Assistant Professor

Dr Manaswini Sen

Department of History

Interests

  1. Global History
  2. Labour History
  3. Intellectual History

Education

2015

Jadavpur University, Kolkata
India
BA

2017

Jadavpur University, Kolkata
India
MA

2023

University of Hyderabad
India
PhD

Research Interest

  • History of Labour in the Global South with particular emphasis on trade unionism in South and Southeast Asia.
  • Intellectual History of Revolutionary epistemologies in the Global South. Redefining Decolonial studies through methodological interventions in researching marginal narratives of decolonization.
  • Economic History of South Asia with a focus on Modern and Early Modern period.
  • Trans-continentalism and Indian Ocean World.
  • History of Colonial Surveillance in South Asia.

Awards & Fellowships

  • 2022 – Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow – CWIT and the British Council
  • 2022-Asian Graduate Student Fellow- The Asia Research Institute (ARI) of National University of Singapore (NUS)
  • 2024 Dr.(Mrs) Sheelaraj Memorial Medal for the Best PhD in History in the Convocation of the University of Hyderabad

Memberships

  • Indian History Congress
  • Royal Historical Society
  • British Association of South Asian Studies (BASAS)
  • History of Concepts Group

Publications

  • Journal Article:
  • “Red Star Over the Indian Ocean: Anticolonialism, Transcontinental Activism, and the Spread of Decolonial Communism in the Trade Union Movement of Late Colonial Bengal (1920-1947),” Monsoon: Journal of the Indian Ocean Rim, Duke Press (Forthcoming in May 2025)
  • Blast from past: A roko motive in common: The railway strike of 1974 is a milestone in India’s labour movement, but it is also part of an idiom of social protest that dates further back, The Telegraph, India, 6th June 2024. https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/blast-from-past-a-roko-motive-in-common/cid/2027351
  • (Re)Inventing Feminism within the Discourse of Class Struggle: Women and Intellectual History in the Trade Union Movement of Late Colonial Bengal (1920–1947) Dr. Manaswini Sen, Journal of the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists, Brill DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/2666318X-bja00030
  • Manaswini Sen, “Mapping the Changing Notions of Inequality Among the Trade Union Leaders of Colonial Bengal (1920–1947)”, Global Intellectual History, Special Issue on Towards a Global Intellectual History of an Unequal World, June 2022, 1-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23801883.2022.2062416
  • Manufacturing “Internationalism From Below": Saumyendranath Tagore on Fascism and Ultra-Nationalism. The Journal of History of Ideas, the JHI Blog,
  • University of Pennsylvania. https://www.jhiblog.org/2022/06/15/manufacturing-internationalism-from-below-saumyendranath-tagore-on-fascism-and-ultra-nationalism/
  • “The October Revolution, Comintern Politics and the Genesis of Communism in Bengal (1917- 1929)” in Dr. Rahul Kumar Mohanta (ed.), Exploring Multifaceted Aspects of History and Beyond, Akshita Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 2020, pp.150-171. ISBN 978-81-946186-4-5.
  • Book Chapter:
  • Sen, Manaswini. “The ‘Unholy’ Trinity: Syndicate of the Colonial State, Capitalists, and the Police; Repression and Corporate Policing of Working-Class Movement in late colonial Bengal (1930-1947)” in Exploring Power and Authority in Indian History across the Ages. Vijaya Ramadas Mandala (ed.). Springer (forthcoming).

Invited Lectures:

  • ‘(Re)Inventing Feminism within the Discourse of Class-Struggle: Women and Intellectual History in the Trade Union Movement of Late Colonial Bengal; and Alternative Narrative of Decolonisation (1920-1947), International Society for Intellectual History (ISIH), October 2, 2024.
  • The Red Contagion: The Specter of Communism and Imperial Surveillance in the Labour Movement of Bengal (1930-1947), as a part of lecture series titled: „Print as Resistance Proscription as Control (A Cultural History of Banned Hindi- Urdu Print in Colonial North India, C. 1850-1947), Department of Hindi, University of Hyderabad in collaboration with Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi, March 2, 2023.
  • Red Star Over the Indian Ocean: Transcontinental Ties, Spread of Communism and Imperial Surveillance in Working-Class Movement of Bengal at Unearthing the South Asia Collections Seminar, Two Centuries of Indian Print: The British Library, on September 21, 2022.

Selected International Conferences:

  • Hartal! Hartal! Hartal!: Striking in the 1940s and the Evolving Language of Protest in Late Colonial Bengal, The Global Forties: Perspectives from Late Colonial Bengal Annual Conference on South Asia Center for South Asia, a member of The International Division at UW-Madison, 31 October, 2024.
  • Charting an Alternative Narrative of Inequality: (Re)Interpreting Muzaffar Ahmad and Saumyendranath Tagore’s Discourses on Socio-economic Impact of Colonialism(1920- 1947), Annual Indian Society of History of Economic Thought (ISHET) Conference, University of Hyderabad, 27- 29 October, 2024.
  • Anticolonialism, Transcontinental Activism, and the Spread of Decolonial Communism in the Trade Union Movement of LateColonial Bengal (1920- 1947) on COLONIAl AND POST-COLONIAL IDENTITY FORMATION at the BASAS Annual Conference 2024, King’s College London on 9, 10, and 11 September 2024.
  • (Re)Inventing Feminism within the Discourse of Class-Struggle: Women and Intellectual History in the Trade Union Movement of Late Colonial Bengal; and Alternative Narrative of Decolonisation (1920-1947,) 5thELHN CONFERENCE, EUROPEAN LABOUR HISTORY NETWORK ECONOMICUM, DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC HISTORY, UPPSALA UNIVERSITY, SWEEDEN, 11- 13 JUNE,2024.
  • "Communism, Anti-Colonialism, and Forging of a Greater Southeast Asian Identity: Tracing Transnationalism in the Trade Union Movement of Late Colonial Bengal (1920- 1947)” South West Conference on Asian Studies (SWCAS),
    University of Houston November 3 – 4, 2023
  • A Remoulded Vanguard? (Re) inventing Humanitarianism within the Dis 6course of Class Struggle: Mapping an Alternative Narrative of Decolonisation by Tracing the Changing Trajectory of Trade Union Leadership in Late Colonial Bengal, From Colonial Modernity to Decolonisation: The British Empire and Beyond, University of Auckland, New Zealand, August, 15-16, 2023.
  • The Indian Ocean and an Alternative Narrative of Decolonisation: Transcontinental Ties and Spread of Communism in the Working-Class Movement of Bengal (1920– 1947)', Cambridge Oceanic and Maritime History Workshop, University of Cambridge, March 3, 2023.
  • Communism, Anti-Colonialism, and Forging of a Greater Southeast Asian Identity: Tracing Transnationalism in the Revolutionary Terrorism and Trade Union Movement of Late Colonial Bengal (1920-47), NTU Postgraduate History Workshop 2022-2023, NTU, Singapore, February 28, 2023.
  • Mapping an Alternative Narrative of Decolonization: Saumyendrnath Tagore and his Crusade Against Fascism, London School of Economics International History Seminar, London School of Economics, November 16, 2022.
  • The Indian Ocean and an Alternative Narrative of Decolonisation: Transcontinental Ties, Spread of Communism and Imperial Surveillance in Working- Class Movement of Bengal. Edinburgh Centre for Global History Graduate Workshop,University of Edinburgh, on November 2, 2022.
  • A Remolded Vanguard? (Re) inventing Humanitarianism within the Discourse of Class Struggle: Mapping the Changing Trajectory of Trade Union Leadership in Late Colonial Bengal at The Annual Conference on South Asia, Centre for South Asia, UW- Madison, on October 21, 2022.
  • Communism, Anti-Colonialism, and Forging of a Greater Southeast Asian Identity: Tracing Transnationalism in the Revolutionary Terrorism and Trade Union Movement Late Colonial Bengal (1920-47) at 17th Graduate Forum on Southeast Asian Studies, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, on July 19, 2022.
  • The Most Potent Tool of Agitprop? Pamphleting, Working-Class Mobilization, and Intellectual History from Below: A Case Study of Trade Unionism in Late colonial Bengal (1920-47) at Ideas in/about Interaction, A Graduate Student Symposium, The Journal of History of Ideas, the JHI Blog, University of Pennsylvania, on May 6, 2022.
  • Red Star Over the Indian Ocean: Transcontinental Ties, Spread of Communism and Imperial Surveillance in Working-Class Movements of Bengal at The Harvard Graduate Student Conference on International and Global History (Con-IH), on April 1, 2022.
  • Mapping the Notion of Inequality among The Trade Union Leaders in the Labour Movement in Colonial Bengal (1920-47) at Towards a Global Intellectual History of an Unequal World, 1945- Today at Aarhus University, 10th-11th June 2021.
  • The Red Contagion: The Specter of Communism and Imperial Surveillance in the Labour Movement of Bengal (1930-1947) at SAGSC: South Asia Graduate Student Conference, The Annual Student Conference at University of Chicago, March 5, 2021

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