Book Launch - Spies and Other Pigeons

Book Launch - Spies and Other Pigeons

Join us to celebrate the launch of Spies and Other Pigeons, authored by Associate Professor Muhammad Kavesh, Director of the ANU South Asia Research Institute.

Note - Light refreshments will be provided from 4-4.30pm at H.C. Coombs Extension foyer, Building 8, 9 Fellows Road (near Hedley Bull Building).

Combining theoretical inquiry with ethnographic research, Spies and Other Pigeons explores the passion for keeping and flying pigeons across Pakistan. The book examines how the arrival of pigeons at “home” brings millions of enthusiasts together across divisions of caste, class, language and ethnicity. Yet, when pigeons arrive in the “homeland,” particularly across the India-Pakistan border, they can evoke danger, threat and paranoia, reflecting the anxieties embedded in postcolonial nation-states.

Drawing on local philosophies of ethical welcoming and precolonial texts, the book juxtaposes “hospitality” and “hostility” to explore a compelling question: What does it mean for a more-than-human Other to arrive at home?

Blending rich storytelling with long-term ethnographic research, Spies and Other Pigeons offers fresh perspectives on borders, belonging, identity and the ethics of welcoming the Other.

Discussants

• Professor Matt Tomlinson, ANU

• Associate Professor Shameem Black, ANU

Chair: Emeritus Professor Kalpana Ram

Agenda

• 4-4.30pm - Light refreshments at H.C. Coombs Extension foyer 

• 4.30-5.30pm - Book launch at HB2

About the Author

Dr Muhammad Kavesh is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the South Asia Research Institute (SARI) at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.

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