FBL - Climate Change, Food Security and Women in the Global South

In collaboration with Anglia Ruskin University's Sustainable Futures - ARU and the Centre for Research into the Organization of Work and Consumption (CROWC) - ARU and other leading scholars from the global south, this postgraduate and doctoral student networking and conversation-based participatory workshop on Climate Change, Food Security and Women in the Global South engages with the direct and indirect impact of climate change on governance through the lens of multilateral agencies (including government bodies), and multi-disciplinary perspectives in the Indian context. The intention here is that of capacity building within the UK and internationally through networking with researchers working on one or more of the security issues arising from livelihood choices, food security, employment in art, craft, music, digital technologies, spaces and agency of women and their impact on building peace initiatives within and outside the country.

​Call for paper briefs: Students and staff interested in presenting their works in person or online (5 to 7 mins), please send an abstract of 100 words to [email protected] and [email protected] by Friday,10th May latest.

Keynotes by visiting scholars:

Prof Madhusree Shekher, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

Topic- 'Social Science Research in the Emerging Context: Science beyond Sciences'

There is inadequate understanding of local systems, particularly while dealing with concerns relating to climate change. Climate action needs to be framed at (local) policy-level through understanding of community needs and uses of land-water-energy systems. Risk and resilience capacities of local communities need to be at the forefront of climate action and adaptation measures. Also, there is need to provide space for addressing and re-imagining long-standing perceptions about communities and their practices, in order to improve and inform better policies. This calls for an understanding of non-conventional human security concerns, and a dive into looking at 'Science beyond Sciences’, which social science research can explore in the emerging context climate change and climate response actions.

Short bio- Prof. Madhushree Sekher is Professor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. Currently, she is the Dean, School of Skill Education, and Chairperson, Office for International Affairs, TISS. Institutions, political economy of representation, governance, inclusive development and policy implementation are her core research interests. Her current research areas are institutions for food security, inequalities and social welfare systems, collective action and community resource governance, and democratic representation in India.

Prof Ameeta Jaga, Professor of Organisational Psychology and Deputy Dean of Transformation in the Commerce Faculty at the University of Cape Town.

Topic - Elevating marginalized women's voice in the global South: Using participatory and arts-based methodologies to co-produce social change

In this talk I present an epistemological endeavour to challenge traditional hierarchical models of knowledge construction and dissemination for developing contextually relevant southern knowledge and solutions to improve low-income mothers’ quality of life in South Africa. I reflect on how participatory action research and arts-based methodologies can offer emancipatory possibilities and serve as a means to understand on-the-ground geopolitical dynamics, and share an example of our work using these methodologies in a project titled Motherload. This project sought to foreground the lived realities of mothers’ multiple intersecting vulnerabilities of food and economic insecurity, unsafe environments, and disproportionate care work, by centring their voices as expert knowledge producers and actors for social change.

Short Bio - Professor of Organisational Psychology and Deputy Dean of Transformation in the Commerce Faculty at the University of Cape Town. She is a southern work-family scholar who prioritise context while underlining global inequalities in knowledge production. Her current projects focus on reducing mothers’ disproportionate care work and the creation of care economies using participatory and arts-based methodologies.

Convened by: Dr Sunrita Dhar Bhattacharjee (ARU) and Dr Sanjukta Ghosh (SSAI)

Organised by Anglia Ruskin University's Sustainable Futures Research Theme and the Centre for Research into the Organization of Work and Consumption (CROWC) and

SOAS South Asia Institute.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

ARU Cambridge, LAB 109, East Road, Cambridge, United Kingdom