FAS Young Scholars’ Online Seminar Series 2023-24

The Foundation for Agrarian Studies, in collaboration with Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, is organising the second edition of its Young Scholars’ Online Seminar Series. As part of the series, seven young scholars, working in the field of agrarian studies and socio-economic life in rural regions of South Asia, will present their work. The seminars will be held on the last Thursday of every month (barring June and December) at 1630 IST. Barbara Harriss-White, Emeritus Professor of Development Studies, University of Oxford, will Chair the seminar series.

The first edition, held from April to December 2022, featured nine young scholars working in the field of agrarian studies and on socio-economic life in rural India. The Series, also Chaired by Professor Barbara, attracted audiences from different parts of the world. It was a small step towards building a network of young scholars working on the subject. We wish to build on this network of scholars with this second edition of the seminar series.

The first seminar of this edition was presented by Dr Shiba Shankar Pattayat, Assistant Professor of Economics, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Yeshwanthpur Campus, Bengaluru, on Thursday, May 25, 2023. Shiba Shankar spoke about his work, “Rural Labour Market Transformation in India: Impacts on the Agriculture Sector.”

The second seminar of this edition was presented by Shilpi Kundu, Ph.D. Scholar, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia , on Thursday, July 27, 2023. Shilpi Kundu spoke about her work, “ Gender Mainstreaming in Climate Change Responses – Insights from Agricultural Landscape in Coastal Bangladesh”.

The third seminar of the series featuring Sathiyamoorthy Sarujan, PhD Scholar, University of Tokyo, Japan was held on Thursday, August 31, 2023. Sathiyamoorthy Sarujan spoke about his work, “ Effectiveness of the Community Management in Mangrove Restoration – Evidence from Northern Sri Lanka”. His work examines the role of  community management in managing the global commons. Sarujan’s study attempts to provide  empirical evidences towards the effectiveness of community-based approach in mangrove management in the northern province of Srilanka.

The fifth seminar of the series featuring Dr. Nageshwar Bansode, Assistant Professor, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar School of Economics University, Bengaluru was held on Thursday, January 25, 2024. Dr. Nageshwar Bansode presented his work, “ Caste Discrimination and Economic Outcomes: Evidences from a Backward Region of Maharashtra ”. His study draws on primary data from two villages in Marathwada region of Maharashtra. The study brings out the discriminatory structure and exclusionary practices, particularly in the market sphere, and their impact on the economic condition of households.

The sixth seminar of the FAS Young Scholars’ Online Seminar Series 2023-24 featuring Bisakha Dewan, PhD Scholar, University of Queensland, Australia was held on Thursday, February 29, 2024. Bisakha Dewan presented her work, Navigating Power Structures: Examining Women’s Agency and Empowerment in Contract Farming in Bangladesh”.  In this research, she examines how power dynamics affect women’s empowerment arising from their participation in contract farming activities. Using qualitative interviews, this study adapts a conceptualisation of empowerment from the development literature.

The seventh, and the last seminar of the FAS Young Scholars’ Online Seminar Series 2023-24 featuring Mrityunjay Pandey, PhD Scholar, University of Hyderabad, was held on Thursday, March 28, 2024. Mrityunjay Pandey presented his work, Livelihood, Production Organisation, and Accumulation: A village study from Bihar”.  In this research, He examines current development trajectory of agrarian economy of Bihar, by analysing livelihood conditions, and strategies of landless labour households, production organisation of cultivator households, and sources of surplus and accumulation strategies of surplus-appropriating households. This research is based on an in-depth study of a village in North Bihar.

Please note that these seminars are not public in nature, and kindly register using this Google Form to participate in the seminar series and engage in lively discussion with these young scholars. We will send you the meeting link for the seminars after receiving your registration details.

Kindly extend an invitation to other scholars who you think may be interested in attending the seminar series, and encourage them to register using the Google form.

Contact us at events@fas.org.in for any other details.

Coordinator
Tapas Singh Modak, Associate Fellow
Foundation for Agrarian Studies
+91 8454822715

Date

May 25 2023 - Mar 28 2024
Expired!

Local Time

  • Timezone: America/New_York
  • Date: May 25 2023 - Mar 28 2024

Location

Virtual Event
Category

Organizer

Foundation for Agrarian Studies
Email
office@fas.org.in
Website
https://fas.org.in

About Us

The Foundation for Agrarian Studies is a charitable trust based in India and established in 2003.

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2024© FAS | This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 license

Independent Researcher

Parvathi Menon is a writer, and former journalist. She was Resident Editor of The Hindu, Bengaluru, and also served as the London Correspondent of The Hindu.

Namasivayam is currently a member of the Kerala State Planning Board. He has over 37 years of consulting experience of which over two decades have been spent on leading several large, complex, multi-year reform engagements in various sectors, with a special focus on the electricity sector. He was Deloitte India’s Energy and Resources Industry and Government sector Leader until his retirement in March 2017. Before joining Deloitte, Namasivayam was part of the India leadership team of PwC, and led its Government Reforms and Infrastructure Development service unit and Energy Utility & Mining industries.

Sarita is a special teacher and certified trainer in QST for autism spectrum disorders. She has been working at the Spastics Society of Karnataka from 2007, and is currently the Head of the Autism Spectrum Unit.

Professor, Department of Economics, Meijo University, Japan

Associate Professor, Kanagawa University, Japan

Former ICSSR National Fellow, Former Professor and Head :
1. Department of Economics, University of Madras

2. Dr. Ambedkar Centre for Economic Studies, University of Madras

Yogesh holds an MA (Honours) degree in Economics from Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana. He is interested in understanding credit markets and financial inclusion in rural India. Yogesh will be a part of the team involved in the entry and processing of data collected during our recent re-survey in Uttar Pradesh.

Sai Chandan Kotu is a Research Assistant at the Foundation. He holds a Master's degree in Economic Growth, Population & Development from Lund University, Sweden, and an Integrated Master's in Development Studies from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He has previously worked with FAS as an intern and is currently working on the entry and processing of data collected through our recently concluded survey in two Uttar Pradesh villages. Sai is interested in studying farm mechanisation and technology adoption in Indian agriculture.

Utkarsh is the Communications and Events Coordinator at the Foundation. He holds an MA in Global Studies from Ambedkar University, Delhi, and has worked in different capacities, participating in field research, and organising academic and other public events in various organisations. Utkarsh's interests include geopolitics, conflict history, and technology.

B.A. Economics student at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru

Saniya is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Symbiosis School of Economics, Pune. She is working with our team to process the data collected from the two villages in Uttar Pradesh. The villages were resurveyed by the Foundation in July.

Komal is an Associate Fellow of the Foundation. She is pursuing her Ph.D. in Sociology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Her research interests include agrarian labour, caste, and gender. Komal is currently working on (un)freedom and labour relations in rural India.

Master's Student at Lund University, Sweden

JSPS Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University

Kulvinder Singh

Kulvinder is a Research Assistant at the Foundation. He holds a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, and an MA in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has previously worked with the Haryana State Government as an Information, Education and Communication Expert, Atal Bhujal Yojana. Kulvinder is interested in studying aspects of agrarian change and rural transformation in India and aspires to do a PhD soon.

Nikita is an Editorial Assistant at the Foundation. She is involved with the coordination of the Review of Agrarian Studies (RAS), the peer-reviewed academic journal of the Foundation. Nikita has extensive experience as a copy editor. She holds a Master's degree in English from The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Lucknow campus.

Research Fellow, Azim Premji University, Bangalore

M.A. Economics student at Ahmedabad University

Research Fellow, Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru

Assistant Professor, Dr B R Ambedkar School of Economics University (BASE), Bengaluru

Sujan works as the Online Events Coordinator at the Foundation. He holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism and B. Tech from National Institute of Technology Agartala. Sujan also has experience working as a translator and an online journalist.

M.A. Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

Retired Professor, Osaka Prefecture University

Consultant, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, and Retired Head of Department, Department of Economics, Bharathidasan University.

Senior Fellow, Climate Change, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai

Former Associate Editor, Frontline magazine, Bangalore.

Research Scholar, Department of Development Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London

Assistant Professor - Sociology, FLAME University, Pune

Garware Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Advanced Study of India, and

Non-Resident Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania

Professor, School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

Independent Researcher

Postdoctoral Fellow – Gender Research, Sustainable Impact Platform, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

Associate Professor, Bihar Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Patna, Bihar.

Research Scholar, School of Economics, University of Hyderabad, and

Technical Assistant, Office of the Vice Chairperson, Kerala State Planning Board

Department of Economics, Yokohama National University

Associate Professor of Economics, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Division of Food and Environmental Economics, Department of Agricultural Engineering and Socio-Economics, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University.

Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University

Associate Professor, Department of Management Studies, PES University, Bengaluru

Assistant Professor, Department of Economics and Finance, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

British Academy Newton International Fellow, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Senior Lecturer, School of Development, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru

Assistant Professor, Department of Liberal Arts, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

Master of Social Work. Vijaykumar is part of the Project on Agrarian Relations in India (PARI) team.

V. K. Ramachandran is retired Professor and former Head, Economic Analysis Unit, Indian Statistical Institute Bangalore Centre. He currently serves as the Vice Chairperson, Kerala State Planning Board. He is one among the Trustees of the Foundation. He is also the Editor of Review of Agrarian Studies.  Webpage

Tapas is an Associate Fellow of the Foundation. He has a Ph.D. in Social Science from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. His research interests include the irrigation economy of India, water policies and institutions, agricultural policy, economics of farming, and rural incomes. He is also interested in the use of spatial technology to study the Indian countryside. He leads the Project on Village level Spatial Information using Geographic Information System (GIS), and the Pandemic Study Unit of the Foundation that examined the impact of Covid-19 pandemic in rural India.

Sudha is an Administrative Assistant of the Foundation. She assists the administrative division of the Foundation and also has taken part in fieldwork organised by the Foundation.

Subhajit is a Senior Data Analyst of the Foundation. He has done B. Tech from West Bengal University of Technology. He works primarily on issues related to employment and livestock economy in rural India, and has in-depth knowledge on cleaning and processing of survey data. He has also hands-on experience in the use of R software for data analysis.

Sethu is a Data Analyst of the Foundation. He has done Integrated Masters in Development Studies from Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai. He has experience of coordinating a field survey of two villages in Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu in 2019. He is interested in agrarian relations in Tamil Nadu and Geographic Information System (GIS).

Sanjukta is a Senior Data Analyst working on the Project on Agrarian Relations in India. She holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Application from West Bengal University of Technology. Her major research interest lies in rural education and schooling. She has experience in working with a web development company prior to joining the Foundation.

Sandipan is a historian of Science, with a Ph.D. from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. His research interest lies in the history of agricultural science in India. He started his professional career as a Software Engineer and a Business Analyst with the Tata Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd, before shifting to social science research. He holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Science Engineering, and was a gold medalist for post-graduate studies in School of Development Studies, TISS. He joined the Foundation as the Programme Coordinator in 2016 and became the first Director of the Foundation in 2018. He oversees the work of the Foundation and its various research projects.

M. Sc. in Development Practice. Riya assists in editing the Review of Agrarian Studies and other publications of the Foundation.

M. A. Economics. Ritam works on the Project on Agrarian Relations in India (PARI) team.

Rakesh is a Senior Data Analyst working on the Project on Agrarian Relations in India. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Economics from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS)-Pilani, Hyderabad. He works primarily on issues related to migration and employment.  Rakesh is also interested in issues related to access to basic amenities in the Indian countryside.

Pinki works as Assistant Manager-Accounts at the Foundation. She has done her Masters in Financial and Management Accounting from Sikkim Manipal University, and Masters in Economics from University of North Bengal. She is experienced in various accounting software packages. She has also been involved in several field work projects of the Foundation.

Noopur Varma is Honorary Consultant, Human Resources at the Foundation. She has more than 30 years experience in the area of Human Resources. She started her career in Tata Steel, Jamshedpur, where she worked for 14 years and her last corporate job was with Deloitte Bangalore. She is currently an independent consultant taking up projects and assignments for companies. She is involved with Strategic Human Resources initiatives of the Foundation.

Nihira graduated from the New School University, New York with M.Sc. in Media Studies. Her educational background is in film-making and audio production with a concentration on South Asian history. She joined the Foundation for Agrarian Studies in August, 2020 as the Online Events Coordinator.

Madhura Swaminathan is Professor and Head, Economic Analysis Unit, Indian Statistical Institute Bangalore Centre. She is one the Trustees of the Foundation. Webpage

Jayamary is our Office Assistant. She assists the administrative division of the Foundation in maintaining office supplies and in upkeep and maintenance of office premises.

Divya works as the Administrative Executive at the Foundation. She handles the administration and operational human resources activities. She is experienced in the use of MS-office, and accounting software packages. She also assists the Foundation in organising and coordinating various events. Divya has been involved in several fieldwork projects of the Foundation.

Deepak is an Associate Fellow at the Foundation. He has a Ph.D. in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. As part of his doctoral research Deepak analysed the incomes from rice production in Kerala, and compared the crop incomes in Kerala with the Mekong Delta Region in Vietnam. Deepak is interested in agricultural policy, with a particular focus on agricultural costs and incomes. Data visualisation is another area of his expertise. He has experience of working at an analytics company. He holds an Integrated Masters in Economics from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. 

Arindam is the Joint Director of the Foundation. He is pursuing Ph.D. in Economics from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS)-Pilani, Hyderabad. Arindam leads the Project on Agrarian Relations in India (PARI). He has worked at the Foundation from 2011 and has in-depth knowledge about various data management and analysis techniques. His research interests include rural wage rates and its determinants, rural employment, and Economics of farming. He has hands-on expertise in the use of R software for social science research.

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