Chand

This project examines how the Indian state, even as it curtails dissent, has inaugurated a new regime of trans citizenship through a sharp emphasis on “dignified livelihoods.” Combining discourse analysis, multi-sited ethnography, and a community-engaged collaborative storytelling project with trans activists, the study investigates how trans activists pursue dignity and livelihoods through what it terms “justice work,” a form of labor grounded in care, solidarity, and activism. This justice work unfolds within the intersecting forces of development policy, caste hierarchies, and Hindu nationalism. Drawing on the Black Radical Tradition and critical caste studies, the project develops a collaboratively authored book of utopian stories by trans activists that challenge dominant ideas of development, dignity, and relationality, offering visions of the trans quest for otherwise worlds.