PhD Thesis
Provisional PhD Thesis Title: Spatializing Caste: The Mahar Quest for Socio-cultural Mobility in Bombay City in late colonial India
PhD Supervisor, Co-Supervisor & Second Reader: Gopalan Balachandran ; Christophe Jaffrelot (SciencesPo) & Aidan Russell
Expected completion date: 2024
My research approaches the history of the Mahars, the largest untouchable caste of Western India, as a community movement that challenges the modalities of the caste system. My thesis lies at the intersection of caste, colonialism and urbanization. It unpacks how caste adapted to the city by focusing on the rise of Bombay City as the industrial hub of colonial India. It will discuss how the question of migration to cities and settling or living in urban areas was associated with the demand for rights. Mahars, who moved to Bombay, embarked on the process of demanding civic and political rights.
Profile
Apart from a Master in International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute, Sara also holds a Master in History and Bachelor of Education from the University of Mumbai, with a professional experience as an educator in History and English for about a decade in Mumbai. Sara is proficient in English, Hindi, Marathi languages and is currently learning French. Sara has worked with the Bulan Institute for Peace Innovations, Geneva.
Research Interests
- Colonialism and Decolonization
- Social history
- Political Violence
- Religious Extremism
- History of Caste
Relevant Publications and Works
Cholpon Orozobekova, Sara Shadab Arab, Katayoun Formica Hosseinnejad, Marie Porchet, ‘Counter Terrorism and Violent Extremism in the UK: National Policy and Approaches’, Bulan Institute for Peace Innovations, May 2021.
"OPINION: Switzerland’s ‘burka ban’ curtails rather than strengthens individual freedoms", The Local
State Obligations and International Norms towards Children with Links to ISIS Being Heldin North-Eastern Syria, Bulan Institute for Peace Innovations
PM’s ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ Is OK – What About Revisionist History?, The Quint
Book review – Arturo Escobar. Encountering development: the making and unmaking of the third world, Princeton University Press, 1995.
International History and Politics Podcast
Academic work experience
- Teaching Assistant in International History and Politics, February 22 - present
Fellowships, Grants and Awards
- The Graduate Institute Skmcholarship (September 2020-21)
- Hans Wilsdorf Foundation Scholarship (September 2017-19)