Sidharthan Maunaguru

Sidharthan Maunaguru is an Associate Professor and the inaugural Chair of Tamil Studies at Department of Historical and Cultural Studies, UTSC. He has a graduate appointment with Department of Anthropology at the St. George Campus. His research focuses on anthropology of war, violence, migration, politics, religion, sovereignty, conscience, ethics and future/s. Sidharthan has worked and held fellowships at University of Edinburgh, Johns Hopkins University, Collegium Helveticum, ETH, University of Zurich and National University of Singapore. He has published in number of peer-reviewed journals including Current Anthropology, American Anthropologist, Modern Asian Studies, and Comparative Studies on Society and History. He is the author of Marrying for a Future: Transnational Sri Lankan Tamil Marriages in the Shadow of War. Sidharthan is currently working on the notions of futures along with the two connected concepts of uncertainty and unknown. His work often includes multi-site fieldwork on Tamil communities and intersects with anthropology, history, and philosophy

Publications

Books:

2019. Marrying for a Future: Transnational Sri Lankan Tamil Marriages in the Shadow of War. University of Washington Press (Global South Asia Series)

2020. (Co-edited with Kelly, Amarasuriya, Stjepanovic and Spencer). The Intimate Life of Dissent: Anthropological Perspectives. London: University College London Press  

Journal Articles (selected):

2021: “Homeless’ Deities and Refugee Devotees.” American Anthropologist, 123 (03): 552-564

2020: “Vulnerable Sovereignty.” Current Anthropology, 61 (06): 686- 712

2020: “Thinking with/in Time: Rethinking Migration and Diaspora through Sri Lankan Tamil Transnational Marriages”. American Behavioural Scientist, 64 (10), 1485-1496

2018: Co-authored (with Bart Klem). “Public Authority Under Sovereign Encroachment: Leadership in two villages during Sri Lanka's war.” Modern Asian Studies, 52 (3), 784-814 (equal authorship)

2018: Co-authored (with Jonathan Spencer). “You Can Do Anything with a Temple’. Philanthropy and Politics in South London and Sri Lanka.” Modern Asian Studies, 52(1), 186-213 (first author)

2017: Co-authored (with Bart Klem). “Insurgent Rule as Sovereign Mimicry and Mutation: Governance, Kingship, and Violence in Civil Wars.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 59 (3), 629-56 (equal authorship)

Book Chapters (selected):

2021: “(Un)certain Futures: Rhythms and Assemblages of Transnational Sri Lankan Tamil Marriages”, In Carsten, Janet (ed.), Marriage in Past, Present, and Future Tense: London:  University College London Press

2020: Co-authored, “Introduction: The Intimate life of Dissent.” In Amarasuriya et al., The Intimate Life of Dissent: Anthropological Perspectives. London: University College London Press

2020: “Friends with Differences” In Amarasuriya et al., The Intimate Life of Dissent: Anthropological Perspectives. London: University College London Press

2014. “Transnational Marriages: Documents, Wedding photos, Photographers and Jaffna Tamil Marriages.” In Rajni Palriwala, and Ravinder Kaur (eds.), Marrying in South Asia. Delhi: Orient Blackswan (Orient Longman)

2012. Co-authored (with Nicholas Van Der Hear). “Transnational Marriages in Conflict Settings: War, Dispersal and Sri Lankan Tamil Marriages.” In Katherine Charsley (ed.), Transnational Marriage: New Perspectives from Europe and Beyond. London: Routledge