Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Foreword vii
4. Acknowledgments xi
5. List of Abbreviations xvii
6. Note on Transliteration xix
7. Introduction: Of Light, Literacy, and Knowledge in the Tamil Countryside 1
8. 1. On Being a “Thumbprint”: Time and Space in Arivoli Activism 25
9. 2. Feminizing Enlightenment: The Social and Reciprocal Agency 68
10. 3. Labors of Objectification: Words and Worlds of Pedagogy 101
11. 4. Search for a Method: The Media of Enlightenment 134
12. 5. Subject to Citizenship: Petitions and the Performativity of Signature 171
13. Epilogue: Reflections on a Time of Charismatic Enlightenment 206
14. Notes 213
15. Works Cited 225
16. Index 241