This guest lecture, co-hosted by SHLC and CR&DALL, Nilanjana Bhattacharjee will present a Participatory Action Research conducted by Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), New Delhi on the lived experiences of women sanitation workers in the informal settlements of Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh), Ajmer (Rajasthan) and Muzaffarpur (Bihar) in India.

‘Dalit Women Sanitation Workers’ exhibit the intersections of caste, class and gender of the most vulnerable identity group in India. These women who work as sanitation workers suffer the harshest brunt of patriarchy and casteism in the largest democracy of the world

The lecture gives an insight into the design of the study, the methods and associated hurdles, the different findings and the nuances of subject positionality experienced by the researcher herself.  The lecture also briefly tells the tale of how urban development and storytelling meet to advocate for policies as well as social change.

Register to attend: bit.ly/SHLCSanitationSeminar

Find out more: http://www.centreforsustainablecities.ac.uk/events/seminars/participatory-action-research-women-sanitation-workers-india-cities/

Nilanjana Bhattacharjee is a development practitioner working at Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA, New Delhi) as Program Officer. She is also a writer and an academic researcher, having recently completed an MSc in Development Studies from SOAS, University of London, and is currently working in the urban sector - city planning and policy analysis. She is presently working in the urban team at PRIA on a European Union project - Engaged Citizens Responsive Cities (ECRC) - complimenting and critiquing SBM's execution in India. This is an urban sanitation project using sanitation as an entry point into small and medium cities and facilitating participatory development focused at the urban poor. While managing one of the recipient cities (Jhansi), she is also leading an action study on sanitation workers and the problematics associated with their lives in the informal settlements of Jhansi.