Bhavya Chitranshi
Bhavya Chitranshi is a PhD fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society. She has completed her Masters in Gender Studies and MPhil in Development Practice from Ambedkar University Delhi. She is the co-founder of an adivasi (Indigenous) single women's collective, Eka Nari Sanghathan, in Odisha, India. For the last 10 years, in close collaboration with the collective, she has been doing action research on issues related to singleness, gender, sustainable agriculture, socio-economic transformation and postcapitalist-feminist politics. Her PhD project, designed in collaboration with adivasi single women farmers from the Sanghathan, explores connections between Indigenous perspectives-knowledge-practices in sustainable agriculture and possible postcapitalist-feminist praxis in the decolonial context. In addition to her own PhD project, she has worked as a Research Assistant on 7 projects at the Institute for Culture and Society. These projects have been on diverse topics ranging from environmental issues, climate change and everyday sustainability practices, gender work, social media and social action, impact of Covid-19 on new mothers in Australia, Indigenous Geographers in Australia, and relationships between refugee migrants and Indigenous Peoples in Australia. Bhavya Chitranshi is skilled in qualitative research methodologies, including feminist, decolonial and action research-based methods. She also has extensive experience in working collaboratively with Industry Partners, Non-profit Organizations and people from marginalized communities, including women, Indigenous farmers, Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Communities and Refugee Migrants. She has published several book chapters, journal articles and project reports based on her work over the years. She is also part of the Community Economies Research Network. Bhavya has also taught courses on Action Research, Collective Action, Imprisonment in Australia and Digital Identities to Undergraduate and Masters students in India and Australia. She has also mentored and supervised students in both countries. She has also been involved in roles of co-ordination and event planning and management in the capacity of community organizer/ social worker and HDR events co-ordinator.
Qualifications
- MPhil in Development Practice (2012-2014) and Masters in Gender Studies (2010-2012) from Ambedkar University Delhi, India.
- Currently doing PhD from Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
Research Focus
- Gender Studies
- Community Engagement
- Development Practice
- Social Action
- Postcapitalist-Feminist Praxis
- Cultural Studies
- Indigenous and Decolonial Politics
Selected Awards and Recognition
- Grant: Sustainable Development Goals Project Allowance Grant (2023) from Graduate Research School, Western Sydney University.
Selected Publications
Chitranshi, B & Dhar, A 2023, ‘What if, the ‘rural’ is the future; and not the past?’, in S K Singh (ed.), Contemporary Village Studies, Routledge, London.
Chitranshi, B 2022, ‘Adivasi Single Women’s Collective in South Odisha: Between Othered Histories and Possible Futures’, in M Ray (ed.), State of Democracy in India: Essays on Life and Politics in Contemporary Times, Primus, Delhi, India.
Chitranshi, B & Healy S 2022, ‘Shared survival and cooperation in India and Australia’, Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Shared survival and cooperation in India and Australia - Chitranshi - 2022 - Asia Pacific Viewpoint - Wiley Online Library
Chitranshi, B 2021, ‘Eka Nari Sanghathan: A Journey Towards Affective Becoming’ Journal of Practical Philosophy, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 1-22, 2.-Eka-Nari-Sanghathan_Bhavya-Chitranshi.pdf (practicalphilosophy.co.in)
Healy, S, Chitranshi, B, Diprose, G, Eskelinen, T, Madden, A, Santala, I, Williams, M 2020, ‘Planetary Food Commons and Post-capitalist Post-Covid Food Futures’, Development, vol. 63, no. 2-4, pp. 277-284, Planetary Food Commons and Postcapitalist Post-COVID Food Futures | SpringerLink
Chitranshi, B & Dhar A, 2020 (issue editors), ‘Action Research Methodologies: Developmental Contexts, Introduction’, Journal of Practical Philosophy, vol 1, no. 1, Vol 1, No. 1, 2020 – Practical Philosophy
Chitranshi, B 2019, ‘Beyond Development: Post-capitalist and feminist praxis in adivasi contexts’ in E Klein & C E Morreo (ed.), Post-Development in Practice, Routledge.
Chitranshi, B & Dhar, A 2019, ‘Rethinking Development Communication’ in D Cloud (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Communication and Critical Cultural Studies, Oxford University Press.
Chitranshi, B 2016, ‘Singleness and the Sanghathan’, CUSP: Journal of Studies in Culture, Subjectivity, Psyche, vol. 1 no. 2, pp. 75-100
Chitranshi, B & Dhar, A 2016, ‘Las Muertas Vivientes’ (1st translation of “The Living Dead”), in D Pavon-Cuéllar & N L Junior (ed.), De la pulsión de muerte a la represión de Estado: marxismo y psicoanálisis ante la violencia estructural del capitalism (From Death Drive to State Repression: Marxism, Psychoanalysis and the Structural Violence of Capitalism), Porrúa and Umsnh: Mexico.
2nd Translation in 2017, ‘As Mortas-Vivas’, Psicanalise E Marxismo: as violencias em tempos de capitalism, Appris, Brazil.
