| Post: | Reader in Social Anthropology |
| Other posts: | Reader in Social Anthropology (Cultural Studies) |
| Reader in Social Anthropology (Development Studies - CDE) | |
| Reader in Social Anthropology (Migration) | |
| Location: | Arts C C246 |
| Email: | F.Osella@sussex.ac.uk |
| Telephone numbers | |
| Internal: | 2383 or 7185 |
| UK: | (01273) 606755 ext. 2383 or (01273) 877185 |
| International: | +44 1273 606755 ext. 2383 or +44 1273 877185 |
Biography
After obtaining PhD in Anthropology at the LSE in 1993, I worked at the University of Durham and then joined Sussex in 1999.Role
Reader in Anthropology and Director of the Cultural Studies Interdisciplinary Degree Programme.Research
My specialist areas are: Kerala, South India, South Asia, Gulf countries: social reproduction and stratification; popular religion (Hinduism & Islam) and reform movements; migration; masculinity; consumption.
I conducted my doctoral research in rural Kerala, South India, and published two joint monographs, one on issues of stratification, identity and social mobility among an ex-'untouchable' community (Social Mobility in Kerala, 2000, Pluto Press), and another on masculinities (Men and Masculinity in South India, 2007, Anthem Press). My current research, funded by a three year ESRC Research Grant (see ESRC 'Regard' database for more details), examines contemporary identity transformations among a South Indian Muslims, with fieldwork in Kozhikode (Calicut) and a number of Gulf Countries. I am currently co-editing a special issue of Modern Asian Studies on 'Islamic reform movements in South Asia' (with C Osella); a special issue of South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies on 'The politics of food in South Asia' (with C Osella); and a special issue of the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute on 'Islam, politics and modernity' (with B Soares).
Recent DPhil Students
Israt Ahmed - The Construction of childhood in Monipur: negotiating boundaries through activities (awarded 2004)
Nick Nisbett - Knowledge, identity, place and (cyber) space: growing up male and middle class in Bangalore (awarded 2005)
Martyn Rogers - Tamil youth: the performance of hierarchical masculinities: an anthropological study of youth groups in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (awarded 2005)
Shalini Grover - Poor women's experiences of marriage and love in the city of New Delhi: everyday stories of sukh aur dukh (awarded 2006)
Rubina Jasani - Communal violence, displacement and minority identity in Ahmedabad, Western India (awarded 2007)
Current DPhil Students
Rahseehd Rozana - Gender and social protection in migrant villages in Comilla, Bangladesh
Aly Ramy- Arab identities in London
Biswas Anusree - Bengali identities in London
Jervis Read Cressida - Social activism in a Delhi slum
Roy A. - Male sexualities in Mumbai
Syiem Samantha - Participation and development in North East India
Wakefield Matluba - Gender, Islam and social change in post-Soviet
Wilson Caroline - Commoditization of health provisions in Kerala
Hashmi Asma - Social activism in Pakistan
Mundrawala Asma - Street theatre in Pakistan
Sancho David - Education and exclusion in Kerala
Publications
Forthcoming publications:
Osella, C & F Osella 2007 'Muslim Style in South India. Special issue of Journal of fashion Theory on 'Muslim fashion/fashionable Muslims' (edited by E Tarlo).Osella, F & C Osella 2007 'Islamism and Social Reform in Kerala, South India'. Special issue of Modern Asian Studies on 'Islamic Reform in South Asia' (edited by F & C Osella)
Osella, F & C Osella. 2007 'Experiences of 'Transnationalism' and the Transnational Family: Women and Gulf Migration from Kerala'. In (eds) Susan Koshy and Tariq Modood, South Asian Diaspora, Duke University Press.
Osella, C & F Osella 2008 'No holy cows: non-vegetarianism in Kerala, India'. Special issue of Journal of South Asian Studies on 'Indian gastro-politics' (edited by C & F Osella).
Osella, F & C Osella 2009 'Business and Community between India and the Gulf: Muslim entrepreneurs in Kerala, India'. Special issue of the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute on 'Islam, politics and modernity' (edited by B Soares & F Osella).
Osella, C & F Osella. 'From feminine masquerade to drag kinging: college girls' expansions of gendered and sexual repertoires through Bollywood dance'
Books and Edited Collections
Osella C & F Osella, 2007, Men and Masculinities in South India. London: Anthem Press.Chopra, R., C. Osella & F. Osella (eds), 2004, South Asian Masculinities. Delhi: Kali for Women/Women's Unlimited Press.
Osella, F. & K. Gardner, (eds), 2003, Migration, Modernity, and Social Transformation in South Asia, New Delhi: Sage [pdf]
Osella, F. & C. Osella, 2000, Social Mobility in Kerala: Modernity and Identity in Conflict, London: Pluto
Journal Articles
Osella, F & C Osella 2006 'Once upon a time in the West: Stories of migration and modernity from Kerala, South India'. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute vol. 12, no. 3: 569-588. [pdf]Osella, F. & Osella, C. 2006 'Negotiating ritual change in South India'. In Purusartha, Rites hindous : transferts et transformations.(Journal of CNRS South Asia Research).
Osella, C & Osella, F. 2004 'Scambi vitali: Houses, land, people and deities in Kerala, South India'. In Etnosistemi (special issue on 'Space and Territory in India' edited by D. Berti of CEIAS/CNRS, Paris; reprinted by Manohar, Delhi, as book in 2007).
Osella, F & Osella, C 2003 '"Ayyappan saranam": masculinity and the Sabarimala pilgrimage in Kerala'. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute vol. 9, no. 4: 729-754. [pdf]
Osella, F & K Gardner 2003 'Introduction'. In Contribution to Indian Sociology 37 1&2 (double special issue on 'Migration, Modernity and Social Transformations in South Asia' edited by F Osella & K Gardner; republished in 2004 by SAGE as book).
Osella, F & Osella, C. 2003 'Migration and the commoditisation of ritual: sacrifice, spectacle and contestations in Kerala, South India'. In Contribution to Indian Sociology 37, 1&2 (double special issue on 'Migration, Modernity and Social Transformations in South Asia' edited by F Osella & K Gardner; republished in 2004 by SAGE as book). [pdf]
Osella C. & Osella F. 2000 'Movements of power through social, spiritual and bodily boundaries: aspects of controlled and uncontrolled spirit possession in rural Kerala', in Purusartha 21, La possession en Asie du Sud: parole, corps, territoire: 183-210.
Osella F & Osella C. 2000 'Migration, money and masculinity in Kerala'. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, vol. 6, no. 1: 115-131. [pdf]
Osella F & Osella C. 1999 'From Transience To Immanence: Consumption, Life-Cycle And Social Mobility In Kerala, South India'. Modern Asian Studies, vol. 33, no. 4: 989-1020. [pdf]
Osella C & Osella F. 1998. 'Flirting and friendship: micro-politics in Kerala, South India'. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (incorporating Man) vol 4, no. 2: 189-206. [pdf]
Osella F & Osella C. 1996. 'Articulation of physical and social bodies in Kerala', in Contributions to Indian Sociology (ns) Vol 30, 1:37-68.
Book Chapters:
Osella, F & C Osella 2007 '"I am Gulf": the production of cosmopolitanism in Kozhikode, Kerala, India'. In Simpson E & K Kress (eds) Cosmopolitanism contested: the confluence of history and anthropology in the Indian Ocean. Hurst: London.Osella, C, R. Chopra & F. Osella 2004 'Introduction'. In Chopra R, C Osella & F Osella (eds.) Masculinities in South Asia, Kali for Women, Delhi.
Osella, C. & Osella, F. 2004 'Malayali young men and their movie heroes'. In Chopra R, C Osella & F Osella (eds.) Masculinities in South Asia, Kali for Women: Delhi. [pdf]
Osella, C. & Osella, F. 2003 'Points de vue malayalis sur l'inné et l'acquis'. In Bouiller V. & G. Tarabout (eds.), Le Corps en Inde. Paris, CNRS pubs.
Osella F & Osella C. 2003. 'Malayali men and the Sabarimala Pilgrimage'. In A Monti (ed) Hindu Masculinities: updating the past. Hartman Press: Rome.
Osella C. & Osella F. 2001 'Contextualising sexuality: young men in Kerala, south India'. In Manderson L. & P.L. Rice (eds.) Coming of age in South and Southeast Asia: youth, courtship and sexuality. Curzon Press, London.
Osella F & Osella C. 2000 'The return of king Mahabali: the politics of morality in south India'. In Fuller CJ & V Benei (eds.) The everyday state and society in India, Social Science Press, Delhi.