Theme issue introduction: The species turn in Indian identity politics

Abstract

Animals are instrumentalised as symbols, objects, and commodities in the construction of diverse subaltern and elite human identities and identity politics in India, through their imposed identification with various human groups, with enduring implications for animal and human (in)justice and wellbeing. Species, as itself as an axis of social difference, and therefore of identity, however, has hitherto rarely been considered as a core facet of identity politics in Indian political life, despite its central role in shaping the inclusions and exclusions that characterise society. This Theme Issue aims to open the space for animal identities to become political, allowing for a critical multispecies politics of identity. To this end, it asks: In what ways can animals be centred as a core part of democratic political life? What are the consequences of doing so? In other words, what opportunities or concerns emerge with the institutionalization of species difference as an identity category? And last, in what ways does a multispecies approach to identity politics impact the analysis of (in)justice in its varied forms in contemporary India and beyond?