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Toxic Urbanism: Air, Politics and Learning in Delhi

Toxic Urbanism: Air, Politics and Learning in Delhi

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Toxic Urbanism: Air, Politics and Learning in Delhi
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<strong>CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF LAW AND GOVERNANCE Jawaharlal Nehru University</strong> SEMINAR SERIES <strong>Rohit Negi</strong> Assistant Professor, Ambedkar University, Delhi on <strong>Toxic Urbanism: Air, Politics and Learning in Delhi</strong> The question of the environment, and in particular, the city's toxic air, has, in good measure, shaped the urban agenda in Delhi over the last two decades. That the city is now one of the most polluted conurbations in the world has formed the backdrop to a vibrant public discourse on its causes and on state interventions attempting to clean the air. The present debate, accelerated by the publication of a WHO report in 2014 that termed it the 'most polluted city in the world', however, does not inaugurate the centrality of air to Delhi's urban politics. In the late 1990s too there were discussions and action linked to air pollution. Then, certain chemicals were defined as the problem and an activist judiciary had mediated interventions like the relocation of polluting industries and the conversion of public vehicles to natural gases. These actions were in turn widely criticised by social activists and scholars, who saw them as amounting to 'bourgeois environmentalism'. In contrast, more recent discussions are overdetermined by the saliency of fine Particulate Matter (PM 2.5), the elected government primarily drives policy formulation, and the debate is marked by far less suspicion of environmental activists. This paper reads urban environmental politics through an in-depth analysis of the moments when Delhi's air becomes 'visible'. The aim is to shed light on the vocabulary and concepts, the differentiated interpellation of citizens, and varied state interventions related to air. Our narrative weaves together the deployment of expertise, technologies of governance and popular discourses that mediate air's politics and inform questions of environmental justice and the city's futures. <strong>11 November, 2016</strong> ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Dr. Rohit Negi is Assistant Professor at the School of Human Ecology at Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD). He has a PhD in Geography and MA in Urban Planning. His work is at the intersection of urbanism and ecology in the global south. Rohit is the co-editor of 'Space, Planning and Everyday Contestations in Delhi' (Springer), and has published in various journals including the Economic and Political Weekly, Review of African Political Economy and Geoforum.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.