51. Sunila Kale and Christian Novetzke | The Yoga of Power

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Sunila Kale and Dr. Christian
Novetzke from the University of Washington about their recent
publication, The Yoga of Power: Yoga as Political Thought and
Practice in India (Columbia 2025). We discuss the genesis of
their book beginning with court cases in both the U.S. and India
involving yoga and politics, an understanding of the term yoga
not only as philosophy or mind-body disciplines but as a
political idea and practice, yoga's varied meanings in the
ancient Rg Veda, Mahābhārata, and Bhagavadgītā, the mandala
theory, yoga spies in the Arthaśāstra, yoga's political role
within modern Indian independence movements including the
writings of Tilak, Aurobindo, and Gandhi's famous Karma Yoga, and
how the authors discovered what is potentially the earliest video
footage of sūryanamaskār! We close by discussing the upcoming
course, YS 134 | Yoga, Power, and Politics.

Speaker Bio
Dr. Sunila S. Kalé is a Professor in the Jackson
School of International Studies at the University of Washington,
Seattle. Dr. Kalé has a BA from the University of Chicago and PhD
from the University of Texas, Austin. Her teaching and research
are in the fields of politics, development, political economy,
energy studies, and yoga studies. She is author of many essays
and articles and the books Electrifying India (Stanford 2014) and
Mapping Power (Oxford 2018). Her first book was awarded a prize
from the American Institute of Indian Studies, and her research
has been supported by fellowships from AIIS and Fulbright.


Dr. Christian Lee Novetzke is a Professor in the Jackson School
of International Studies and the Comparative History of Ideas
Department at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Novetzke
teaches and researches in the fields of religion, cultural
history, and yoga studies. He has a BA from Macalester College
and graduate degrees from Harvard University (MTS) and Columbia
University (PhD). His books include Religion and Public Memory
(Columbia 2008), The Quotidian Revolution (Columbia 2016), and
Amar, Akbar, Anthony (Harvard 2016). His first book won a prize
from the American Academy of Religion and his research has been
supported by grants and awards from the National Endowment for
the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, AIIS,
Fulbright, and the Guggenheim Foundation.

Links


https://www.yogicstudies.com/ys-134

https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-yoga-of-power/9780231220019

"Surya Namaskar 1928 by Raja of Aundh"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYcwS2ePkMw