Tag Archives: sand
Reinforcing Infrastructures: Capital, Nature, and the Translocal Relationalities of Urbanizing India
Below is the abstract and link to my PhD dissertation (2025) from the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. I am grateful to my PhD adviser, Prof. Stephen Young (Geography), and my PhD committee members, Prof. Kris Olds (Geography), Prof. Matt Turner (Geography), Prof. Mou Banerji (History), and Prof. Claire Wendland (Anthropology), […]
Sand, Plantation Urbanism, and the Extended Political Ecology of Infrastructures in India
Out now in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research where I examine how sand extraction from the Western Ghat mountains for elite urban infrastructure projects in south India is re-empowering a historically dominant set of rural upper-caste actors who have now begun to extend their political economic power into cities thus furthering uneven […]
MATERIAL AS METHOD-New Histories of the Built Environment
I had the opportunity to participate in the Symposium titled “Material as Method: New Histories of the Built Environment” at the Annual Conference on South Asia at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in October 2023. Many thanks to Ateya Khorakiwala (Columbia University) & Curt Gambetta (Dartmouth College) for organizing and facilitating the same. Please find the […]
SAND ECOLOGIES
Below are images from dissertation fieldwork in Kerala, India where I followed the trail of sand for concrete construction along its production chain from building construction sites in Kochi city, Kerala’s commercial capital, to its sources in rivers and stone quarries in the Western Ghat mountain ranges in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
M-Sand, Metal, and the “More-than-Urban” Political Ecology of Urban Development in Kerala
I was invited to present my latest research paper, titled M-Sand, Metal, and the “More-than-Urban” Political Ecology of Urban Development in Kerala, at the Center for Development Studies (CDS) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on 28 April 2023. Many thanks to Prof. J. Devika for her support and guidance through the research project. Please find details of […]
iihs PhD Workshop 2022
I had the opportunity to participate in the eight edition of the Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS) PhD workshop which was held virtually in January 2022. Many thanks to IIHS faculty Chandni Singh and Jagdish Krishnaswamy for their insightful comments on my dissertation ideas and research plan. Please find below some images from the […]
GEOGRAPHIES OF SAND
Below is a collection of essays and articles written by scholars and commentators about one of the most widely used materials on earth: sand. This list has been compiled with the assistance of many colleagues and peers at conferences and workshops over the last few years. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but […]
US National Science Foundation
I’m happy to announce that I’ve been awarded the U. S. National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Award to conduct my doctoral dissertation research in India. Details can be found here. ABSTRACT This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This doctoral […]
The Social Life of Concrete
The following interview was conducted by GBSNP Varma and published in Fountain Ink Magazine in their February 2020 issue. To read the whole interview, please visit https://fountainink.in/qna/the-social-life-of-concrete- Things around us shape us, influence us, and create an experience. They shape our environments, our economies and our life in perhaps not so obvious a manner. Things […]
Siddharth Menon 