Susie Tharu

Susie Tharu (born 1943) is an Indian writer, publisher, professor, editor and women's activist. Throughout her career and the founding of several women's activist organizations, Tharu has helped to highlight those issues in India.

Career

Tharu as a writer earned her membership on the executive committee for Anveshi, an Indian research group dedicated to feminist-theory, where she also served as secretary. She has been a part of the Suabaltern Studies editorial since 1992. She served on the Board of Advisors for The Feminist Press, where she was also a publisher. She has taught in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and in Kanpur.

Activism In 1978 she helped to found Sthri Shakti Sangatana (SSS-Women Power Organization), an organization whose main focus was women. The group consisted of women active in the Maoist Party. Through this organization, Tharu helped to stop the vegetable export which affected housewives, vegetable vendors, and middle-class women. The organization also has raised question about the Rape Law through a series of street performances and public campaigns.

Later, Tharu helped to found Anveshi Research Centre for Women's Studies. The organization was founded after SSS, when the ambitions of that organization grew too large for her. The organization was grown from the members of SSS and many still retain membership in both. The new organization, Anveshi, is based on research, critical reflection, and activism surrounding our current historical moment. The organization looks to explore feminist theory and ways of understanding issues in education, Dalits and minorities, development studies, health and healthcare systems, legal studies, and the public domain. The centre is located in Hyderabad, India. Tharu has expressed that Anveshi is very interested in connecting feminist thinking and other thinking, as well as exploring why feminism does not easily invite Muslim or Dalit women. This organization also does a large number of translations of Women's writing in India.

Honors and awards 1962-65: Uganda Government Merit Scholarship, Makerere College, Uganda 1994-96: Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship

Publications