Research Radio

India is highly vulnerable to the effects of the global climate crises, and is simultaneously now the third largest contributor of greenhouse gases in the world. To address a crisis as complex and long-standing as climate change requires effective institutions. Shibani Ghosh and Navroz Dubash join us this week to share their research examining the effectiveness of Indian institutions and policies to address the global environmental crises. We’ll be focusing on an EPW article written by Navroz and Neha Joseph (http://bit.ly/climate-epw ). Joseph could not join us for this interview. But we'll be discussing Shibani and Navroz's article that expands on the EPW article on climate policy in India. It can be freely downloaded here.

Shibani Ghosh is a Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research and an Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court of India. Her work focuses on environmental law and governance. Navroz K Dubash is also with the Centre for Policy Research where he is a professor. His work focuses on climate change, air quality, energy and water, and he has played the role of researcher, policy advisor and activist for over 25 years.

This is the second episode of our new season featuring a refreshed format, new graphics, and a line-up of exciting scholars. Our goal remains the same: each week, we’ll take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of work published in EPW. We hope you tune in, and share your feedback!

Audio courtesy: The last ones by Jahzzar [CC BY-SA 3.0].

Colleges and universities hold the potential to transform society by raising social consciousness and enabling social and economic mobility. Historically and today, however, this potential has been constrained by accessibility barriers, deficiencies in curriculums, skewed funding allocations, among other factors. Ankit Kawade, who is an MPhil candidate at the Centre for Political Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, joins us this week to discuss his article titled “The Impossibility of Dalit Studies” published last year (http://bit.ly/dalit-studies). 

This is the first episode of our new season featuring a refreshed format, new graphics, and a line-up of exciting scholars. Our goal remains the same: each week, we’ll take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of work published in EPW. We hope you tune in, and share your feedback! 

Audio courtesy: The last ones by Jahzzar [CC BY-SA 3.0]. 

Our second season features a refreshed format, new graphics, and an exciting line-up of scholars. We’ll focus on five themes for this season: education, healthcare, the environment, food, and social movements. The first episode will be released on Monday, 11 January. And new episodes will be out every Monday so subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 

How did Bangladesh come to be known as the land of NGOs, given it hosts the largest NGO, BRAC, and the largest microfinance institution (Grameen Bank)? Anu Muhammad joins us to discuss the role of NGOs in making Bangladesh more marketised and globalised since its independence in 1971.

The insights he will share are based on an article he published in Economic and Political Weekly on 29 September 2018 titled “Rise of the Corporate NGO in Bangladesh” (http://bit.ly/2Is1cbi).

Audio courtesy: Night Owl by Broke For Free [CC BY 3.0]

Who owns waste? How does waste become valuable? Rohini Sahni and V Kalyan Shankar will answer these complex questions based on ethnographic research they conducted in Pune between 2013 and 2016. They will also tell us what led people to choose waste-picking as a profession, and why these workers later collectivised for better working conditions.

The insights they will share are based on their article published in EPW on 8 December 2019 titled “Waste Pickers and the ‘Right to Waste’ in an Indian City" (bit.ly/3cO3Zti). 

Audio courtesy: Night Owl by Broke For Free [CC BY 3.0]

Which castes and religions practice untouchability the most? Can factors such as education and urbanisation potentially reduce the practice? Do those who practice untouchability know members outside their own caste? Researchers Amit Thorat and Omkar Joshi, who have analysed the findings of a nationally representative survey of over  42,000 households, aim to address these questions.

The insights they will share are based on an article they published in EPW on 11 January 2020 titled “The Continuing Practice of Untouchability in India” (http://bit.ly/2QWaFgM). Do have a look at the feature we created based on the article titled "Do Indians Still Practice Untouchability?" (https://bit.ly/3c9t4id).  

Audio courtesy: Night Owl by Broke For Free [CC BY 3.0]

Pakistan’s Aurat March takes place every year across the country to mark Women’s Day. Past demonstrations have called for accountability for violence against women by men, resources for affected women, the reclamation of public spaces for women, and much more.

The March received severe backlash from both conservative and liberal groups, and researcher Afiya Sheherbano Zia examines the criticism. She details governmental policies that disregard women's rights and how women's groups, both secular and right-wing, protested them. Zia also takes us through debates between secular and right-wing women’s groups.

The insights she will share are based on an article she published in Economic and Political Weekly on 16 November 2019 titled “Who Is Afraid of Pakistan's Aurat March?” (http://bit.ly/2uh9TCA)

Audio courtesy: Night Owl by Broke For Free [CC BY 3.0]

Waking up and brewing a cup of tea, according to your preference of ginger, cardamom, amongst other spices, or stopping by your regular chai stall are a few of the ways Indians drink tea every day. Across regions, religions, caste, class and gender, Indians love to drink tea.  India is the second-largest producer of tea in the world, and most of it is consumed domestically.

Researcher Virginus Xaxa shares with us how tea was introduced under the colonial state, how workers were recruited and how they have consistently struggled for humane working conditions, and much more.

The insights he will share are based on an article he published in the EPW on 16 November 2019 titled “Need for Restructuring the Tea Plantation System in India.”

Click on the following link to access the article: https://bit.ly/2Y7yTbX

Audio courtesy: Night Owl by Broke For Free [CC BY 3.0]

Doctors are seen as having a high degree of knowledge and expertise about diagnosing and treating ailments. The Hippocratic Oath requires them to provide fair and equal healthcare to all. Researcher Sobin George investigates how caste impacts doctor-patient interactions in Meenkara, a village in Karnataka, with heightened Dalit consciousness.

He shares with us how India’s caste-based social order and unequal power relations between doctors and patients result in unchecked practices of upper- and middle-caste health care practitioners providing subpar care to Dalit patients.

The insights he will share are based on an article he published in Economic and Political Weekly on 5 October 2019 titled “Reconciliations of Caste and Medical Power in Rural Public Health Services.”

Audio courtesy: Night Owl by Broke For Free [CC BY 3.0]

How do Indians prefer accessing foodgrains under food security programmes— through direct cash transfers, the existing public distribution system or food coupons? Researchers Mamata Pradhan and Devesh Roy investigate how local power relations impact people's preferences for delivery mechanisms by surveying 1,600 households across three states. Their findings offer ways in which the current model can be reformed. 

The insights they will share are based on an article published in EPW on 19 October 2019 titled “What Is the Effective Delivery Mechanism of Food Support in India?”

Audio courtesy: Night Owl by Broke For Free [CC BY 3.0]