‘At least they have a job’ : Objectivity, social sciences & my research

In the last six months that I have been researching work in gig economy in Bengaluru I have had to revise my idealism and those social science theories that I carried from university.

Deal With It

My friend reminded me that yesterday, October 10, was being observed as World Mental Health Day. It brought back memories of individuals I met whose situations struck me as impossible, had I not met them for real. On a long flight some time back, the man on seat besides me and I began playing with …

Art of Monstrous Men

The Paris Review ran a thought-provoking piece last month by Claire Dederer, who reflects upon What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?  set against the backdrop of series of allegations of sexual assault and misconduct by several famous men, who have also been exceptionally good at what they do for a profession. As Dederer …

Indian sociology, if there is one

Last week was spent in listening to some of the best Indian minds in sociology during NIAS's annual seminar on nation, community and citizenship in contemporary India. It was also a fitting tribute to M N Srinivas in whose honour a panel discussion was organized. The discussions seemed in-line with his own way - stress-testing concepts and …

Explorations in Marxist social theory & a book review

This one will be a longer post than usual, but delights me especially because I could manage to get a somewhat minimal sense of the range of thoughts and ideas in the Marxist lineage, which has been a long going effort. The post includes a discussion of a clutch of the thinkers in a rather …

Motorcycle, Touring & Things In-Between – 1

Last evening while reading a book on social theory, I drifted away when a chapter in it opened with a mention of the maverick sociologist C. Wright Mills (dude wrote the legendary essay on Sociological Imagination). What made me remember him is not his ideas or contribution to social theory but the fact that he used …

Subject knowledge of teachers

There is a rare corner in the Indian media (print and broadcast) where concerns about various aspects of education system in India are being pursued. This space, I am glad to see, has  a significant presence of researchers and academicians from the university I attended. Over the past year, these articles have aided my work …

Sexual Harassment & Appropriate Sexual Behaviour: An alternative view (Part 2/2)

Continuing from Sexual Harassment: An alternative view, the following post traces the trajectory of the movement against sexual harassment in India. The first major event that drew attention to this issue was FOWA’s action in the 1980s. A 1991 report from the same organization describes it as – (…) militant action by the Forum Against …

Sexual Harassment & Appropriate Sexual Behaviour: An alternative view (Part 1/2)

his post is inspired from a paranoia-laced militant behaviour that I witnessed last week, of a Professor (in a law school) as she spoke about the law school's sexual harassment code, repeatedly emphasizing how robust the school's code is.
It traces genealogy of terms "sex", "gender" and "sexual harassment" and their connotations in contemporary times.

Education in pre-colonial India: Dharampal’s The Beautiful Tree

In the school where I teach, the teachers hold a very diverse range of views about the role of a school in a child's life. What must school stand for and what areas of the child' s life must the school be concerned with. Those who run the school - the management folks, stand at …