Maansi Parpiani

Maansi Parpiani

Postdoc

My research work lies at the intersections of labor sociology, urban studies and migration studies. Through qualitative methdologies and ethnography, I examine how working class communities in Indian cities navigate the multiple crises of agrarian distress, climate change and precarious employment. My work is rooted in participatory research methods and considers the housing and work challenges of urban working classes. 

My PhD dissertation written at UCPH's Faculty of Humanities (2014-2019) examined how different groups of workers in India have navigated unemployment caused by economic liberalisation in the 1990s and its role in shaping India's current, precarious labor market and society. During my PhD, I spent a semester at the Anthropology department and Centre for South Asia at Stanford University, funded by the Elite Forsk Travel Grant Award 2016.

After my PhD (2019-2022), I worked as Lead Researcher with a NGO and trade union called Aajeevika Bureau based in India. My research at Aajeevika Bureau contributed to visibilizing the scale and challenges of rural to urban migrants in Indian cities. As my tenure at Aajeevika intersected with the coronavirus pandemic and its stringest lockdowns, migrants faced unique challenges, that the research team headed by me was able to bring to the media, policy community and academic research. 

Since June 2022, I am a post-doc at School of Global Health on a DFF funded project examining the resettlement policies in post-disater urban contexts. Along with the team, I examine the relocation of urban working class communities to remote, flood-prone urban peripheries and how it recasts their work, health and life in the city. 

I have taught courses and classes on Politics in South Asia, Globalisation and Development in South Asia, Qualitative Research Methods, Urban Anthropology and Migration Studies. 

ID: 125315216