: What is Palestine Israel published by Cornell University Press.

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In this episode, regional experts of the Middle East share their knowledge about Syria's healthcare system and how it has been affected by years of conflict.

Based on research from the book "Everybody's War: Politics of Aid in the Syria Crisis," (published by Oxford University Press), our guests provide thoughtful analysis of several important issues:

• The connection between healthcare provision and questions of state legitimacy
• How Syria's once-unified healthcare system became fragmented during the war
• The complex dynamics of delivering humanitarian aid in a polarized conflict environment

The discussion examines the practical and ethical challenges facing healthcare workers and aid organizations operating in contexts where corruption and restricted access are common. The experts provide an informative overview for listeners interested in understanding the intersection of healthcare delivery, conflict, and humanitarian response in complex emergency settings.

This episode offers valuable insights into how humanitarian assistance functions within the broader political and economic realities of the Syrian crisis.

Omar Dewachi is associate professor at Rutgers University whose work is at the intersections of global health, history of medicine and political anthropology. His scholarship focuses on the human and environmental manifestations of decades of conflict and military interventions in Iraq and the broader Middle East.

Duncan McLean is a senior researcher for Doctors Without Borders . He has published widely on the humanitarian sector and has contributed chapters to book publications Saving Lives and Staying Alive, The Politics of Fear, and Everybody’s War. Dr. Mclean holds a PhD in history and has lectured at several universities in the Czech Republic, France and the UK, focusing on epidemiological and colonial history.

Aula Abbara is a consultant in Infectious Diseases/ General Internal Medicine at Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, London and an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial College. She teaches and supervises students on the Global Health BSc course at Imperial College and the TMIH at LSHTM.

#Syria #Healthcare #HumanitarianCrisis #MiddleEast #ForeignAid

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