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Beyond Camp Politics: Exploring Nuanced Conversations on Israel-Palestine
[By Payal Arora and Usha Raman] Conversations around Palestine-Israel have become exponentially heated and have permeated into academia. Camps have been formed. Support and condemnation fall along national and religious lines. Many face polarizing choices – are you with us or against us. Silence is viewed as cowardice and a default of being in the
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TGPWU: Building a Gig Workers Union & Organizing Digitally
[By Sreshta Ladegaam] In January 2023, Mohammed Rizwan tragically lost his life while attempting to deliver an order for Swiggy in Hyderabad, Telangana. Swiggy is one of India’s largest food and grocery delivery platforms. Rizwan was attacked by a customer’s pet dog, prompting him to jump off a building to protect himself. His family is
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Shaheen: Empowering Women, Ensuring Safety, and Enhancing Mobility in Hyderabad’s Old City
[By Sreshta Ladegaam] “Women still experience the city through a set of barriers—physical, social, economic, and symbolic–that shape their daily lives in ways that are deeply (although not only) gendered,” writes Leslie Kern in her seminal work ‘Feminist City’. These barriers are universal and are responsible for denying women opportunities that could help them break
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Kriti – The Success Story of an Evolving Women’s Vocational Training Initiative in India
[By Sreshta Ladegaam] Every morning, 22-year-old Nazia Fatima waits for her brothers to head out for work. After making sure they are gone, she sets off to attend her vocational training course. She learns tailoring, hangs out with fellow trainees, and leaves in time to reach home before her brothers. “Mere bhai log ko malum
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Will e-commerce revive Bangladesh’s artisanal economy?
[By Upasana Bhattacharjee, Payal Arora and Usha Raman] How does a nation participate in the digital creative economy centered on individual entrepreneurship while acknowledging its legacy in collectives of women producing crafts? This column explores the experience of Bangladesh, where despite the digitization of the craft industry, digital participation remains limited to a small number
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Globalized creative economies: rethinking local craft, provenance, and platform design
[By Laura Herman] Can you recognize your friends’ and family members’ hand gestures? People have distinctive gestures: maybe your friend clasps her hands when she’s nervous, your mom taps her fingers together when she’s excited, or your cousin wags two fingers when making an argument. Now, imagine local artisans who hand-make their wares. Their hand
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