Nivedita Menon is professor at the Centre for Comparative Politics and Political Theory at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her latest book, Secularism as Misdirection: Critical Thought from the Global South, makes the argument that ‘secularism’ as we define it today is in fact not a value in itself – and is compatible with diametrically opposed worlds. It is a tool of governance, and one that is used to turn attention away from real, meaningful values.
She spoke to Jahnavi Sen about the book and the ideas she’s laid out in it – including why she says the project to create a homogeneous Hindu identity has failed, how politics is played on women’s bodies to push forward agendas other than their rights, and more.
