Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Urban Poverty and Postcolonial Governance in India

研究生阿贾伊·甘地将在约翰·伯纳德·贝特博士的指导下，进行一项研究，研究印度德里的城市穷人如何与政府法规谈判，以获得住房和工作等基本生活必需品。他的研究将考察官方的法律和治安机制如何以公共卫生和环境标准的名义影响城市穷人的社会保障。他还将研究穷人对这一规定的反应。他的研究一方面将阐明官僚和法律措施应用于非正式经济活动和住房之间的关系，另一方面将阐明城市穷人如何应对不安全。研究人员将结合社会科学研究方法。他将实施一项调查，并为德里贫困地区的代表性家庭收集以自我为中心的网络数据。他将对非正规部门工人的生活条件和生计做法进行参与式观察。他将采访德里的法律和警察当局，并从相关国家档案馆和部委收集有关法律裁决和城市规划的档案材料。这项研究很重要，因为它将考察非正式的赞助和权威领域是如何与国家官员的正式政策、法律和做法交织在一起的。它还有助于理解一个民主国家的紧张局势，这个民主国家以普遍公民身份为前提，但也必然控制获得城市空间和生计的机会。这项研究还将有助于社会科学家的教育。

Graduate student Ajay Gandhi, under the supervision of Dr. John Bernard Bate, will undertake a study of how the urban poor in Delhi, India, negotiate with government regulation to access basic necessities of life, such as housing and work. His research will examine how official legal and policing mechanisms affect the social security of the urban poor in the name of public health and environmental standards. He will also examine how the poor respond to this regulation. His research will clarify the relationship between bureaucratic and legal measures applied to informal economic activity and housing, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, how the urban poor respond to insecurity.The researcher will utilize a combination of social science research methods. He will implement a survey and collect ego-centered network data for representative households in a poor area of Delhi. He will carry out participant observation of living conditions and livelihood practices with informal sector workers. He will interview legal and policing authorities in Delhi, and gather archival materials from relevant state archives and ministries on legal rulings and urban planning.This research is important because it will examine how informal realms of patronage and authority are interwoven with formal policies, laws, and practices of state officials. It also contribute towards an understanding of the tensions in a democracy that is predicated on universal citizenship but necessarily also controls access to urban space and livelihoods. The research will also contribute towards the education of a social scientist.