Dr. Dhar is working on a ninth book, on culture, foreign policy, diplomacy, and the possibilities and limits of friendship in international relations. This book continues her enduring interest, from when she was a student, to teaching and tackling the global politics of representation, racial-colonial hierarchies, and their negative impact on democracies in the Global South such as India which is monolithically represented as “backward” in dominant discourses, while addressing women's wellbeing and human rights, security and social justice. (Some of her prior publications in this area include Pedagogy and South “Asianness” in the United States, Manavi, 2010; “Women’s Issues Since Independence,” German Journal of World History, 2015, Special Issue: India; “Teaching Culture in a Globalized Era: Strategies from a Postcolonial Feminist Classroom,” Transformations, 2019; “India’s Daughters,” The Sunday Guardian, New Delhi, 'Can Friendship Bring a More Hopeful Era in International Relations,' Outlook, July 2023; 'Time for the Tiger: India Must be on UN High Table ' https://www.asianage.com/opinion/columnists/200224/debotri-dhar-time-for-the-tiger-india-must-be-on-un-high-table.html)
Dr. Dhar believes in public and corporate sector collaborations for inclusive economic growth, and enjoys interdisciplinary analyses of politics, economics, literature and culture. Her scholarly monograph on gender violence, paradigms and policies for the postcolonial state, is forthcoming from Routledge (London, New York, New Delhi). She has edited and introduced four volumes, including two of scholarly papers on humanitarian education (Bloomsbury: London, New York, New Delhi, Sydney), a collection of interdisciplinary essays on the culture, politics, and ethics of love (Speaking Tiger: New Delhi), and an anthology of contest-winning literature by Asian writers (Kitaab: Singapore.) She has also authored two novels, and a book of short stories on women and travel. Some links included below.
•THE COURTESANS OF KARIM STREET
New Delhi: Niyogi Books
Also Read: Literary awards: A reader's guide to the six books in the running for the Muse India Young Writer Award https://scroll.in/article/770893/a-readers-guide-to-the-six-books-in-the-running-for-the-muse-india-young-writer-award
An anonymous letter. The promise of a redgold tree. And Dr. Megan Adams sets off on a ten thousand mile journey. From the scenic suburbs of Princeton and poorer neighborhoods in New Jersey, America, onwards to India, to New Delhi’s opulent enclaves and the narrow bazaars of the old city, Megan’s travel plucks her from the politics of American academia to bring her face to face with the lurking shadows of an untold past. On an entirely different journey is Naina, a young Indian woman who must navigate the stony, impenetrable divide between the old and new sides of Delhi every day. The inheritor of an ancient tradition that pre-dated India’s colonized history, she can still hear the music of the sarangi and the tinkling whisper of anklets. The stories of the two women, their cultures, their pasts and postcolonial presents, collide. And a saga unfolds, of love, loss and liberation, of timeless friendships, and of impossible choices.
READ AN EXCERPT https://kitaab.org/2015/08/27/excerpt-the-courtesans-of-karim-street-by-debotri-dhar/
• THE BEST ASIAN SHORT STORIES
Singapore: Kitaab, 2018
New stories selected, edited, and introduced by judge and guest-editor Debotri Dhar
Also read Japan Times, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2019/01/05/books/book-reviews/singaporean-publisher-mines-asias-wealth-short-stories/#.X0nHoLDD82w
Kitaab’s The Best Asian Short Stories 2018 is a lively collection of stories by creative writers in Asia and Asian writers from the worldwide diaspora, including Canada, USA, and UK. Gender relations, cultural collisions, art, travel, and the vicissitudes of love and life are some of the themes in this richly-woven tapestry of tales. More than 200 writers from 15 countries sent in their work for consideration in this global contest, out of which 19 stories were selected by Debotri Dhar.
'Poochho Mat! Don't Even Ask' by Aditi Mehrotra (India) delightfully juxtaposes textbook passages and news clippings on women's empowerment with everyday life vignettes of domesticity from a small town. 'Festival Time,' a superb translation of Japanese writer Mogami Ippei by Avery Udagawa (US/Thailand), uses the setting of a local music festival to explore continuity and change in a culture; elder care, people becoming old, boys becoming men. 'Letting Go' by Hezreen Abdul Rashid (Malaysia), a poignant story about old typewriters , invokes a deep yearning for a universe where beloved grandfathers never die.
These and other stories in the volume, beautifully narrated, about real and magical worlds; intercultural, interracial, and inter-caste love; tradition, modernity, and their interstices; about elite neighborhoods and shanty towns, and the hopes and desperation in each; about work, and the cycles of life, represent Asia and its diasporas in all their diversity and complexity. Today, when we are all travelers in some sense or another, in ways perhaps unprecedented, these stories must be told.
• EDUCATION AND GENDER
EDITED, WITH A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION
London, New York: Bloomsbury Academic
New scholarly papers edited and with an introduction by Dr. Debotri Dhar, Education and Gender draws on international research from USA, UK, India, Mexico, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean, to provide a comprehensive global overview of the relationship between gender and education. Rooting constructions of gender and sexuality both in the women’s movement, and in specific geographical contexts and time-frames, the contributors use multiple research methods (ethnography, archival research, participant observation, textual and statistical analysis) as they consider a range of themes, including gaps in educational opportunities and outcomes; gender stereotyping in curricula; pedagogical strategies; STEM fields; public initiatives; and education policies. Drawing on best practices worldwide, the book identifies current gaps and proposes solutions to promote gender-just, equitable, and pluralistic societies.
REVIEWS: "Debotri Dhar has brought together a formidable collection of international authors who have contributed their own particular expertise... Dhar introduces the book by advocating the importance of access to education around the world. She sets the scene for the remainder of the book by promoting the need for academics, humanitarians, policy makers and politicians alike to critically examine the relationship between gender and education." - British Journal of Education Studies
"This volume, expertly edited by Debotri Dhar, presents a remarkable range of current scholarship within the field of education development and gender ... This book is a must-read for anyone wishing to engage meaningfully with [the topics] ... Well-researched, well-written, and well-framed." - International Review of Education
•Also see EDUCATION IN SOUTH ASIA AND THE INDIAN OCEAN ISLANDS
Co-edited. London, New York, New Delhi, Sydney: Bloomsbury Academic.
Education in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Islands is a critical reference guide to educational policies, challenges, and best practices in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Comoros Islands, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zanzibar.
• LOVE IS NOT A WORD: THE CULTURE AND POLITICS OF DESIRE
New Delhi: Speaking Tiger Books, 2020
New essays edited and with an introduction by Debotri Dhar
'TOP PICKS WORLD,' OUTLOOK
This is a collection of twelve essays on love by scholars, literary critics, essayists, and journalists. Love: at once art, insight, event, encounter, aporia, utopia, ethic. The volume straddles literature, culture, history, metaphysics, politics, and their interstices. While many of the essays have an Indian and South Asian focus, the volume as a whole is also in conversation with “Western” and transnational ideas and discourses.
Contributing authors: Malashri Lal, Rakhshanda Jalil, Sumana Roy, Makarand Paranjape, Alka Pande, Parvati Sharma, Zafar Anjum, Christina Thomas Dhanaraj, Mehr Afshaan Farooqi, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, Didier Coste, and Debotri Dhar.
Read the volume introduction below:
