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{{short description|American anthropologist}}
'''Owen M. Lynch''' (January 4, 1931-April 26, 2013) was an American [[anthropology|anthropologist]] who specialised in the [[people of India]], with particular interest in those now referred to as [[dalit]]s, who were previously known as [[untouchability|untouchables]].<ref name="friedlander">{{cite journal |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=116 |issue=4 |title=Owen M. Lynch (1931-2013) |first=Eva |last=Friedlander|date=November 2014 |pages=898–900 |doi=10.1111/aman.12160}}</ref>

==Life==
Owen Lynch was born on January 4, 1931 in [[Flushing, Queens]], [[New York City]], to a working-class Roman Catholic family of Irish descent. The second of four children, his pre-university education was in [[Jesuit]] institutions and ended with a short spell studying theology at a seminary. He then enrolled for a BA degree at [[Fordham University]], which was awarded in 1956, before moving to [[Columbia University]] for postgraduate study. He was a student of [[Conrad M. Arensberg]] at Columbia and later, in 1984, organised the [[festschrift]] produced for his former mentor, titled ''Culture and Community in Europe''.<ref name="friedlander"/>

Between 1962-1964, Lynch conducted fieldwork in [[Madhya Pradesh]], India, studying the [[Munda languages]] with special reference to the [[Nihali|Nihali/Nahali]] subset. Further fieldwork researching the [[Jatav]] dalit people of [[Agra]] in 1964 was followed by the award in 1966 of a PhD in anthropology by Columbia This latter study, which inspired in him a deep and abiding interest in Buddhism and the impact of [[B. R. Ambedkar]] as a dalit icon, formed the basis for his first book, ''The Politics of Untouchability'', published in 1969.<ref name="friedlander"/><ref name="sova">{{cite web |title=Owen M. Lynch Papers - SOVA |publisher=Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives |url=
https://sova.si.edu/record/NAA.2013-11?s=0&n=10&t=C&q=&i=0 |access-date=2020-04-30}}</ref>

Armed with his PhD, Lynch became an assistant professor at the [[Binghamton University|Binghamton campus]] of [[State University of New York]], holding the post from 1966 until his promotion to associate professor in 1969.<ref name="friedlander"/> Also in 1966, he became a Seminar Associate at Columbia University Seminars and remained so for the next 20 years.<ref name="sova"/>

Having conducted fieldwork among squatters in the slums of [[Dharavi]] in Bombay (now [[Mumbai]]) during 1970-1971, Lynch was appointed Charles F. Noyes Professor of Urban Anthropology at [[New York University]] (NYU) in 1974 and continued in that role until 2003.<ref name="sova"/>

Lynch was also a [[Senior Research Associate]] at the [[South Asian Institute]] of Columbia University, 1978-1984. For some of that time, between 1980 and 1982, he did further fieldwork in India, on this occasion studying pilgrimage and the [[Chaube Brahmin]] people of [[Mathura]], [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref name="sova"/>

Further periods of fieldwork in India were undertaken by Lynch between 1988-1989, when he looked into the [[Radha-vallabha|Radhavallabhi sect]] in [[Vrindavan|Brindaban]], Uttar Pradesh, and between 1994-1995, when he returned to Agra for further study of the dalits there.<ref name="sova"/>

Lynch, who held numerous roles with professional organisations during his academic career, retired from NYU as Professor Emeritus in 2003 and died, unmarried and childless but with many appreciative nieces and nephews, on April 26, 2013 in [[Boston, Massachusetts]]. His last research was published in the previous year.<ref name="friedlander"/>

==Legacy==
Lynch's research and fieldwork papers are held by the [[National Anthropological Archives]].<ref name="sova"/> In 2014, the [[Indian Social Science Association]] presented its inaugural Professor Owen M. Lynch Memorial Award.<ref name="friedlander"/>

==Works==
Among Lynch's many publications are:

*''The Politics of Untouchability'' (1969), Columbia University Press
*"Pilgrimage with Krishna, Sovereign of the Emotions" (July 1988), ''Contributions to Indian Sociology'' 22(2) {{doi|10.1177/006996688022002003}}
*''Divine Passions: The Social Construction of Emotion in India'' (1992), University of California Press {{ISBN|978-0520066472}} (Editor)
*"Urban Anthropology, Postmodernist Cities, and Perspectives" (June 1994), ''City & Society'' 7(1) {{doi|10.1525/ciso.1994.7.1.35}}
*"Untouchables in India's Civil/Uncivil Democracy. A Review Article" (2001), ''Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology'' 66(2) {{doi|10.1080/00141840120070967}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Owen}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Flushing, Queens]]
[[Category:Fordham University alumni]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Columbia University faculty]]
[[Category:Binghamton University faculty]]
[[Category:New York University faculty]]
[[Category:American anthropologists]]

{{US-anthropologist-stub}}

Owen Lynch - Revision history

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