These 14 papers are selected from those given at the 2007 conference of the Toronto University "Imagining Collectives: Continuities, Changes, Contestations". Among the subjects addressed are: three papers on perceptions of identity; Maraimalai Adigal (1876-1950) and non-Brahmin Tamil nationalism; teens and gender issues in Sri Lanka Tamil families; gender and culture in Tamil Nadu performing arts; Tamil Hinduism in indenture-based societies in Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad, South Africa and Fiji; and papers on identity issues in Tamil literature.