Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, Queen Mary University of London
My research and teaching intersects political, economic and development geography, with a focus on everyday political life in India and its transnational community. More specifically, I am interested in questions concerning how the state is experienced, how citizenship is articulated and how marginality, particularly in the context of violence/nonviolence is lived. My current projects in India explore the impact of digital transformations on everyday life especially digital payments systems and digitally mediated work, and in the UK, the lived implications of the UK government’s hostile immigration policy for recent South Asian migrants.
I completed an ESRC-funded PhD in Geography at the University of Cambridge before taking up a Research Fellowship at the Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge. I have been at QMUL since January 2013 and am currently the Senior Tutor in the School of Geography, supporting students with their wellbeing and studies.
My book on Everyday Peace?: Politics, Citizenship and Muslim Lives in India is published by the RGS-IBG Book Series and was awarded the 2016 Julian Minghi Distinguished Book Award by the Political Geography Speciality Group at the American Association of Geographers. I also have an edited book on Geographies of Peace with Nick Megoran and Fiona McConnell.
I recently received funding from WhatsApp to examine the role of the messaging service in everyday political conversations in India in the context of India’s social media ecosystem.
May 16, 2021 12:14 pm UTC| Technology
The roll out of WhatsApps new privacy policy, which critics warn will lead to more data sharing with its parent company Facebook, received a blow on May 13 after German regulators temporarily banned the update. The...
India's WhatsApp election: political parties risk undermining democracy with technology
Mar 01, 2019 13:48 pm UTC| Insights & Views Technology Politics
Indias 2019 national elections are widely anticipated to be the WhatsApp elections. Against a backdrop of rapidly improving internet connectivity and rising smartphone use, the number of people using private messaging...
Canada needs a national strategy for homeless refugee claimants
An eclipse for everyone – how visually impaired students can ‘get a feel for’ eclipses