Labels and Boxes - The Category of the Scholar-Practitioner in Yoga Studies

Description

This talk explores the notion of “scholar-practitioners” of yoga in a globalized context. It will explore how scholars situate themselves with regard to their personal practice and the various traditions, spiritual movements, and institutions of yoga, when they take yoga as a subject of their academic work. How and what kind of yoga-related knowledge is produced within academic institutions? How is this knowledge received by practitioners and other stakeholders? What are the socio-political consequences, and which intersectional dynamics are at play in the production of this knowledge? The talk will interrogate why the label of “scholar-practitioner” exists, and what can we learn from this type of categorization. It will examine how the statuses of ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ are negotiated within different academic cultures across the world, the variety of disciplinary and personal positions that are deployed within these frameworks, and the broader socio-political consequences of doing so.

Period	15 Dec 2021
Held at	SOAS University of London, United Kingdom
Degree of Recognition	International