Ranajit GuhaFAHA (23 May 1923 – 28 April 2023) emerged as a prominent Indian historian and a seminal figure among the early architects of the Subaltern Studies collective. This methodological approach within South Asian Studies is dedicated to the examination of post-colonial and post-imperial societies, emphasizing an analysis from the vantage point of marginalized social strata.[1][2] Guha assumed the editorial mantle for numerous foundational anthologies of the group, contributing as an editor prolifically in both English and Bengali.[3]
In 1959, Guha embarked on a migration to the United Kingdom, securing a fellowship at the University of Manchester to complete his doctoral thesis.[6] In 1962, he assumed the position of a Reader in history at the University of Sussex.[7] Noteworthy is his departure from Sussex in 1981, when he accepted a position at the Australian National University, where he concluded his distinguished career, retiring in 1988.[6] He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1996.[8]
Research
Subaltern Studies Group
Commencing in the 1980s, Guha played a pivotal role in pioneering an alternative approach to the study of South Asia and the Indian subcontinent. His discernment of the inadequacies within the prevailing historical studies of that era prompted a departure from the predominantly elitist methodology then prevalent. This departure served to mitigate elitist biases within the domain of South Asian Studies. The resultant methodological paradigm, which gained prominence in the 1980s, came to be recognized as Subaltern Studies or the Subaltern Study Group. This paradigm is acknowledged as a significant strand within post-colonial and post-Marxist historiography.[9]
Guha's seminal work, Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India, is widely acclaimed as a classic in its field.[10][9] Moreover, his inaugural statement in the initial volume of Subaltern Studies delineated the group's agenda, specifically defining the "subaltern" as the "demographic difference between the total Indian population and all those whom we have described as the 'elite'."[11] The term "subaltern" was strategically borrowed from Antonio Gramsci, the Italian Marxist philosopher, to underscore the significance of elevating the voices of the marginalized classes.[9] This analytical lens, hitherto absent from mainstream studies, prompted the group to scrutinize the dynamics of class, gender, and caste-based subordination in shaping the historical narrative of the region.[12]
Residing in Purkersdorf, Austria, situated on the periphery of the Vienna Woods, Ranajit Guha shared his abode with Mechthild Guha (née Jungwirth), a German-born scholar distinguished in the field of subaltern studies. The couple first encountered each other at the University of Sussex in the early 1960s, a period during which Guha attained prominence, subsequently relocating to the Australian National University, where their scholarly endeavors persisted.[13]
Guha died at home on 28 April 2023 at the age of 99.[14][15]
Select bibliography
Author
A rule of property for Bengal: an essay on the idea of permanent settlement, Paris [etc.]: Mouton & Co., 1963; new edition, Duke University Press, ISBN0-8223-1761-3
Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1983; new edition, Duke University Press, 1999, ISBN0-8223-2348-6 – a classic of Subaltern Studies
Sathyamurthy, T. V. (1990). "Indian peasant historiography: A critical perspective on Ranajit Guha's work". The Journal of Peasant Studies, 18(1), 92–144. doi:10.1080/03066159008438445
Arnold, David; Hardiman, David. (1994). Subaltern Studies VIII: Essays in Honour of Ranajit Guha. Delhi: Oxford University Press.