An Ethnographic Investigation into the Persistence of Poverty amongst Adivasis and Dalits in India
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Department Name: Anthropology
Abstract
In recent decades India has experienced exceptionally high economic growth rates, becoming one of the world's fastest growing major economies. Yet, the redistribution of the fruits of economic growth - the trickle down effects of growth - have been negligible for vast swathes of India's population, most of whom live in the countryside. The demographics of the poor are starkly socially marked. Economists tell us that India's dalit and adivasi communities, who account for almost 25% of the country's population and were historically seen as 'untouchable' and 'savage', suffer from disproportionate levels of poverty, remaining worse off than other groups almost everywhere across the country. But econometric analysis is unable to tell us how and why this is the case.
This project consists of the following three components:
1) primary anthropological research to understand the processes by which poverty is reproduced through agrarian relations and the shift from farm-based social and economic hierarchies towards new forms of power and exploitation off the farm which lead to the persistence of dalit and adivasi marginalisation across India.
2) analytical development in the study of poverty and its persistence which, informed by recent statistical research and policy shifts at the national and state levels, crafts a more critical and powerful alternative to poverty measurements by ethnographically exploring the relationship between political and economic transformations in rural-based dalit and adivasi lives, and the transformations taking place at the macro level. Crucially this involves analytically establishing a research field which structures ethnography in the framework of political economic theory and brings this combination to the centre of understandings of poverty.
3) some of the first historically situated ethnographic studies which are comparative, not only in their regional distribution, but also in their underlying theoretical and methodological bases. The three cases - from central and eastern India - will be integrated at the level of planning, midterm goals and findings. Methodologically, the project will thus establish the value of an underdeveloped systematic ethnographic approach to poverty which will foreground the comparison of the consequences of rural political and economic transformation on dalit and adivasi lives across a number of different scales and settings in the most under-researched parts of the subcontinent.
The results from such deep comparative ethnographic research will be of considerable value to policy makers, researchers, activists and the general public. Significantly, the research will inform the fields of poverty and development, agrarian transition, and anthropology in the region and beyond. Three monographs on each site, one co-authored thematically arranged book on adivasis and dalits, and at least at least four peer-reviewed journal articles are the expected academic and policy related outputs. These will be supplemented by a package for BBC Radio 4, and a photo exhibition for a general public.
This project consists of the following three components:
1) primary anthropological research to understand the processes by which poverty is reproduced through agrarian relations and the shift from farm-based social and economic hierarchies towards new forms of power and exploitation off the farm which lead to the persistence of dalit and adivasi marginalisation across India.
2) analytical development in the study of poverty and its persistence which, informed by recent statistical research and policy shifts at the national and state levels, crafts a more critical and powerful alternative to poverty measurements by ethnographically exploring the relationship between political and economic transformations in rural-based dalit and adivasi lives, and the transformations taking place at the macro level. Crucially this involves analytically establishing a research field which structures ethnography in the framework of political economic theory and brings this combination to the centre of understandings of poverty.
3) some of the first historically situated ethnographic studies which are comparative, not only in their regional distribution, but also in their underlying theoretical and methodological bases. The three cases - from central and eastern India - will be integrated at the level of planning, midterm goals and findings. Methodologically, the project will thus establish the value of an underdeveloped systematic ethnographic approach to poverty which will foreground the comparison of the consequences of rural political and economic transformation on dalit and adivasi lives across a number of different scales and settings in the most under-researched parts of the subcontinent.
The results from such deep comparative ethnographic research will be of considerable value to policy makers, researchers, activists and the general public. Significantly, the research will inform the fields of poverty and development, agrarian transition, and anthropology in the region and beyond. Three monographs on each site, one co-authored thematically arranged book on adivasis and dalits, and at least at least four peer-reviewed journal articles are the expected academic and policy related outputs. These will be supplemented by a package for BBC Radio 4, and a photo exhibition for a general public.
Planned Impact
The research is designed to have an impact on both the general public in the UK interested in India's emergence as a global superpower, but also national and international policy makers, multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, NGOs and human rights organisations who implement programmes and collect data on poverty. Research users and stakeholders have been very concerned about the concentration of poverty among adivasis and dalits despite India's high economic growth rates. But the current measurements of poverty are unable to explain the detailed processes of socio-economic transformation taking place in rural India through which adivasi and dalit marginalisation persists. Fine-grained research which does not just describe but also explains the socio-economic processes and means through which poverty persists and is reproduced is direly needed but glaringly absent.
Research stakeholders will include the Department for International Development UK (especially the Poorest Areas Civil Society Programme), the World Bank (especially the Rural Development and the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, South Asia), the International Labour Organisation, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Action Aid and Oxfam as well as human rights agencies such as Human Rights Watch and Survival International. It is hoped that the research will point to hitherto unidentified dimensions of the changing dynamics of the struggles faced by adivasi and dalits that will aid these organizations in considering the design of their programmes, potentially improving them or pointing to other forms of action which have not yet been considered by them. The PI and one postdoc will work with a consultant, Dr Orlanda Ruthven, to establish a stakeholder reference group to keep in regular contact with over the course of the project. Specifically, one policy workshop will be organized at the beginning of the project to introduce the stakeholders to the project, understand their approaches to the issue, and analyse the ways in which project outputs may meaningfully improve their work. At the end of the project, two policy workshops (in the UK and in India) will be organized to present the project analyses and discuss the outputs and their significance with the stakeholders.
Additionally, the PI and a second postdoc will work with a consultant, Prof Ravi Srivastava, to understand in depth the basis of the national data sets through which poverty measurements are being generated (both strengths and limitations), and over the course of the project produce an impact paper on the implications of our collaborative ethnographic analysis for a reading of these data sets.
The general public will be reached through a two-pronged approach. First, drawing on her past experience, the PI will make a 30 minute radio documentary with BBC Radio 4 on the research. The collaboration will be in the form of a package that includes a multi-media audiovisual photo story and a web article, and will be complemented by articles for the Indian and UK broadsheets and magazines. Second, the documentary will be aired at the same time as the opening of a photo exhibition in a high profile location (such as the British Academy) which shows the analysis of the research through photography, both taken over the course of the project and sourced from Indian photographers, in order to raise general awareness. The third postdoc will work with the PI and a consultant Simon Chambers (film maker and photographer) who will both photograph, select photographs of Indian photographers, and curate the exhibition.
Research stakeholders will include the Department for International Development UK (especially the Poorest Areas Civil Society Programme), the World Bank (especially the Rural Development and the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, South Asia), the International Labour Organisation, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Action Aid and Oxfam as well as human rights agencies such as Human Rights Watch and Survival International. It is hoped that the research will point to hitherto unidentified dimensions of the changing dynamics of the struggles faced by adivasi and dalits that will aid these organizations in considering the design of their programmes, potentially improving them or pointing to other forms of action which have not yet been considered by them. The PI and one postdoc will work with a consultant, Dr Orlanda Ruthven, to establish a stakeholder reference group to keep in regular contact with over the course of the project. Specifically, one policy workshop will be organized at the beginning of the project to introduce the stakeholders to the project, understand their approaches to the issue, and analyse the ways in which project outputs may meaningfully improve their work. At the end of the project, two policy workshops (in the UK and in India) will be organized to present the project analyses and discuss the outputs and their significance with the stakeholders.
Additionally, the PI and a second postdoc will work with a consultant, Prof Ravi Srivastava, to understand in depth the basis of the national data sets through which poverty measurements are being generated (both strengths and limitations), and over the course of the project produce an impact paper on the implications of our collaborative ethnographic analysis for a reading of these data sets.
The general public will be reached through a two-pronged approach. First, drawing on her past experience, the PI will make a 30 minute radio documentary with BBC Radio 4 on the research. The collaboration will be in the form of a package that includes a multi-media audiovisual photo story and a web article, and will be complemented by articles for the Indian and UK broadsheets and magazines. Second, the documentary will be aired at the same time as the opening of a photo exhibition in a high profile location (such as the British Academy) which shows the analysis of the research through photography, both taken over the course of the project and sourced from Indian photographers, in order to raise general awareness. The third postdoc will work with the PI and a consultant Simon Chambers (film maker and photographer) who will both photograph, select photographs of Indian photographers, and curate the exhibition.
Publications
Axelby R
(2016)
'Who Has the Stick Has the Buffalo': Processes of Inclusion and Exclusion on a Pasture in the Indian Himalayas
in South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
Axelby R
(2014)
Wagner, Anja: The Gaddi Beyond Pastoralism. Making Place in the Indian Himalayas
in Anthropos
AXELBY R
(2019)
The Teacher, the Activist, and the Maulvi: Emancipatory visions and insurgent citizenship among Gujjars in Himachal Pradesh
in Modern Asian Studies
Axelby, R.
(2015)
Hermit Village or Zomian Republic? An update on the political socio-economy of a remote Himalayan community.
in European Bulletin of Himalayan Research
Benbabaali D
(2014)
Caste dominante et territoire en Andhra Pradesh : trajectoires socio-spatiales des Kamma
in Cahiers d'Outre-Mer
BENBABAALI D
(2018)
Caste Dominance and Territory in South India: Understanding Kammas' socio-spatial mobility
in Modern Asian Studies
Benbabaali D
(2016)
From the peasant armed struggle to the Telangana State: changes and continuities in a South Indian region's uprisings
in Contemporary South Asia
Benbabaali, D
(2014)
Book review of Gupta Akhil 'Red Tape. Bureaucracy, Structural, Violence and Poverty in India;
in Perspectives on Anarchist Theory
Campling L
(2016)
Introduction to the Special Issue The Political Economy of Agrarian Change: Essays in Appreciation of Henry Bernstein
in Journal of Agrarian Change
| Description | Our central research question was: how and why have India's Adivasis and Dalits (tribes/low castes) remained at the bottom of the social and economic hierarchy despite the country's remarkable economic growth. Not only does their situation matter as at 200 million (Dalits) and 100 million (Adivasis) people, they make up one in twenty-five people in the world. But it also poses a global challenge to those who promised that growth would trickle down to everyone, and who said that that old forms of hierarchies and social inequalities such as caste would disappear in the modern world. We designed a comparative ethnographic research programme, perhaps the first of its kind, with five postdocs living as participant observers for at least a year with Adivasis and Dalits in five different sites across country, comparatively exploring issues ranging from livelihoods to education. Visits by the PI and one CI and the postdocs to each others' site formed a crucial part of the cross fertilization of comparative analysis. We also collaborated with Indian economists who had shown country-wide disparities in poverty between Adivasis/Dalits and other groups, but ultimately we sought to understand thorny causal questions that cannot be brought out by statistical distributions: how disparities were reproduced, concerns which centre politico-economic processes and changing relations of power. Our primary field sites were in the tea plantations of Kerala, the chemical industrial belt of Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu, a paper factory in the forested areas of northern Telangana, the Narmada hills and valleys in Maharashtra, and the Himalayan foothills in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, though we also developed research in Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh Our main findings were that: 1) Though old forms of village based oppression along lines of purity and pollution had somewhat declined across the sites, the vast majority of Dalits and Adivasis were occupying the lowest rungs of the labour hierarchies in the informal economy, doing the jobs that others above them in the caste hierarchy will not do, employed on terms and conditions that exploit and oppress them. 2) Capitalism in India has entrenched social difference so that caste, tribe and gender are inseparable from class relations. Specifically, we conclude that the entrenchment of social difference in the expansion of capitalism takes place through at least three interrelated processes: a) The first is through historical inherited inequalities of power in which powerful outsiders, the state, and locally dominant groups continue to mediate and control the adverse incorporation and marginalisation of Adivasis and Dalits in the new economies. b) The second is through the super-exploitation of seasonal casual migrant labour which enables capitalists to pitch ethnically and regionally different sections of the labouring poor against each other to undermine their labour power. c) And the last, is through multiple conjugated oppression, the stigmatisation and fragmentation of the low castes and class specifically through inter-group and gender differences seeking to divide even what unity might be found across them. 3) Everywhere Adivasis and Dalits are engaging in various struggles against their situation but the odds are stacked against them. |
| Exploitation Route | Our work has already been widely acknowledged within an academic context. This is evidenced in the large number of invitations we have had to speak about it across the world, the recognition of our core book as a book of the year by India's most significant English language daily newspaper - the Hindu, and a request to translate the book into Hindi. There are many issues that emerge from this work that can be taken forward by other researchers. We provide a direct challenge to theories which propose that economic growth will filter down to everyone and this is evidence that can be used by others. Our conclusions for why this is the case - inherited inequalities of power, migrant labour and conjugated oppression - can also be applied to contexts in other parts of the world to understand why certain ethnic groups remain at the bottom of the social and economic hierarchy. There is a lot more work to be done on the question of what is to be done. Also, our methodological framework of comparative ethnographic fieldwork is rare but extremely fruitful and can be applied in other contexts and used to study other issues. Outside academia, we believe that our findings are of enormous importance across multiple sectors which employ informal labour - construction, agriculture, manufacturing, for instance. They point not only to the significance of informal precarious labour across the economy but especially that there is systematic ethnic/racial/caste based discrimination and oppression amongst informal labour. Employers actively use social oppression so it is only through legal measures and social pressure that changes can be brought about. We also point to the significance of land as a source of livelihood, amongst other things. We believe our findings can be used to make employers accountable to labour and point to the need to act against land taken away from the poor by big business. We hope our findings can generate new programmes within multi-lateral, bi-lateral, third sector organisations and unions concerned with labour discrimination and protection of land. We are already working with the All Party Parliamentary Committee of Dalits in the UK House of Lords, the UN International Labour Organisation, with Anti-Slavery International, Dalit Solidarity Network and also several organisations based in India on these issues. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Construction,Education,Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy,Other |
| Description | In highlighting the processes of caste and tribe inequality under economic growth in India and the struggles against it, GDBG and Nightmarch have impacted on the work of the UN - International Labour Organisation (ILO), high-level policy debate in the UK and the work of various NGOs. They have catalysed and shaped a new media discourse in the UK and in India, and raised public awareness globally, especially in the UK, India and Italy. Impact on the UN-ILO: GDBG showed how India is breaching two ILO Conventions: Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) 1958 (C111) and Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 (C107). Thereafter, the book has informed and prompted the ILO to work on land and labour discrimination against Dalits and Adivasis. As a result of GDBG, in early 2020, the ILO India office will publish a Policy Brief on the status of the implementation of C111 in India. This brief will be developed through a lessons-learning and training workshop based on Shah and Lerche's research hosted by ILO India [in January 2020]. It will be the first public assessment by ILO India of discrimination based on caste and tribe in India. The ILO Headquarters Office (Geneva) has also, for the first time, highlighted concerns regarding generalized discrimination against Dalits and Adivasis in relation to C111 and C107 in India. Up until the work of Shah and Lerche, the ILO had a narrow focus on only selected forms of discrimination of Dalits and Adivasis. In September 2018, its Research Department hosted a workshop and a series of meetings on the findings of GDBG in Geneva. Importantly, in the aftermath of the workshop, several of the ILO Departments formally raised concerns about Dalit and Adivasi discrimination to its Committee of Experts, which is in charge of preparing the annual meeting between the ILO and the Indian Government concerning the implementation of ILO conventions in India. This marks a significant shift in ILO work around Dalits and Adivasis. Significantly, after hosting the exhibition based on GDBG (see below), the ILO adopted its main sculpture as a permanent exhibit at its International Training Centre in Turin as a way to remind its staff and trainees to center caste/tribe and race discrimination in their own fight for decent work across the world. Impact on high-level policy debate in the UK: Every year since 2014, Dr Shah and Dr Lerche have been invited to present their findings on caste discrimination to the House of Lords by the UK All Parliamentary Party Group (APPG) for Dalits. Shah and Lerche used these meetings to extend the concerns of this APPG from Dalits to Adivasis. There were significant results. The first was that Adivasis appeared on the APPG agenda for the first time. Baroness Amos, who Chaired one of the meetings in November 2017, submitted a formal letter to Lord Harries of Petregrath (Co-Chair of the APPG Dalits) requesting the APPG for Dalits to formally extend its mandate to Adivasis, and to change its name from 'APPG for Dalits' to 'APPG for Dalits and Adivasis'. Although the APPG decided in July 2018 not to change its name, the research contributed to the expansion of democratic processes in the UK: it defended the inclusion of marginalised voices in parliamentary debate and put the issues faced by Adivasis on the political agenda in the UK. It led to the first ever meeting with scholars and activists working on Adivasis in the House of Lords [to take place in early 2020]. Indeed, in November 2017, Lord Harries tabled two parliamentary questions regarding labour discrimination and land alienation of Dalits and Adivasis, based on Shah and Lerche's research. Impact on the work of NGOs: Anti-slavery International and Aajeevika Bureau: GDBG significantly shaped Anti-slavery International's understanding of the caste-based divisions of bonded labour in India. The NGO drew significantly on GDBG for their 2017 flagship publication 'Slavery in India's Brick Kilns' and explicitly stated that the book was a 'key text' enhancing their understanding of 'the factors underpinning forced and bonded labour' of the predominantly Dalit and Adivasi brick kiln workers in India. They also wrote that that without this work their 'project would not be as effective in addressing these issues'. The India based Aajeevika Bureau, who works in the same field, also drew on the research. Raising public awareness and understanding: The research has raised public awareness and understanding around the issues through the curation of an important photo exhibition - 'Behind the Indian Boom: Inequality and Resistance at the heart of economic growth - and through extensive coverage in international and national media. The exhibition 'Behind the Indian Boom' (curated by Dr. Shah and Simon Chambers) showcased photographs taken by researchers involved with GDBG, including one section on the themes explored in Nightmarch. The exhibition was launched at the Brunei Gallery at SOAS in October - December 2017, where it attracted a record 10,000 visitors. It was subsequently shown at the LSE Atrium Gallery for over a month in January 2018. After the London exhibition was covered by the Italian press, it was invited to the city of Turin where, between March to May 2018, it became the launch event of the Turin Biennale Democrazia, was hosted by the ILO International Training Centre (ITC-ILO) and the Bobbio Library, University of Turin. Its success elicited an invitation from the City of Turin and the Piedmont Region to show it in its Gallery in Piazza Castello, Palazzo della Regione (June-July 2018). In Italy, these various displays of the exhibition attracted more than 40,000 visitors. 'Behind the Indian Boom' was the first public exhibition in Italy on inequality, economic growth and tribe-caste discrimination, and the first public exhibition in London to address these issues specifically. In London, a survey conducted amongst 281 visitors before and after viewing the exhibition showed a significant change in perspective on the issues covered. Firstly, the number of respondents who disagreed that 'economic growth is good for everyone' rose from 42% (before entering the exhibition) to 65% (after viewing it). Secondly, the number of people who disagreed that 'caste is a thing of the past', increased from 75% to 86% after viewing the exhibition. 2000 booklets based on the exhibition were distributed in the UK. A short film on GDBG, shot in the exhibition and featuring an interview with Alpa Shah, has been viewed more than 3500 times. The SOAS exhibition attracted a wide general audience that included 360 London based secondary school students from 59 schools who visited the exhibition to learn about caste and tribe in India. It also included visits from a large Indian diaspora including two special events (of 150 people each) they organised to debate the issues it raised. Most prestigiously, the exhibition attracted the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. Qualitative feedback provided on 236 post-it notes was almost entirely positive, and strongly indicated that the exhibition had prompted visitors to change their mind around the topics it addressed. Examples include: "Moving, thought provoking, educating." "An excellent exhibition. An eye opener." "Insightful and powerful. Anthropologists could make some change." "I'm leaving today angry and shameful - that this exists in our society. Thank you for making me feel." In Turin, the impact of the research was even more significant as it inspired others to extend its aims. There, the exhibition was adopted as the inaugural event of Biennale Democrazia, the annual initiative of the Department for Culture of the Municipality of Turin with the purpose of creating and spreading a culture of democracy. It also prompted two cultural organizations/NGOs (Yatra and Jarom) and an independent research centre on conflict resolution (Sereno Regis) to collaborate with the University of Turin to curate a wider set of events (a series of film screenings and workshops) on the theme of "Visible/Invisible", focusing on India. At the Bobbio Library, which hosted the Nightmarch section (between March and May), the librarians added to the exhibition, a collection of rare books (normally only accessible by appointment) written by 17th century philosopher Antonio Genovesi (only recently discovered in Italy) whose solution to human suffering was to propose a 'civil economy' which served the well-being of the many and not the few. The Italian hosts of the exhibition translated and expanded the exhibition booklet, distributing 500 copies. The University of Turin created a new module on their BA Modern and Contemporary History of South Asia around the themes of the exhibition, called 'India Invisible'. Those who were moved by the exhibition took it upon themselves to organise walking tours of the exhibition organized for the general public (including High School students). Significantly, though the exhibition is now over in Turin, the ILO-ITC has permanently adopted its central sculpture (as elaborated earlier). The Italian hosts unanimously praised the exhibition and its relevance. The exhibition "[pushed] students beyond simplistic representations and to involve them intellectually and emotionally" (Professor Domenico Francavilla, Director of the Asia Centre, University of Turin). The President of the cultural organisation Jarom referred to the event as "the most important moment of learning on the realities of Adivasi and Dalit conditions in India, to ever have landed in our city". The President of Yatra stated that "beyond the aim of documenting, [the exhibition] takes a stand, in such a way that is designed to foster reflections in the visitors". The President of Sereno Regis said that the exhibition created "an unprecedented opportunity (at least for Italy) of learning and reflection on aspects of India rarely debated or reported by mainstream media." Visitors' comments were universally positive - the exhibition was described as "food for thoughts and though provoking"", "eye-opening", "important", "amazing" and "necessary"; visitors particularly appreciated to be exposed to an "inconvenient truth" - a reality that usually finds little space in mass media. During a visit at the ITC-ILO, students deemed the exhibition very interesting and left heartening feedback, including, "My thoughts on progress have changed a lot after attending the exhibition; I always considered economic development as an opportunity of improvement of society, and not as a cause of dispossession and destruction"; "thanks to this exhibition I was able to better understand the reality that we sometimes try to ignore because it does not affect us in the first place"; and "this exhibition left me with different emotions and touched me very deeply I came out like I had discovered a new reality". An Indian trainee at ITC-ILO wrote to the organizers: "I grew in those areas and I easily connected myself to everything that was displayed in that exhibition I realized that my background is my strength. I am here to give voice to untold stories. It inspired me very deeply". Catalysing and shaping a new media discourse: GDBG, along with the Behind the Indian Boom exhibition, achieved significant national coverage and was reviewed in Il Manifesto; Eastern Eye; the Asian Independent website, in Focaal, and in the Journal of Historical and Global Anthropology blog (14/11/2017). BBC World Service Weekend invited Dr Shah to discuss the exhibition and the book with Michael Binyan and Shoma Chowdhury (17/12/2017). BBC Asian Network invited Dr Shah and one of the researchers for GDBG to discuss the exhibition and book with Nomia Iqbal for its 'Asian Network's Big Debate' (11/12/2017). An interview with Alpa Shah also appeared in the Indian online visual arts magazine Pix and on the New Books Network in the US. Dr Jens Lerche was interviewed on the same theme in The Conversation. Nightmarch specifically showed how economic growth has impacted Adivasis and how they have become mobilised in one of the world's most intractable and underreported rebellions. Indian and international media have overwhelmingly portrayed the individuals who join the Naxalite insurgency as deadly terrorists. Based on deep field-research over many years among Adivasis and in the insurgent armies in guerrilla strongholds, Nightmarch has offered a rare inside perspective on the movement, presenting the foremost challenge in any media to the conventional narrative. On publication, the book has enjoyed significant success and wide coverage in India, the UK, US and Italy. It was shortlisted for the prestigious 2019 Orwell Prize in the UK, the 2019 New India Book Foundation Prize and was also one of the books shortlisted for the 2019 Victor Turner Awards given by the Society for Humanistic Anthropology. Nightmarch was on several 2018 Book of the Year Lists, including lists in the New Statesman, History Workshop, Hindu Year in Review, Scroll India and on the Hong Kong Free Press Best Human Rights Book list. It enjoyed glowing reviews in the many prominent high-circulating international news venues including the Guardian (134K circulation), the Hindu (63 million circulation), the Indian Express, New Left Review (which commissioned an eight-page review essay on the book), Foreign Affairs US (329K circulation), the Wire, Asian Age, Business Standard, Financial Express, Scroll and Sri Lanka Guardian. In Italy, Nightmarch was reviewed in La Stampa (193K circulation); Il Manifesto; Alfabeta2; Altraeconomia; QCode; Rivista Missioni Consolata; MicroMega; Sereno Regis. All reviews have commended the insights of the book and its effectiveness in challenging the simplistic narratives of the Naxalites and the Adivasis. Many have highlighted that it stands out amongst all the books on these issues. Several high circulating media outlets commissioned excerpts of the book: Foreign Policy US (2.8 million monthly website visitors), BBC News (link shared over 1000 times on twitter), the News Minute, Scroll, Hindustan Times newspaper, Readers Digest India and Shethepeople. Dr Shah was interviewed about the book in the following high-circulating media venues: Times of India (the largest selling English daily newspaper in the world), The Indian Express newspaper, the National Herald, Firstpost, Sri Lanka Guardian and News1. Radio interviews with Dr Shah on Nightmarch were hosted by BBC Radio 4 Thinking Allowed, BBC Asian Network, Talk Radio Europe and Australian SBS Radio. After being translated into Italian in 2019, and launched during the Turin exhibition, the book has been covered by prominent Italian national newspapers such as La Stampa and Il Manifesto. All of this media coverage adds to Dr Shah's invitation by BBC Radio 4 From Our Own Correspondent (audience of 1.5 million) to report on the situation of Adivasis who have been dispossessed by anti-Maoist militia in the forests of Central India (broadcast on 30 May 2015) and to present BBC Radio Four Thought on democracy, mining and development for tribal people (broadcast on 9 December 2015 to an audience of 400,000). The comments of general readers of Nightmarch on websites such as Amazon and Goodreads (all rating the book as mostly five star) are explicit about the book's role in raising awareness about the Naxalites and the Adivasis. Examples include: "A wonderful book that changes traditional notion that brands our own indigenous people in wrong way..."; "If you are looking to understand the daily lives of Maoists, adivasis and the people who's lives are affected without the prejudiced view of armchair thinkers in metro cities, this book fits well. It is the most real, neutral analysis by a really brave author who went for anthropological study of Marxists by living like them. A must read!" "This is the book you need to pick up to know and learn the struggles of Naxalites". A further testimony to the public impact of Nightmarch is the fact that somebody not associated with Dr. Shah has created a Twitter account in its name ('Naxalite "Nightmarch" News'), which, inspired by the book, keeps an up-to-date record of all the causalities of the Naxalite conflict in India and will publish its results at the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research. |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | Adivasi Fellowship Programme |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The project executed an Adivasi Fellowship Programme whereby five Adivasi postdoctoral researchers were given reseearch training in the UK at LSE and SOAS as part of the team over the period of two weeks. |
| Description | Advice given by Barbara Harriss-White on Waste Technology and Livelihoods to Government of Punjab 2017-2018 |
| Geographic Reach | Asia |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Barbara Harriss-White have technical advice and research material to Smit Singh, an adviser to Minister Navjot Sidhu and put them in touch with other local experts on waste. As a result they are taking forward the formulation of a policy for waste in Punjab. |
| Description | Collaboration with the UK based global NGO Anti-Slavery for their publication |
| Geographic Reach | Asia |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | https://www.antislavery.org/reports-and-resources/research-reports/bonded-labour-reports/ |
| Description | Presentation at exhibition 'Behind the Indian Boom' at ILO International Training Centre, Turin and Training discussions with ILO officials |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| URL | https://www.itcilo.org/en/community/news/the-centre-hosts-an-exhibition-of-photographs-201cbehind-th... |
| Description | Training of staff of leading Indian organisation working with Adivasi and Dalit seasonal migrant labour in India |
| Geographic Reach | Asia |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The Indian Civil Society organisation Aajeevika is a leading agency working with communities dependent on migration and labour across three Indian States, on the rights and conditions of these communities and seasonal migrants. They translated to Hindi and distributed amongst their staff a summary of the analysis of our book 'Ground Down by Growth: Tribe, Caste, and Class in 21st Century India'. This was done in order to train staff in the underlying reasons for discrimination against Adivasi and Dalit seasonal migrant labour in the modern economies in India. Immediate reach: more than 50 staff members. Significance: staff trained to understand conditions within which they work. |
| Description | Training workshop in India Labour at the Margins: Action for Non-discrimination and Inclusion |
| Geographic Reach | Asia |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | 20 Indian grasroots organisations working with communities dependent on migration and labour, trained on the rights and conditions of these communities and seasonal migrants. Based on the analysis of our book 'Ground Down by Growth: Tribe, Caste, and Class in 21st Century India'. This was done in order to train staff in the underlying reasons for discrimination against Adivasi and Dalit seasonal migrant labour in the modern economies in India. Immediate reach: 20 organisations working in 10 Indian states. Significance: staff trained to understand conditions within which they work. |
| Description | LSE RIIF FUNDING ANTHROPOLOGY |
| Amount | £5,062 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | For South Asia Anthropology Group Meeting |
| Organisation | London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2019 |
| End | 10/2019 |
| Description | SOAS Impact Case Study Enhancement Fund |
| Amount | £688 (GBP) |
| Organisation | School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2018 |
| End | 06/2018 |
| Description | Barbara Harriss-White |
| Organisation | Centre for Equity Studies |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Collaboration on India Exclusion Report 2019-2020 on topic of waste |
| Collaborator Contribution | Brought out the India Exclusion Report |
| Impact | India Exclusion Report 2019-2020 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Barbara Harriss-White collaboration with University of Manchester |
| Organisation | University of Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Special Issue on Urban Informality for Journal of Development Studies |
| Collaborator Contribution | Special Issue on Urban Informality |
| Impact | Special Issue on Urban Informality |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Delhi Training Workshop Labour at the Margins: Action for Non-discrimination and Inclusion |
| Organisation | Institute for Human Development, Delhi |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Co-hosting, with the ILO programme 'Work in Freedom, India' and IHD Delhi, a training workshop in India "Labour at the Margins: Action for Non-discrimination and Inclusion" |
| Collaborator Contribution | 20 Indian grasroots organisations working with communities dependent on migration and labour, trained on the rights and conditions of these communities and seasonal migrants. Based on the analysis of our book 'Ground Down by Growth: Tribe, Caste, and Class in 21st Century India'. This was done in order to train staff in the underlying reasons for discrimination against Adivasi and Dalit seasonal migrant labour in the modern economies in India. Immediate reach: 20 organisations working in 10 Indian states. |
| Impact | Staff of 20 civil society organisations trained to understand underlying factors influencing conditions within which they work. Disciplines: Social policy, anthropology, economics, development studies |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Delhi Training Workshop Labour at the Margins: Action for Non-discrimination and Inclusion |
| Organisation | International Labour Organization (ILO) |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Co-hosting, with the ILO programme 'Work in Freedom, India' and IHD Delhi, a training workshop in India "Labour at the Margins: Action for Non-discrimination and Inclusion" |
| Collaborator Contribution | 20 Indian grasroots organisations working with communities dependent on migration and labour, trained on the rights and conditions of these communities and seasonal migrants. Based on the analysis of our book 'Ground Down by Growth: Tribe, Caste, and Class in 21st Century India'. This was done in order to train staff in the underlying reasons for discrimination against Adivasi and Dalit seasonal migrant labour in the modern economies in India. Immediate reach: 20 organisations working in 10 Indian states. |
| Impact | Staff of 20 civil society organisations trained to understand underlying factors influencing conditions within which they work. Disciplines: Social policy, anthropology, economics, development studies |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | A podcast on Nightmarch made by Gyanatantra |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Gyanatantra asked to make a more than 30 minute podcast on Nightmarch which was widely circulated in Indian and internationally |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://ivmpodcasts.com/ganatantra-episode-list/2019/11/6/s02-e08-maoists-and-adivasis-feat-alpa-sha... |
| Description | Alpa Shah interviewed about Birsa Munda by BBC Radio 4's India Incarnation seriies |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Alpa Shah interviewed on BBC Radio 4's India Incarnations series on Birsa Munda on whom she wrote an article |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Alpa Shah interviewed about Ground Down by Growth on BBC WorldService Weekend and BBC Asian Network |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Alpa Shah interviewed about main conclusions of research on BBC World Service Weekend programme (by Michael Binyon) and on BBC Asian Network (by Nomia Iqbal) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Alpa Shah interviewed about participant observation on BBC Radio 4's From Savage to Self Series |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Alpa Shah interviewed about Anthropology's key methodology participant observation on a BBC Radio 4 series |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Alpa Shah interviewed on Nightmarch for newspapers and news magazines |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Alpa Shah was interviewed about Nightmarch for the following print and online media: Mathrubhumi, the Keralan Malayalam daily, review's Alpa Shah's Nightmarch and carries an interview with her (K A Johny, 2/20). The Political Quarterly interviews Alpa Shah about the writing of Nightmarch 'A gripping first-hand accountalthough the contradictions of the Naxalites leads to their decline, Shah still has great respect for the way of life she experienced while living amongst the insurgents. "You could say that kindness was a revolutionary act", she agrees.' (Anya Pearson 1/20) The Patriot interviews Alpa Shah on writing narrative non-fiction as an academic. 'lucid prose sensitively straddles the world of Naxals to tell stories of conflict, hierarchies, inequality and inherent contradictions in the movement with compelling takeaways for everyone.' (11/19) The Indian Express interviews Alpa Shah in the aftermath of Nightmarch being shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. 'An astonishing journey. A rare, granular portrait.' (07/2019) Firstpost interviews Alpa Shah on Nightmarch after its longlisting for the Orwell Prize: 'Today, the forms of inequality, oppression and repression may have changed, but I think Orwell's words ring as true as ever that in fact, "Everyone writes of them in one guise or another".' 'It's a complex story - of people who have meant well for Adivasis but who have also increasingly destroyed their communities from within' Times of India 'I often thought of leaving. But I was so moved by the lives of the people I was living with that my primary concern was to try to understand them as best I couldThis required time and commitment' News 18 'I went to live among the Adivasis by chance. But later I realized how lucky I had been because as single woman I had the freedom to move and do research that I could not have done in most other parts of India.' Sri Lanka Guardian 'As long as we have governments that support and exacerbate inequalities, rebel movements like that of the Naxalites will find supporters.' National Herald 'The hopeful dreams of beautiful futures can easily turn into nightmarish power battles between warring elites leaving behind the destruction of countless lives in vicious cycles of violence.' LSE Connect |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019,2020 |
| Description | Alpa Shah invited to present on BBC Radio 4 Four Thought on Adivasis and mining |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Alpa Shah invited to present on BBC Radio 4 Four Thought on adivasis and mining and development |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Alpa Shah invited to report on BBC Radio 4's flagship show From Our Own Correspondent |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Alpa Shah reported for BBC Radio 4's From Our Own Correspondent, also aired on BBC World Service. Programme about Adivasis rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of anti-Maoist militias |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Alpa Shah writes an Opinion piece for Hindustan Times about Democracy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Alpa Shah invited to write an opinion piece on Democracy at the time of the Jharkhand elections - one of the significant national dailies in India |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/jharkhand-offers-a-slice-of-unique-tribal-democracy-it-has-w... |
| Description | Alpa Shah's Nightmarch reviewed in more than thirty-five newspapers, magazines and news websites |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 'An exceptional undertaking ... one of the most nuanced, informed accounts yet of a strange and awful conflict.' Julia Lovell, The Guardian 'A careful, rich, sympathetic account of the Maoist insurgency in India ... a brave and necessary work.' - Neel Mukherjee, The New Statesman's list of best books of 2018. 'Subtle and moving ... It combines powerful first-hand description - as gripping as any novel - with analysis which understands the rebel's motivations and backgrounds without ever falling into simplistic political binaries.' - Yasmin Khan, History Workshop's Radical Books of 2018. 'A powerful, emotional and painstakingly detailed analysis . . . a rare insight. . . the book is engrossing and its characters will haunt youa very nuanced study that seeks to understand and point towards solutions to one of India's most intractable conflicts.' Vidya Ram, The Hindu? 'An astonishing journey. A rare, granular portrait.' Amrita Dutta, The Indian Express 'Vividly evocative, weaving descriptions of the journey with five character-portraits, to some extent archetypes, that help to illuminate Shah's thoughtful and nuanced discussion of the uprising's social and cultural background...a powerful synthesis, warm but never uncritical, a distillation of her own scholarship and the experiences of her subjects, that immerses the reader in a lifeworld. ' Kheya Bag, New Left Review 'A thoughtful and balanced account.' Marco Aime, La Stampa 'By far the best book I've come across on the Naxalite rebels and the Adivasi communities where they operate.' - Kong Tsung-gan, The Hong Kong Free Press. 'One of the most extraordinary works of research and reportage to be published in India last year.' Supriya Nair, The Voice of Fashion 'Can an academic study also double up as a riveting thriller? Alpa Shah has managed this seemingly impossible amalgam.' Ajith Pillai, The Asian Age 'Shah dismisses theories that peasants join insurgencies for economic benefits or for protection, emphasizing instead the emotional bonds the guerillas form with young Adivasis builds her analysis around a dramatic narrative of a seven-night, 155-mile march she took with a platoon of guerillas.' Andrew Nathan, Foreign Affairs 'A riveting and complex view of Naxalismit is a privilege to have Shah as the investigator.' Partha Chakrabartty, The Wire 'Critical, analytic and compassionate, Nightmarch is also an extraordinary feat of social science research ... Shah introduces us to people who are often branded as terrorists by the state, and tells us their individual stories with texture and nuance, to show us their reasons for picking up arms against the state, while never romanticising these narratives or the movement.' Simantini Dey, News18.com 'Nightmarch isn't just a journey into India's Naxal heartlands, it's a journey into your minds and hearts and for this and this above all, it must be read lucid prose sensitively straddles the world of Naxals to tell stories of conflict, hierarchies, inequality and inherent contradictions in the movement with compelling takeaways for everyone-and that's what takes this book right to the top of political writing in narrative non-fiction.' Pallavi Singh, The News Laundry 'With great empathy and superb narrative ability, [Shah] analyses, documents, reflects.' Marina Forti, alphabeta2 'The level of commitment that Shah has shown towards her research is commendable. She emanates the true spirit of ethnographers and anthropologists such as Verrier Elwin. Her experience of the conflict is therefore more nuanced and complex than generally portrayed in the media.' Sonia K. Kurup, Sakal Times 'As [Alpa Shah] describes how she walked, sometimes sleepwalked, with the Naxalites, we, the readers march along with her, alert and in awe as we turn each page.' Souradeep Roy, Business Standard 'Draws urgent attention to a zone whose continued neglect reflects the collective pathologies of society.' Ashutosh Bhardwaj, Financial Express 'This social scientist has done something that many of her peers and contemporaries never even dared to consider' The Assam Tribune 'An insightful book ... focuses primarily on the lives of Naxalites and Adivasis in Jharkhand and Shah's knowledge of this place and her people shows in her writing. This book exposes the contradictions within the Naxalite movement and tries to decide if the movement is good or bad for the Adivasis.' Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, 'Favourite Reads of 2018', Scroll 'A gritty and revelatory journey.' Sri Lanka Guardian '[A] vibrant piece of anthropological work written in a way that provides food for thought and, at the same time, moves hearts, this book is an example of the unique contribution anthropologists can bring to understanding the world we live in.' Public Anthropologist Blog 'Shah's powerful, reflective and deeply engaged scholarship recognises the innumerable social, economic, political and personal forces that drive the most marginalised into the Naxalite struggle while also acknowledging the movement's many contradictions a perfect illustration of the unique contribution that anthropologists can bring in comprehending the world we live in.' Anwesha Dutta, LSE Review of Books 'Alpa's discussions and analysis of the movement and its role amongst a rural community is fascinating Nightmarch is a fascinating insight into a war going on in one of the world's largest democracies.' Lipstick Socialist 'Simultaneously a major contribution to scholarship and at the same time written to entice a wider readership to care about the poor and their insurgent politics.' Gavin Smith, Journal of Peasant Studies 'With Nightmarch, Shah has fully met her obligations to the people (both the Adivasis and the Maoists) she has studied; to social anthropology and her colleagues in that branch of social science; and most importantly, to her students and the intelligent public at large.' Bernard D' Mello, Journal of Agrarian Change 'Beautifully crafted and highly engaging.' Kaya Uzel, Journal of Legal Anthropology 'Although each of these four books takes a very different methodological and conceptual approach to the question of security, they are all grounded in ethnographic engagement with the people and contexts they analyze, and each offers some kind of theoretical and political critique of our world's inundation with security. The most successful across all these facets is Alpa Shah's Nightmarch Shah's book stands out in important ways...' Lori Allen, Political and Legal Anthropology Review 'A timely and major contribution to our knowledge of contemporary India's popular political praxis and people's resistances to predatory, state-sponsored capitalism' Nicolas Jaoul, Current Anthropology 'An epitaph to a flawed revolutionary dreamlucid and compelling a compassionate but honest assessment of the Naxalite or Maoist movement, and of the relationships between the revolutionaries and the Adivasis.' John Harriss, Review of Agrarian Studies 'A unique document, a story from below of the Naxalite movement and the adivasi culture, which the author gives voice to in an intimate and brilliant text'. Maria Tavernini, QCode and Altreconomia 'Recognising the emancipatory potential of the Naxalite movement, the book explores its limits and contradictions.' Matilde Adduci, L'Indice |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019,2020 |
| Description | Barbara Harriss-White interviewed about Waste in India on Scroll India and on drugtodayonline |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Raised awareness about waste issues in India. Barbara Harriss-White interviewed in special article on her work on Scroll. Also interviewed in an atrticle on 'India's Word of Waste: Global Growth Topper' on Drugstodayonline. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://scroll.in/article/803433/there-is-big-money-in-the-waste-economy-says-oxford-economist-but-n... |
| Description | Behind the Indian Boom exhibition curated by Alpa Shah and Simon Chambers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | More than 20,000 people have visited the several incarnations of the exhibition 'Behind the Indian Boom' which was curated by film maker Simon Chambers and Alpa Shah based on this research and involving the work of more than 30 researchers, journalists and activists. . It was installed at the Brunei Gallery at SOAS, from the 13th October to 16th December 2017. It moved to the LSE Arts Atrium Gallery from the 15th January to 15th February 2018. And was then hosted in Turin between April to July 2019 by the University of Turin, the International Labour Organisation Training Centre, the Biennale Democrazia, the Centro Serano Regis, before being finally shown at the Piemonte Regione. The Turin edition was curated by Daniela Bezzi. Audience participation was overwhelmingly positive and showed strong evidence of change in perception in relation to the impact of economic growth in India and the fact that caste discrimination persists and is exacerbated by it. The Brunei Gallery exhibition alone generated the following events: Behind the Indian Boom Launch Friday 13 October 2017, 5-9pm. Speakers: Professor Katy Gardner (Head of Department of Anthropology, LSE); Dr Alpa Shah (Anthropology, LSE and curator of exhibition), Simon Chambers (curator of exhibition), Dr Edward Simpson (Director of South Asia Institute, SOAS) and Professor Deborah Johnston (Pro-Director, SOAS) Widening Participation event: 8 Year 12 students Friday 13 October 2017 Brampton Manor Sixth Form, Anglo European School, The Bridge Academy, William Morris Sixth Form, City of London Academy Southwark, Highlands Secondary School, Wallington High School for Girls, Seven Kings High School Bloomsbury Festival 2017 Wednesday 18th to Sunday 22nd October The exhibition was part of the Bloomsbury Festival Museum Mile Guided Tour 21st October 2017 Museum Mile Guided Tour 22nd October 2017 Guided visit by the East London Science School, year 7 27th October 2017 Brunei Gallery and SOAS South Asia Institute Talk in Behind the Indian Boom Thursday 2 November 2017, 3-5pm 'Facebook is great but India needs Voicebook more' Speaker: Shubhranshu Chowdhury. Chair: Dr Navtej Parewal Museum Mile Guided Tour 3rd November 2017 Widening Participation event: 24 Year 9&10 Students 6th November 2017 Addey and Stanhope School, Greig City Academy, Ark Burlington Danes Academy, London Nautical School Widening Participation event: 34 Year 9&10 Students 7th November 2017 Sarah Bonnell School Oaklands School Loxford School Maria Fidelis School Widening Participation event: 179 Year 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 students 8th November 2017 Harris Academy St John's Wood, Swakeleys School for Girls, Holloway School, Rushcroft Foundation School, The Maplesdon Noakes School, Gable Hall School, Oasis Academy Enfield, Rokeby School, Sarah Bonnell School, London Nautical School, Oaklands School, Enfield County School, Grieg City Academy, Hendon School, Hornsey Sixth Form College, King Soloman Academy, Kingsmead Secondary School, Pimlico Academy, Seven Kings High School, Six 21, St Augustines Cof E High School, St Philomena's School, The City of London, Academy Sixth Form, The Compton School, The Grey Coat Hospital School Widening Participation event: 40 Year 12 Students 10th November 2017 Central Foundation Girls School, City of London Academy - Southwark, City of London Academy - Islington, Dormers Wells High School, Enfield County High School, Morpeth School, Oaks Park Sixth Form, Park Academy West London, Pimlico Academy, Sacred Heart High School, St Augustines CofE High School, St Philomena's School, Tiffin Girls School, Westminster Kingsway College, Woodford County High School Private Viewing and Lecture for the Indian Diaspora Behind: Behind the Indian Boom Monday 13 November 2017, 5-8pm Speakers: Dr Alpa Shah and Dr Jens Lerche United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and 100 attendees Thursday 16 November 2017, 4.30-5pm Organised as part of the Secretary-General's talk at SOAS Goldsmiths Anthropology Society organized Private Viewing and Discussion for Students Thursday 16 November 2017, 5.30-7.30pm Speakers: Dr Alpa Shah, Dr Jens Lerche, Megnaa Mehtta and Itay Noy Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations UK and Sri Guru Ravidass Sabha, Bedford organized Private Viewing and Discussion for Indian Diaspora Saturday 18 November 2017, 6-8pm Speakers: Dr Alpa Shah and Dr Jens Lerche Brunei Gallery Walking Tour in Behind the Indian Boom: 'If trees could speak: Tales of epic struggles in the Dandakar Forest' Monday 20 November 2017, 12.30-1.30pm Speaker: Kerima Mohideen LSE Department of Management Private Viewing and Discussion Monday 20 November 2017, 3-5pm. Speakers: Dr Alpa Shah and Dr Jens Lerche House of Lords Event on 'Behind the Indian Boom' organized by the Chair and Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Dalits, Yasmin Qureshi MP and Lord Harries of Pentragarth Tuesday 21 November 2017, 5.15-7.00pm. Chair: Baroness Valerie Amos Speakers: Dr Alpa Shah, Dr Jens Lerche, Simon Chambers Moderator: Professor David Mosse LSE International Inequalities Institute Viewing and Discussion Tuesday 28 November 2017, 2-5pm. Speakers: Dr Alpa Shah and Dr Jens Lerche Brunei Gallery Talk in Behind the Indian Boom Wednesday 29 November 2017, 3-5pm 'Genocide and Violations of India's Indigenous Communities? The Bust-side of India's Boom' Speakers: Felix Padel and Malvika Gupta SOAS Student Nights at the Brunei Thursday 30 November 2017, 5-7pm Speaker: Jens Lerche SOAS Ambassadors at Behind the Boom Wednesday 6 December 12-1pm Speaker: Jens Lerche Widening Participation event: 25 Year 12 and 13 students 6th December 2017 St Paul's Way School, Widening Participation event: 50 Year 12 and 13 students 8th December 2017 Anglo European School, Brampton Manor Academy, Ark Burlington Danes Academy, Chobham Academy, Dormers Wells High School, Eastbury Community School, Hammersmith Academy, Hampstead School, Harris Academy Bermondsey, Harris Westminster Sixth Form, Haverstock School, Heathcote School, Hendon School, Oasis Academy Hadley, Park Academy West London, Pimlico Academy, Sacred Heart Sixth Form (Southwark), Six 21, St Charles Catholic Sixth Form College, The Greycoat Hospital School, The Urswick School Sixth Form, Walworth Academy, Westminster Kingsway college 'Ground Down by Growth' Book Launch Saturday 9 December 2017, 6-8pm Speakers: Dr Nate Roberts, Professor Virginius Xaxa, Dr Alpa Shah, Dr Jens Lerche, Dr Jayaseelan Raj and Dr Richard Axelby |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019 |
| Description | Blog on labour reforms in India - Lerche |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | The SOAS South Asia Institute's event 'Assessing Modi's Track Record Eighteen Months On', 19 November 2015 attracted 70 participants and the lively debate led to the presentations being published as blogs on the South Asia Institute's website. This included Jens Lerche's presentation on 'Making India? The Labour Law Reforms of Narendra Modi's Government'. After the presentation representatives for NGOs working in India and students have contacted Dr Lerche to get more information. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/events/file107716.pdf |
| Description | Dalit Solidarity Network |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Our first meeting with Dalit Solidarity Network in 2014 included them learning about our research and us learning about their Ambedkar Principles. We then participated with the head of Dalit Solidarity Network in a 2015 House of Lords meeting drawing attention to the plight of Dalits and Adivasis in India. Finally as a result of this collaboration Dalit Solidarity Network invites us to present the result of our findings to their Annual General Meeting in 2017 and included reports on our research and news of our exhibition in the newsletter. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2017 |
| Description | Dialogue with Indian Labour Unions, Low Caste and Tribal Organisations |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Roundtable on our book 'Ground Down by Growth' with Unions leaders, Dalit and Adivasi activists, and ILO India, in New Delhi. The objective was to increase union awareness about caste and tribe based labour discrimination. Jens Lerche, Alpa Shah, Ravi Srivastava presented the findings of the project and all Unions leaders, Dalit and Adivasi activists, and ILO India responded. Participants included the leaders of the five largest labour unions in India. Outcome so far: awareness raising of Union leaders concerning caste discrimination in labour relations in India. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | House of Lords presentations of the research in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and culminating in a Special Event on the research in 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Since the beginning of the research in 2014 Alpa Shah and other members of the team have presented our research on discrimination of Adivasis and Dalits in India to the House of Lords, hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Dalits. Our agenda has been to higlight the significance of Adivasi discrimination alongside Dalits and to highlight ongoing discrimination of both groups in the labour supply chains. Our engagement culminated in a special event on our work hosted by the APPG at which Alpa Shah, Jens Lerche and Simon Chambers presented to 15 members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Dalits and associated individuals from NGOs and development groups. The outcome was that the APPG considered formally extending its mandate to Adivasis, and that this be reflected in a change of name from 'APPG for Dalits' to 'APPG for Dalits and Adivasis'. Although the APPG eventually decided not to change its name, it did set in motion consultations with Adivasis in the UK regarding how also to represent their views. At our request Lord Harries also tabled two parliamentary questions regarding labour discrimination and land alienation of Dalits and Adivasis, based on the research. This will lead to a higher public profile of cases of discrimination against Adivasis in India, including when this involves British companies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016,2017,2018 |
| Description | House of Lords: Presentation of 'Behind the Indian Boom' exhibition to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Dalits and associated individuals from NGOs. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Jerns lerche, Alpa Shah and Simon Chambers, at the House of Lords: Presentation of 'Behind the Indian Boom' exhibition to 15 members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Dalits and associated individuals from NGOs and development groups. Outcomes: The APPG considered formally extending its mandate to Adivasis, and that this be reflected in a change of name from 'APPG for Dalits' to 'APPG for Dalits and Adivasis'. While in 2018 it decided not to do so, the APPG instead set in motion consultations with Adivasis in the UK regarding how also to represent their views. At our request Lord Harries also tabled two parliamentary questions regarding labour discrimination and land alienation of Dalits and Adivasis, based on the research. This will lead to a higher public profile of cases of discrimination against Adivasis in India, including when this involves British companies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Informing the International Labour Organisation about non-implementation of ILO conventions concerning discrimination in India |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Alpa Shah, Jens Lerche, Ravi Srivastava gave three presentations on ILO workshop on 'Working Conditions of Women and Men from Tribal and Dalit Communities. India and Bangladesh in focus'. They also undertook meetings with ILO Gender, Equality and Diversity branch, NORMES branch, FUNDAMENTALS Branch, ILO Research Department. The objective was to highlight breeches by India of two ILO Conventions: Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) 1958 (No. 111); and Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 (No. 107). A policy brief by the research programme was included as background material for the ILO's Committee of Experts to consider for their annual meeting with Government of India. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Jayaseelan Raj BBC World interview on Hindu Nationalism and Caste |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Raised general awareness around persistence of caste discrimination in India |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Jayaseelan Raj interview in Keraleeyam Magazine on Tea Crisis and Workers Struggles |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Increased awareness about crisis in tea industry and the kinds of struggles it is resulting in |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Media Excerpts of Alpa Shah's Nightmarch appeared in more than eight different newspapers and news magazines ranging from BBC and Foreign Policy to Hindustan Times |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The following news papers, media channels requested to carry excerpts of Alpa Shah's Nightmarch: '"Sleepwalking" with India's Maoist guerrillas.' BBC News 'As India's police conjure up the specter of urban Maoist terror, the real insurgency remains deep in the jungle.' Foreign Policy 'The "city" in the middle of a forest.' The News Minute 'I asked Gyanji if I could return to Lalgaon with him in the platoon. I wanted to experience what it was like to be continually "on the move".' Scroll 'It seemed that the emphasis on marriage - as the only legitimate way in which two people could be close - was about controlling women.' Hindustan Times 'Staying in the shadows, I followed the rules we had agreed upon to draw as little attention to myself as possible.' Readers Digest India? ' The camp tailor stitched a uniform for me on the day of departure. Olive-green shirt and trousers, too large for my waist, were held by a belt. Would Bimalji approve of this attire that drowned my femininity?' She The People |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
| Description | Media coverage of Ground Down by Growth issues in the Hindu, Il Manifesto, Eastern Eye, the Asian Independent and the Pix |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The outcomes of our research were covered in the following newspapers and magazines in special articles devoted to the book and the exhibition which accompanied it: - interview with Pix, the Indian photo journal: http://www.enterpix.in/pix-post/8059-2/, May 2018. - the Hindu (India's premier national daily newspaper), across half of page 4 of the Weekend Section on 3 December 2017 (see also http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sundaymagazine/all-that-glitters-and-all-that-doesnt/article21252542.ece - Il Manifesto (Italian daily newspaper), across page 4 and 5 on 11 November 2017 (see https://ilmanifesto.it/laltra-faccia-del-miracolo/) - the Eastern Eye (British Asian weekly newspaper), entire page 4 on 29 November 2017 (see https://www.easterneye.eu/exhibition-looks-role-low-caste-tribal-communities) - the Asian Independent on 12 December 2017 - Focaal, Journal of historical and global anthropology, blog on 14 November 2017 http://www.focaalblog.com/2017/11/14/nithya-natarajan-behind-the-indian-boom/ |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | New Books Network made a podcast on Ground Down by Growth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | New Books Network asked to make a podcast on Ground Down by Growth and interviewed Alpa Shah For it |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://newbooksnetwork.com/alpa-shah-et-al-ground-down-by-growth-tribe-caste-class-and-inequality-i... |
| Description | Op-Ed for the Hindu on 'The Politics of Waste Management' by Barbara Harriss-White |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Op-Ed was blogged on wiki news: http://www.wikinewsindia.com/english-news/thehindu-news/opinion-blogs/treating-waste/. It was translated into Tamil - http://tnlabour.in/?p=2768 ; reprinted in 2016, in The Making of Vibrant Cities, BRICS Friendship Cities Conclave, Mumbai First, Rupa Pub, New Delhi |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-politics-of-waste-management/article7731264.ece |
| Description | Plenary Talk to The International Labor Organization (ILO) Centenary and the Future of Global Worker Rights |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Jens Lerche was invited to deliver a plenary talk to 300 ILO staff, third sector organisations and academics at conference organised at Georgetown University, Washington, supported by the ILO, "Continuing the Struggle: The International Labor Organization (ILO) Centenary and the Future of Global Worker Rights." He spoke on "Organizing against Discrimination of Low Caste and Indigenous Tribal Labour in India". The discussion with ILO staff concerning ILO recognition of the subject matter continued throughout the conference and is still ongoing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.iloat100.org/agenda/ |
| Description | Presentation at Canterbury Christchurch University on economic growth and caste and tribe based discrimination in India |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 40 students, academics and members of the public attended a visit to Canterbury Christchurch University, organised by staff, student union and outreach colleagues. The presentation sparked debates on discrimination of castes and tribes in India, with a lively and engaged audience |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/events/general/jens-lerche-soas.aspx |
| Description | Presentation of policy conclusions of our book 'Ground Down by Growth' to Dalit Solidarity Network UK AMG |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of policy conclusions of our book 'Ground Down by Growth' to AGM by Jens Lerche. 20 participants, including leaders of UK Dalit organisations. Outcome: Dalit organisations to visit exhibition organised by PI Alpa Shah, relating to the book. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Radio Interviews with Alpa Shah about Nightmarch on BBC Radio 4, BBC Asian Network, Australian SBS and Talk Europe Radio |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Alpa Shah was interviewed about Nightmarch and Adivasis and Maoists in India on BBC Radio 4 Thinking Allowed, BBC Asian Network, Australian SBS radio and Talk Europe Radio |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | taking part in a podcast series from The Anthill: Economic growth, inequality and jobs: India Tomorrow, part 5. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Anthill published 5 podcasts leading up to the Indian General Election of 2019. I was one of three main participants in a podcast on Economic growth, inequality and jobs in India. The intention was to highlight main concerns of the Indian electorate regarding economic development in india |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://theconversation.com/india-tomorrow-part-5-economic-growth-inequality-and-jobs-116678 |