• Ongoing project
• Publications
• Courtroom ethnography 
• Cultural Entrenchment of Hindutva
• Territory
• Ritual, patronage and politics
• Ritual, language and forms of interaction
• Ritual iconography
• Ethnographic films
• Presentations
• Position

Ongoing projects:

• Governance and justice in contemporary India. ANR Programme/Gouverner et administrer (coordination with Gilles Tarabout) 2009-2012.

Publications

Courtroom ethnography

• "Trials, Witnesses and Local Stakes in a District Court of Himachal Pradesh (North India)", in J. Pfaff & G. Toffin (dir.) Citizenship, Democracy, and Belonging in the Himalayas, Sage, New Delhi, 2011.
• "Courts of Law and Legal Practice" in I. Clark-Deces (ed) A Companion to the Anthropology of India, Chichester (UK), Blackwell Publishing 2011.
• "Hostile Witnesses, Judicial Interactions and Out of Court Narratives in a North Indian District Court", (Contribution to Indian Sociology, 2010).
• "Interactions et procédures judiciaires dans un tribunal de district en Inde du nord", Proceedings of the Symposium, Réseau Asie, Paris, Septembre 2007: 1-8.

Cultural Entrenchment of Hindutva

• The Cultural Entrenchment of Hindutva: Local Mediations and Forms of Resistance, D. Berti & N. Jaoul, Pralay Kanungo (eds), Delhi, Routledge, 2011.
• Introduction. In The Cultural Entrenchment of Hindutva: Local Mediations and Forms of Resistence, D. Berti & N. Jaoul, Pralay Kanungo (eds), Delhi, Routledge, 2011.
• The local enactment of Hindutva. Writing stories on local gods in Himachal Pradesh. in D. Berti & N. Jaoul, Pralay Kanungo (eds), Delhi, Routledge, 2011.
• Hindu Nationalists and Local History: from Ideology to Local Lore, 2007, Rivista di Studi Sudasiatici. pp. 5-36.
• The memory of gods : From a secret autobiography to a nationalistic project in : Indian Folklife, 2006, n°24: 15-18.
• Passé, localité et nationalismes. L'écriture de l'histoire dans la région de Kullu (Himachal Pradesh) in G. Krauskopff (ed.) Les faiseurs d'histoires, Nanterre, Société d'Ethnologie,2009.

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Ritual and Territory

• Territory, Soil, and Society in South Asia, (with G. Tarabout, New Delhi, Manohar, New Delhi, Manohar, 2009.
• "Divine Jurisdiction and Forms of Government in Himachal Pradesh", in Territory, Soil, and Society in South Asia, Daniela Berti & Gilles Tarabout, New Delhi, Manohar, 2009, pp. 126-148.
• "Introduction" (with G. Tarabout) in Territory, Soil, and Society in South Asia, Daniela Berti & Gilles Tarabout, New Delhi, Manohar, 2009.
• "Terra, territorio e società nel mondo indiano", Daniela Berti and Gilles Tarabout (eds.) special issue of the Italian Journal  Etnosistemi. Processi e dinamiche culturali, 2003, n°10.
• "Introduzione", in "Terra territorio e società nel mondo indiano ", Daniela Berti et Gilles Tarabout (eds.) special number of the Italian Journal Etnosistemi. Processi e dinamiche culturali, 2003, No 10: 2-9.
• "La pioggia degli otto villaggi. Giurisdizioni divine e forme di governo nell'India himalayana" in "Terra territorio e società nel mondo indiano ", D. Berti et G. Tarabout (eds.) special issue of the Italian Journal Etnosistemi. Processi e dinamiche culturali, No 10: p. 117-129.

Ritual, patronage and politics

• "Political Patronage and Ritual Competitions at the Dashera Festival in Northern India", in Ritual, Heritage and Identity, Christiane Brosius and Karine Polit, Delhi, Sage Publication, 2011.
• Kings, gods and political leaders in contemporary India in M. Lecomte-Tilouine (dir.) Bards and Mediums in the Khas Kingdoms. Himalayan Book Depot, Almora/Delhi 2009. 
• Ritual Kingship, Divine Bureaucracy, and Electoral Politics in Kullu in, European Bulletin of Himalayan Research 2006. No  29/30: 39-61.
• "«Now It Is All Politics». Quelques discours sur les transformations de la fête du Dashera Kullu (Inde du Nord)" in G. Colas et G. Tarabout (eds.) Rites hindous. Transferts et transformations, Purushartha, 2005, 25: 305-342.
• "Un dieu maître-chanteur. La résolution d'un conflit villageois en Himachal Pradesh". in J.Assayag et G.Tarabout (eds.), La Possession en Asie du Sud. parole, corps, territoire. Purusartha; 1999. No 21: 61-97.

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Ritual, language and forms of interaction

• La parole des dieux. Rituels de possession dans l'Himalaya indien. 2001, Paris, CNRS Editions, 340p.
• Gestes, paroles, combats. Pluralité rituelle et modalités d'action en Himalaya indien, Annales de la Fondation Fyssen, 2001, 17: 11-31.
• Entrée "Possession" (with G. Tarabout) in R. Azria et Danièle Hervieu-Léger (eds.) Dictionnaire des faits religieux, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris.
• "Una liturgia controllata. Riti brahmanici e possessione in Himachal Pradesh", 1998, Rivista degli Annali della Ca' Foscari, Serie Oriental : 409-437.
• Un dieu maître-chanteur: La resolution d'un conflit villageois dans la vallée de Kullu (Himachal Pradesh, in La possession en Asie du sud : Parole, corps, territoire / J. Assayag, G. Tarabout (Eds) -- Paris : Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Purusartha n° 21, 1999, p.61-97
• Entrée "Divination", Dictionnaire de l'Inde contemporaine, Frédéric Landy (ed.), Armand Colin, 2010, p. 167.
• Entrée "Médium", Dictionnaire de l'Inde contemporaine, Frédéric Landy (ed.) Armand Colin, 2010, p. 326-327.
• Entrée "Destin", Dictionnaire de l'Inde contemporaine, Frédéric Landy (ed.) Armand Colin, 2010, p. 152.
• "Observations on Shamanic Dance" in Tae-gon Kim and Mihàly Hoppàl (ed.), 1995, Shamanism in Performing Arts. Akadémiai Kiadò, Budapest : 63-76.
• "Il karma in un villaggio dell'India del Nord: aspetti e problemi antropologici", 1992, in Studi e materiali di Storia delle Religioni, XVI,2, Japadre Editore, Roma: 321-353.

Ritual Iconography

• Of Metal and Clothes. The location of distinctive features in Indian iconography, in P. Granoff et K. Shinohara (eds.) Images in Asian Religions: Texts and Contexts, 2004, University of British Columbia Press: 85-113.
• Entry "Le jeux des palanquins" in Enfants de tous les temps, enfants de tous les mondes, in J. Baschet (ed.), Editions Gallimard, Paris.

Ethnographic films

• 2007 DVD "Cases of possession in Himachal Pradesh" edited by Arghyro Paouri (CNRS).
• 2007 DVD "Chapitre Kullu" in M. Lecomte-Tilouine "Bards (20') for the DVD "Bards and Mediums in the Himalayas".
• 1993 - "Jadu hoina" (It's not magic), Bhojpur (Nepal orientale). Super VHS  10'. Ed: Video Artigiano. Materiali di Antropologia Visiva 4, Museo Nazionale delle Arti e Tradizioni Popolari.
• 1991 – Deopuchna. Ritual consultations  in Himachal Pradesh (North India). Super VHS;  20': ed. Video Artigiano. Archivio di Antropologia. Università "La Sapienza", Roma.

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Presentations

• Paris, Maison Suger, 2011, Oral Dialogues and Legal Records in Shimla District Court, Workshop on Authoritative Speech in the Himalayan Region, November 25-26 organized by Marie Lecompte-Tilouine and Anne de Sales.
• Yale University, 2011,"Otherness and Strangeness in the case of Possession Rituals of Northern India”, Workshop on Strange Encounters: Asian Religions and the "Other",  October , 29-30, organized by Phyllis Granoff.
• Yale University, 2011, 'Relations of Power, Judicial Constraints and Government Practices in Shimla', Workshop  on 'Law and Social Exclusion in India', May 13-14.
• Yale University 2010,  'Ritual Faults and Legal Offences. A Discussion about Two Patterns of Justice in Contemporary India', Workshop on 
• Bonn 2010 “Internationalization of Law in India, and Local practice”
  
• Paris 2010 Pouvoirs locaux et contraintes judiciaires dans les procès criminels en Inde
• Pune 2010, Suicide Notes as Legal Evidence: An Ethnography of Criminal Proceedings in Domestic Violence Cases India"
• Yale University, 2010 The dangerous lives of gods’ images in the Indian Himalayas.
  
• Paris 2010 Court Talk and Judiciary writing. A Preliminary Fieldwork in Shimla District Court.
  
• Paris 2008  "Interactions judiciaires et solidarité villageoise dans un tribunal de district de l'Inde du nord".
• Vancouver, 2008 "Ritual Bricolage. Text, Drawings and Tantric Practitioners in North India" paper presented at the international workshop Image in Motion: News Perspectives in Buddhist Art, UBS –Buddhist Forum.
• Heidelberg 2007: "In the Name of Tradition: Political Patronage and Ritual Competitions at Kullu Dashera" presented at the workshop Ritual, Heritage, and Identity organised by Christiane Brosius and Karine Polit.
• Yale University, 2007 "Political Ideology and Divine Biographies. The Impact of Hindu Nationalism on a Local Pantheon in Himachal Pradesh (Northern India)", paper presented at the Society for the Study of Asian Religion / Woodward Fund.
• Yale University, 2007 "Judicial Proceedings and Village Solidarity in a District Court of Northern India", paper presented at the Mac Millan Center/ South Asian Studies Council/ Woodward Fund. 
• "Interactions et procédures judiciaires dans un tribunal de district en Inde du nord", Acte du Colloque du 3ème Congrès du Réseau Asie, Paris, septembre 2007.
• Delhi, 2006 "Trial, Witnesses and Local Stakes in a District Court of Himachal Pradesh
• Paris, 2005: "Palanquin divins. De l'assemblage rituel à l'image politique (Himachal Pradesh)", presented at the Annual Meeting of the Centre d'Etude de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud Images and Religions in South Asia", organised by Gilles Tarabout & Marie-Claude Mahias.
• New Haven, Yale University, 2005 : "A Sorcerer's Views of Magic: The Case of Baba Mahant of Kullu (Northern India)", presented at the international workshop Manipulating Magic: Sages, Sorcerers, and Scholars, organised at the University of Yale by P. Granoff and K. Shinohara.
• Heidelberg, 2004: "Contemporary relations between the royal palace and the village deities in Kullu (Himachal Pradesh)", presented at the workshop Rituals of Divine Kingship in the Western Himalaya, organised by W. Sax.
• Lisbonne, 2004 "Pluralités rituelles et modalités d'action", presented at the seminary organised by the Centre d'Histoire d'Outremer.
• Paris, 2004, "Dieux, héros et députés. Mythologisation du politique en Himachal Pradesh (Inde du Nord)" presented at the seminary "Les faiseurs d'histoire" coordinated by Gisèle Krauskopff.

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Grants

1999-2001 Post-PhD Grant from the Fyssen Foundation "Interprétation des événements et plasticité du panthéon dans le contexte de la possession en Inde du nord".
1997 Phd University of Florence  "Rituali di possessione nell'India himalayana".
1994-1997 Three-year-grant from the Department of "Methodology of  anthropological research", University of Sienna
1990 M.A.E in Demo-ethno anthropology, University of Rome.

Positions

2010-member of the Reading Committee Chemins de l'Ethnologie, MSH.
2008-2009 Visiting scholar, Yale University (6 months).
2007-2008 Visiting scholar, Yale University (6 months).
2006- Member of the Scientific Committee Rivista di Studi Asiatici.
2004- Research Appointment at CNRS
2004-2002 Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Paris X, Nanterre.
2003 Lecturer (ATER) at the l'National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilisations (INALCO,Paris).
2003-1998 Member of Editors Committee Etnosistemi. Processi e dinamiche culturali.
1998 memeber of the UPR 299 "Centre for Himalayan Studies". 

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