Of Other Urbans: Subaltern Urbanization and Census Towns in India

This project is meant to be a conceptual and empirical intervention into urban studies and urban theory. The aim is to challenge a Euro-American and metrocentric approach towards understanding urbanization. I use empirical material from small urban centers in West Bengal-India, known as 'census towns', to arrive at a contextually embedded understanding of the social, political and economic processes that produce these towns as socio-spatial entities. The project is both mixed methods and interdisciplinary. In terms of theory, postcolonial writings on urban studies and subaltern historiography are the two cornerstones of the project. Methodologically I use a combination of narrative analysis of oral historical interviews, household survey data, discourse analysis of policy documents, and participatory mapping exercises. The project is envisaged as a compilation thesis consisting of five journal articles and an overview in the form of a 'kappa'.

This project is about small towns in West Bengal, India. Through a study of oral historical narratives and household survey data from three 'census towns' in West Bengal, I aim to make a contribution to urban theory and our understanding of how urbanization takes place.