Tag Archives: Urban Political Ecology
Summer Institute in Urban Studies
I was selected to participate in the sixth Summer Institute in Urban Studies in Brussels, Belgium from July 7-11, 2025. It was jointly organized by the Urban Studies Institute (University of Antwerp), Brussels Centre for Urban Studies (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Stadsacademie (Ghent University), KU Leuven Urban Studies Institute (KU Leuven) and The University of Manchester. Many thanks to the local organizing committee, Dr. Kevin Ward, […]
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 […]
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.
CLASS, CASTE, GENDER, AND THE MATERIALITY OF CEMENT HOUSES IN INDIA
Out now in Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography. My peer-reviewed article on the intersectional class, caste, and gender dynamics of new cement houses in India. It’s open access here. A PDF version can be downloaded below. Menon, S. (2023). Class, Caste, Gender, and the Materiality of Cement Houses in India. Antipode, 55 (2) pp. 574-598 […]
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 […]
Taraknath Das Memorial Fellowship
I’m happy to announce that I am the first recipient of the prestigious Taraknath Das Memorial Fellowship for carrying out my doctoral dissertation research project in Kochi, Kerala in southern India, “(De)Constructing Concrete: Capital, Nature, and Infrastructures in Urbanizing India”. More details about my project can be found at https://www.indiastudies.org/first-taraknath-das-memorial-fellowship-awarded-to-siddharth-menon/
GEOGRAPHIES OF CONCRETE
Below is a collection of essays and articles written by social science and humanities scholars about one of the most widely found materials on earth: cement/concrete. This list has been compiled with the assistance of countless colleagues and peers at conferences and workshops over the last few years. I hope it will be useful for […]
URBAN POLITICAL ECOLOGY
Below are sections of my reading list that I compiled for my preliminary/qualifying exams in Human Geography at University of Wisconsin-Madison. I am indebted to many professors and colleagues in graduate seminars and conferences who directed me to these excellent sources. This is not meant to be an exhaustive or definitive list. I have selected […]
Urban Climates: Power, Development, and Environment in South Asia, Dartmouth College
I was happy to be a part of the Urban Climates: Power, Development, and Environment in South Asia workshop at Dartmouth College on October 11, 12 2019. Many thanks to Nida Rehman and Aparna Parikh for organizing the same. Please find below a poster of the workshop theme, a poster for a film by Hira Nabi, […]
Siddharth Menon 