Priyamvada Gopal

Priyamvada Gopal (born 1968)[1] is a Professor in the Faculty of English at the University of Cambridge, where she is a Fellow of Churchill College. Her main teaching and research interests are in colonial and postcolonial literature and theory, gender and feminism, Marxism, and critical race studies.[2] She has written three books and regularly contributes to several newspapers and publications, including The Guardian, The Hindu, The Independent, New Statesman, Open Democracy, Outlook India, India Today, Open, HuffPost, New Humanist, Al Jazeera, The Nation, and The Times Literary Supplement.

Priyamvada Gopal
Born (1968-08-28) 28 August 1968
TitleProfessor in Anglophone and Related Literature
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Delhi
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Cornell University
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Cambridge
Churchill College

Early life

Gopal was born in Delhi, India. The daughter of an Indian diplomat, she spent her childhood in India, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan, and attended an international high school in Vienna, where her father served as a diplomat in the mid-1980s.[3][4]

Education and career

Gopal received a BA from the University of Delhi in 1989 and an MA from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1991. After finishing her studies in India, she moved to the United States, where she taught at different institutions and completed her PhD in colonial and postcolonial literature at Cornell University in 2000.[5]

She moved to the University of Cambridge in 2001, where she is a Reader in Anglophone and Related Literature and a Teaching Fellow at Churchill College; in June 2020, the press reported her promotion to Professor (effective from 1 October 2020).[6] She supervises and teaches in the areas of literary criticism, modern tragedy, 19th-century and modern British literature, and postcolonial and related literatures. Her primary interests are in colonial and postcolonial literatures, with related interests in British and American literatures, the novel, translation, gender and feminism, Marxism and critical theory, and the politics and cultures of empire and globalisation. From 2006 to 2010, she was Dean of Churchill College.[2][5]

Commentary and analysis

As a literary critic, Gopal explores a range of issues and ideas, with a focus on race, empire, and decolonisation.

Empire

Gopal has written extensively about the impact of empire on contemporary culture in Britain and South Asia and examined how colonial systems continue to reproduce and remap themselves in parts of the world today.

In her book Insurgent Empire, Gopal examines traditions of dissent on the question of empire and shows how rebellions and resistance in the colonies influenced British critics of empire. She argues that ideas of freedom, justice, and common humanity had themselves taken shape in the struggle against imperialism.

Gopal has also written about Britain's imperial amnesia and has called for a more honest account of how the country came to be what it is today.[7] She argues that developing a more demanding relationship to history is essential for moving beyond institutionalised amnesia about the past.

Decolonisation

She has been a long-standing advocate for the 'decolonisation' of Cambridge's English curriculum. In October 2017, a group of Cambridge students had called for the university to include more black and ethnic minority writers in its English literature curriculum, an initiative strongly supported by Gopal. She argues that decolonisation, in the context of the curriculum, is about having access to information and narratives, which reframe our understanding of how to relate to other peoples, other countries and different cultures.

Race

Gopal has written and commented extensively on the subject of race and how it operates in contemporary society. She argues that whiteness is primarily a cultural category, not a biological one, and is useful for explaining how western societies work in terms of how society is structured, and how such structures determine power relations between dominant and non-dominant groups.[8][9]

In the context of racial discrimination in the United Kingdom, Gopal has discussed white fragility, suggesting that a "way of deflecting engagement with race is to personalise matters".[10] In October 2019, Gopal criticised the Equality and Human Rights Commission report "Tackling racial harassment: Universities challenged" for the language it used and for not addressing the systemic disadvantages faced by black and minority ethnic students or the ways whiteness dominates power structures and pedagogy.[11][12]

Public controversies

BBC Radio 4: Start the Week

In 2006, Gopal took part in a debate on BBC Radio 4's Start the Week.[13] There, she found herself in opposition to the historian Niall Ferguson, who argued that the British Empire was, by and large, a benevolent and virtuous enterprise. Gopal challenged Ferguson's account of Britain's imperial project, questioning his assertions about the greatness of empire.[14]

The programme became a matter of controversy. That evening, the BBC invited another Indian woman onto their programme, who said that not all young Indians thought in the way that Gopal did. Gopal later accused the BBC of pushing an agenda and playing off "natives" against each other.[15]

Gopal said that it was this experience that galvanized her to write and think more publicly about empire.[16]

King's College racial profiling row

In June 2018, Gopal alleged racial profiling by college porters at the gate of King's College, Cambridge. Gopal said that she was subjected to racial profiling and aggression by the porters and gatekeepers of King's and claimed porters frequently hassled non-white staff and students at the gates.[17][18] Gopal also announced that she would no longer teach at King's until there was a resolution to the long-standing problem.[19][20]

As a result of the attention the issue received, students of Cambridge University came forward describing similar experiences. Students of English at King's also issued an open letter in support of Dr Gopal, urging the college to offer her a "proper apology": "The many testimonies from black and minority ethnic students that have come in the wake of Dr Gopal's statement make apparent that her treatment is not unique or isolated. We strongly condemn the actions of the college and fully support Dr Gopal in her decision to boycott it."[21] Gopal said that she received hate mail following her announcement.[22]

In October 2018, King's College, Cambridge, issued a statement accepting that there had been several reports of discrimination and racial profiling.[23] Gopal said that senior members of the college had also conveyed their private apologies and assured her that the problem was being taken seriously. Shortly afterward, Gopal rescinded her decision to withdraw her labour from the college.

"White lives don't matter. As white lives" tweet

On 23 June 2020, Gopal tweeted "White lives don't matter. As white lives" and "Abolish whiteness", in response to a banner flown over a Premier League football stadium that read "White lives matter Burnley". She received abusive messages, including death threats, following her tweet.[24][25] Gopal told the media that her comments were opposing the concept of whiteness – the presumption of white superiority – and challenging the racial basis for lives mattering, adding that it wasn't whiteness that gave lives their dignity, nor should it be the criteria for lives mattering.[26] Gopal was briefly suspended from Twitter under its 'hateful content policy' after sharing some of the messages of the hateful abuse she received following her tweet. The ban was lifted after other users got in touch with Twitter to explain that she was the target of a sustained campaign to have her suspended.[27] Professor Gopal stood by her tweets asserting that her comments were "very clearly speaking to a structure and ideology, not about people".[27]

The following day, the University of Cambridge tweeted a blanket defence of its academics' right to free speech, without explicitly referencing her case. A statement released by the university read: "The University defends the right of its academics to express their own lawful opinions which others might find controversial and deplores in the strongest terms abuse and personal attacks. These attacks are totally unacceptable and must cease".[28]

Bibliography
  • Literary Radicalism in India: Gender, Nation and the Transition to Independence (Routledge, 2005)[29]
  • The Indian English Novel: Nation, History and Narration (Oxford University Press, 2009)[30]
  • Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent (Verso, 2019)[31]

Selected journalism
  • 'We can't talk about racism without understanding whiteness', The Guardian, 4 July 2020[9]
  • 'Another rightwing strongman has won – but there is hope for a different future', The Guardian, 17 December 2019[32]
  • 'If we can't call racism by its name, diversity will remain a meaningless buzzword', The Guardian, 8 October 2019[33]
  • 'Britain's story of empire is based on myth. We need to know the truth', The Guardian, 6 July 2019[34]
  • 'To accept an OBE is to condone the brutality of empire', The Guardian, 8 January 2019[35]
  • 'Response to Mary Beard', Medium, 18 February 2018[36]
  • 'Yes, we must decolonise: our teaching has to go beyond elite white men', The Guardian, 27 October 2017[37]
  • 'On ‘Love’ and Sex in Academia and Beyond', Wildcat Dispatches, 25 October 2017[38]
  • 'Reducing rape to a generic Indian male mindset fails its victims', The Guardian, 4 March 2015[39]
  • 'Much of Britain's wealth is built on slavery. So why shouldn't it pay reparations?', New Statesman, 23 April 2014[40]
  • 'Humanism for a globalised world', New Humanist, 2 December 2013[41]
  • 'The story peddled by imperial apologists is a poisonous fairytale', The Guardian, 28 June 2006[42]

References
  1. Gopal, Priyamvada 1968-, WorldCat, retrieved 25 June 2020
  2. "Dr Priyamvada Gopal, Churchill" (staff profile). Faculty of English, University of Cambridge. n.d. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  3. Manral, Kiran (7 November 2019). "Xenophobia Is Not Exclusively A Western Practice: Dr Priyamvada Gopal". SheThePeople.
  4. Ross, Elliot (5 February 2020). "First rule of fight club: power concedes nothing without a struggle". The Correspondent.
  5. "Dr Priya Gopal" (staff profile). Churchill College, Cambridge. n.d. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  6. Huskisson, Sophie; Batley, Amy (25 June 2020). "Priyamvada Gopal promoted to Professorship, as online abuse continues". Varsity. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  7. Gopal, Priyamvada (31 July 2012). "Mau Mau verdict: Britain must undo its imperial amnesia". The Guardian.
  8. Podcast, Why do we need to talk about whiteness (2019). "The enduring whiteness of Empire - with Dr Priyamvada Gopal". Why do we need to talk about whiteness.
  9. Gopal, Priyamvada (4 July 2020). "We can't talk about racism without understanding whiteness". The Guardian.
  10. "If we can't call racism by its name, diversity will remain a meaningless buzzword". The Guardian. 8 October 2019.
  11. Gopal, Priyamvada; Rollock, Nicola (24 October 2019). "'Monolithically white places': academics on racism in universities". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  12. "Tackling racial harassment: universities challenged | Equality and Human Rights Commission". www.equalityhumanrights.com. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  13. BBC Radio 4, Start the Week (12 June 2006). "Start the Week: The Legacy of Empire". BBC Radio 4.
  14. BBC Radio 4, Start the Week (12 June 2006). "Start the Week: The Legacy of Empire - Archived Programme". BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 14 June 2006.
  15. Gopal, Priyamvada (13 June 2006). "Open Letter to Andrew Marr, Presenter, Start the Week on Radio 4, the BBC". Lenin's Tomb.
  16. Gopal, Priyamvada (14 June 2019). Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent - Excerpt. Verso. p. 624. ISBN 9781784784126.
  17. "King's College racism row: Students support academic". BBC News. 21 October 2018.
  18. Ferguson, Donna (23 June 2018). "I want to see Cambridge University breaking the silence on race". The Guardian.
  19. Oppenheim, Maya (20 June 2018). "Cambridge academic says she will not work for university after accusing porters of racist abuse". The Independent.
  20. Troup Buchanan, Rose (20 June 2018). "This Top Academic Is Refusing To Supervise Students At A Cambridge College, Citing Repeated Racial Profiling". BuzzFeed News.
  21. "King's College English Undergraduate Students Statement of Solidarity with Dr. Priyamvada Gopal". docs.google.com.
  22. Mirsky, Hannah (21 October 2018). "Meet Priyamvada Gopal - the academic fighting racism at Cambridge University". Cambridge News.
  23. Proctor, Michael (16 October 2018). "Statement about entry through main Gates of King's College". www.kings.cam.ac.uk.
  24. Turner, Ben (25 June 2020). "Death threats sent to Cambridge University professor after 'white lives don't matter' tweet". Cambridgeshire Live.
  25. "'White lives don't matter' Cambridge academic has post 'deleted by Twitter'". uk.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  26. Rawlinson, Kevin (25 June 2020). "'Abolish whiteness' academic calls for Cambridge support". The Guardian.
  27. Huskisson, Sophie (25 June 2020). "Priyamvada Gopal promoted to Professorship, as online abuse continues". Varsity.
  28. Gamp, Joe (25 June 2020). "Cambridge University defends professor who tweeted 'abolish whiteness'". Yahoo! News.
  29. Gopal, Priyamvada (9 March 2005). Literary Radicalism in India: Gender, Nation and the Transition to Independence. Routledge. p. 192. ISBN 9780415655453.
  30. Gopal, Priyamvada (29 January 2009). The Indian English Novel: Nation, History and Narration. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 232. ISBN 9780199544370.
  31. Gopal, Priyamvada (14 June 2019). Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent. Verso. p. 624. ISBN 9781784784126.
  32. Gopal, Priyamvada (17 December 2019). "Another rightwing strongman has won – but there is hope for a different future | Priyamvada Gopal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  33. Gopal, Priyamvada (8 October 2018). "If we can't call racism by its name, diversity will remain a meaningless buzzword". The Guardian.
  34. Gopal, Priyamvada (6 July 2019). "Britain's story of empire is based on myth. We need to know the truth". The Guardian.
  35. Gopal, Priyamvada (8 January 2019). "To accept an OBE is to condone the brutality of empire". The Guardian.
  36. Gopal, Priyamvada (18 February 2018). "Response to Mary Beard". Medium.
  37. Gopal, Priyamvada (27 October 2017). "Yes, we must decolonise: our teaching has to go beyond elite white men". The Guardian.
  38. Gopal, Priyamvada (25 October 2017). "On 'Love' and Sex in Academia and Beyond, Wildcat Dispatches". Wildcat Dispatches.
  39. Gopal, Priyamvada (4 March 2015). "Reducing rape to a generic Indian male mindset fails its victims". The Guardian.
  40. Gopal, Priyamvada (23 April 2014). "Much of Britain's wealth is built on slavery. So why shouldn't it pay reparations?". New Statesman.
  41. Gopal, Priyamvada (2 December 2013). "Humanism for a globalised world". New Humanist.
  42. Gopal, Priyamvada (28 June 2006). "The story peddled by imperial apologists is a poisonous fairytale". The Guardian.


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