Contesting South Asian modernities: an introduction to the annual conference edition of the British Association for South Asian Studies

Abstract

This Editorial introduces the papers in this special conference issue of Contemporary South Asia, placing them in the context of the 24th British Association for South Asian Studies (BASAS) annual conference, held at the University of Warwick in March 2010. The conference theme was ‘Landscapes of the imagination’, and the papers in this Special Issue reflect a range of approaches to this theme, in terms of methodology, topic and regional spread. Despite their diversity, however, the papers do reflect a common concern to contest a singular, unproblematic and unified experience of South Asian modernity.

Keywords:

• BASAS
• Warwick
• conference

Acknowledgements

The editor of this Special Issue would like to thank Dr Clare Anderson and Professor David Arnold for convening the conference, Hazel Rice for her assistance in conference organisation and administration, and conference delegates, contributors to and peer reviewers of this special issue, the BASAS Executive Committee for their support, and John Zavos, editor of Contemporary South Asia.