Modern Practices and Language of Love in India Class, Consumerism, and the Self
Modern Practices and Language of Love in India Class, Consumerism, and the Self
Speaker
Dr. Parul Bhandari (Cambridge University)
Date and Time
March 12, 2026, 4 pm - 5.30 pm
Venue
Rämistrasse 71, CH-8006 Zurich, Room KOL-H-317
Abstract
A ‘new’ Indian middle class is often described and analysed through the metrics of changing professions, expandable income, political leanings, and whether the marriage is ‘arranged’ or not. In this talk, I draw attention to another often-overlooked space which is emerging as key for the ‘new’ middle class to assert their class identities—desired and real—namely, romantic love. Embedded in neoliberal cultures of leisure (going out, holidays) and pleasure (dating apps, sexual intimacies) that has augmented both a turn towards self (therapy, yoga) as well as increasing professionalised services (hospitality industry, matchmakers), this talk explains how romantic love is desired and performed by the urban middle class in India. This discussion primarily focuses on two aspects: first, the changing language of love that crucially includes self-love, which increasingly determines how relationships are gauged to be fit for marriage, and second, those specific performances of love (a proposal, pre-wedding photoshoots) that have become essential steps to marriage. The talk explains how these two ‘new’ aspects are tied with neoliberal understandings of self and class and enables signalling a ‘new’ class identity, that is modern and globally inclined. As such, these articulations and performances of love are about the anxieties and aspirations of class and status.
Organization: Indian Studies