Professor

Prof. Vandana Swami

Department of Liberal Arts

Interests

  1. Labour Migration
  2. Livelihoods
  3. Agricultural practices
  4. Agrarian modernisation

Education

1991

University of Delhi, Hindu College
India
BA (Hons.)

1993

University of Delhi,
Hindu College
MA Political Science

1999

State University of New York
Binghamton
MA Sociology

2010

State University of New York
Binghamton
PhD

Experience

  • 2021 to 2023 - Associate Professor, School of Development, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
  • 2014 to 2021- Assistant Professor, School of Development, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
  • 2012 to 2014- Visiting Assistant, Professor and Chairperson, Center for Development Management, Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur, Rajasthan
  • 2010 to 2011- Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Western Connecticut State University (WCSU), Danbury, Connecticut, USA
  • Research Interest

    • Labour migration and questions of development in India. My research explores the unrecognized contribution of labour migration to India’s industrial and economic advancement, looking at the social and historical conditions in which migration becomes a livelihood choice and its complex and contradictory impacts upon the lives of migrant workers.
    • Agrarian modernization and social change. I examine at the transformations that ensue when tribal communities adopt modern agrarian practices - such as the use of genetically modified seeds - in their cultivation patterns.
    • Political economy of colonialism in India. Taking a critical perspective on colonial modernization, I have studied the processes of the establishment of the first railway network in 19th century India.

    Awards & Fellowships

    • 2009-2010, Nesar Ahmed Memorial Scholarship, under the aegis of the Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems and Civilizations, Binghamton University, New York
    • 2009, International Student and Scholar Offices Grant-in-aid Award for a non-US student Binghamton University, New York
    • 2007, Dissertation Year Fellowship Award, Department of Sociology, Binghamton University, New York
    • 2007, Spring Teaching Assistant Fellowship, Binghamton University, New York
    • 2005, Independent Fellowship awarded by the Center for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi and SARAI, New Delhi, to carry out research work on the history of railways in India.

    Publications

    Contact Details

    • E-mail id: vandana.s@srmap.edu.in
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