Aya Ikegame

Aya Ikegame is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo, and has served as an invited research director (directrice d’études invitée) at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris. Her work focuses on cultural assertion among marginalized communities in South Asia, particularly examining caste dynamics and ritual practices.

• Position: Associate Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo
• Collaboration: Directrice d’études invitée at EHESS, Paris

In 2017, she presented research on Dalit cultural movements in central Karnataka, South India, highlighting the rejection of buffalo sacrifice in Maramma cult rituals as a form of resistance against caste-based hierarchies. This work critiques earlier academic interpretations of village goddess worship as inherently inclusive.

Her research bridges anthropology and sociology, addressing regionalism, cosmopolitanism, and the limitations of urban-centric Dalit political movements.