As part of the Student Success Project’s Inspirational Speaker series, Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Politics at the University of Wolverhampton, Meena Dhanda, gave a talk on Wednesday 6 March entitled ‘Caste consciousness: the necessity of internal critique’.

In her talk, Professor Dhanda shared the problems encountered in morally and politically confronting caste consciousness. Fear of ’emergent vulnerabilities’ closes discussion, but attention to internal critiques of inherited ways of life opens the path for truly decolonised ways of thinking. This talk was followed by a meal out with Meena.

Dr Laura Bailey, Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics and SECL Student Success Lecturer, said: “In a fascinating talk and a lively discussion over the course of the evening, Professor Dhanda gave us the benefit of her considerable expertise on the issues raised by campaigns to make caste discrimination illegal in the UK, like discrimination based on ethnicity or gender. Along the way, we also learnt the term ’emergent vulnerability’, which is a tactic of claiming victimhood in a way that is parasitic on real victims (at dinner afterwards, for instance, we drew parallels with the #MeToo movement and the way that certain men were portrayed as victims for losing their careers).”