Christopher John Fuller is an emeritus professor of

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

and a Fellow of the British Academy. He has studied and written extensively about the people of India, particularly with regard to subjects such as

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

, the caste system, and the relationship between globalisation and the middle-classes.

Career

Fuller was a lecturer in the Department of Social Anthropology at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

prior to holding a similar position as lecturer in anthropology at the London School of Economics (LSE) between 1979–87. He was a

reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in anthropology at the LSE between 1987–94 and has been an emeritus professor of anthropology there since 2009. Fuller's primary area of

field research Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct f ...

has been the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, particularly between 1976–2001 at the Hindu temple in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

that is dedicated to Minakshi. His first fieldwork was among the

Nair The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histo ...

and Syrian Christian communities of Kerala in 1971–72. Fuller has also conducted fieldwork in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(middle-class managers and software professionals, 2003–05) and on

Tamil Brahmin Tamil Brahmins are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, predominantly living in Tamil Nadu, though they number significantly in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, in addition to other regions of India, as wel ...

s (2005–08). Other areas of research have examined popular Hinduism and Hindu nationalism, the caste system and the history of anthropology in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. Fuller was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2007.

Publications

Fuller's many publications include: * * * (co-editor, with Véronique Bénéï) * * * (with Haripriya Narasimhan) * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Chris Fellows of the British Academy People associated with the University of Manchester Academics of the London School of Economics British anthropologists Social anthropologists Historians of India Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Year of birth missing (living people)